Singapore’s Growing Wealth Class
The number of people in Singapore who have liquid assets (excluding owner-occupied property) of at least USD 50,000 (around SGD 67,500) is predicted to hit 1.32 million in 2022, according to GlobalData https://www.globaldata.com/recovery-singapore-wealth-market-drive-affluent-population-growth-2021-2022-forecasts-globaldata/ . The true measure of wealth lies not in absolute figures but what it can buy and the kind of lifestyle it can suppprt; SGD 67,500 is insufficient to buy a roof over one’s head in land-scarce Singapore so this is not a good benchmark of a wealthy person. However, it is true that there are more and more rich people in Singapore. Based on Credit Suisse Group’s 2021 Global Wealth Report, millionaires made up around 5.5% of the population in 2020 as compared to 5% in 2019 and 3.1% in 2015. This presented a stark contrast with those who had suffered job and income losses due to the pandemic.
Those who had invested at the bottom of the stock market in 2020 $FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index(.STI.SG$ $STI ETF(ES3.SG$ $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US$ $NASDAQ(NASDAQ.US$ $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ $Vanguard S&P 500 ETF(VOO.US$ $iShares Core S&P 500 ETF(IVV.US$ would have made money. $SPDR S&P 500 ETF(SPY.US$ alone grew 18.25% and 28.59% for 2020 and 2021 respectively (Source: Yahoo Finance). In the media, we learnt of high networth individuals splashing out large sums for private property over the last two years of the pandemic. They are the ones who were able to take advantage of the investment opportunities presented by the crisis.
Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to own and maintain a car due to extremely high taxes. The high number of luxury cars on the roads and parked in the carparks of world-class hotels often leads overseas visitors to have the perception that most Singaporeans are wealthy; in actuality, the top 1% held 33.9% of the wealth in 2020 and more than 700,000 people had less than USD 10,000 (about SGD 13,500) to their name. The perceived affluence of Singapore residents, fueled by the popular movie Crazy Rich Asians, may be part of the reason why an increasing number of scams have targeted Singapore residents. In the latest smishing scam to grip the nation’s attention, SGD 8.5million was lost by 469 OCBC $OCBC Bank(O39.SG$ customers. Many lost life savings in the region of a five to six-digit sum.
Those who had invested at the bottom of the stock market in 2020 $FTSE Singapore Straits Time Index(.STI.SG$ $STI ETF(ES3.SG$ $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US$ $NASDAQ(NASDAQ.US$ $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ $Vanguard S&P 500 ETF(VOO.US$ $iShares Core S&P 500 ETF(IVV.US$ would have made money. $SPDR S&P 500 ETF(SPY.US$ alone grew 18.25% and 28.59% for 2020 and 2021 respectively (Source: Yahoo Finance). In the media, we learnt of high networth individuals splashing out large sums for private property over the last two years of the pandemic. They are the ones who were able to take advantage of the investment opportunities presented by the crisis.
Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to own and maintain a car due to extremely high taxes. The high number of luxury cars on the roads and parked in the carparks of world-class hotels often leads overseas visitors to have the perception that most Singaporeans are wealthy; in actuality, the top 1% held 33.9% of the wealth in 2020 and more than 700,000 people had less than USD 10,000 (about SGD 13,500) to their name. The perceived affluence of Singapore residents, fueled by the popular movie Crazy Rich Asians, may be part of the reason why an increasing number of scams have targeted Singapore residents. In the latest smishing scam to grip the nation’s attention, SGD 8.5million was lost by 469 OCBC $OCBC Bank(O39.SG$ customers. Many lost life savings in the region of a five to six-digit sum.
Even as the uber wealthy class is growing, older and less educated citizens are at risk of being left behind as they cannot keep up with the rapid changes in the nation and lack the resources to seize opportunities to grow their money. Singapore would not have been able to come so far and be where it is today without the contributions of the older generations. This growing wealth divide needs to be addressed to prevent tension between the haves and have-nots and to ensure the vulnerable do not fall through the gaps. For myself, I hope to be able to achieve financial independence through my investments and be able to give more to charity. Last but not least, building wealth is challenging enough without the prospect of losing it to scams. I hope more can be done to fight scams.
$SGX(S68.SG$ $UOB(U11.SG$ $DBS Group Holdings(D05.SG$ $Mapletree Log Tr(M44U.SG$ $Mapletree PanAsia Com Tr(N2IU.SG$ $Mapletree Ind Tr(ME8U.SG$ $Suntec Reit(T82U.SG$ $Singtel(Z74.SG$ $FRASERS CENTREPOINT TRUST(J69U.SG$ $CapLand IntCom T(C38U.SG$ $CapitaLandInvest(9CI.SG$ $IFAST(AIY.SG$ $PropNex(OYY.SG$
Disclaimer: The above sharing is my personal opinion. It is not financial advice or a recommendation to invest. Please consult a financial advisor and consider your investment objectives, financial needs, financial position and risk profile before making any investment decision.
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Dante69 : 50k is considered 'wealth'?
DadacaiOP Dante69: They were counting liquid assets such as equities, mutual funds, deposits, and bonds and it is in USD.
MOOZER Dante69: That’s my monthly car allowance
71576866 : my name is Marcus Kaleopaaikamaike laney my#8082192291 I live in Honolulu Hawaii that's all my stocks and I don't know what they did with the money the first time I hit the I topped it out the first time I was doing it again it's going to keep on doing it cuz I don't know how to take all my money and they're taking it out somebody's hacking my network hacking my phone sos
DadacaiOP 71576866: Hi Marcus, pls calm down as a lot is unclear in your description. is this about your moomoo account or your bank account? If your moomoo account is compromised, did you contact moomoo customer service as I advised you previously? I don’t think it is possible for money in your moomoo account to be stolen as it can only be withdrawn to your personal bank account. If your bank account is having unauthorised transactions, you should contact your bank inmediately.
DadacaiOP 71576866: Select the magnifying glass at the top. Type “Online Inquiry”. Select the result. Type “agent” and enter. Do it again to reach a moomoo staff.
DadacaiOP 71576866: If you have made a deposit and you don’t see it in your moomoo account, that’s because it takes 5-6 working days to settle. Pls give it some time.
ZZ bull run DadacaiOP: now there are so many scams and hackers around. what if they hack into moo moo and change the bank account to their account
DadacaiOP ZZ bull run: The name of the account holder of the bank account must match that of the moomoo account. Marcus hasn’t even made a deposit so the things he claimed do not seem to be possible.
Milk The Cow : To me phishing scammers are just a scum of the society.
If caught, should just be executed no 2nd chance given. They aren't getting any sympathy from me. (because I know what harms it can cause)
(minority for some other countries)... Their government really should do something about it. If not, it will continue to be an influence for easy 
At least the sg government is doing their best to minimise the cases with limited solutions, I think (maybe a bit too late... this scam issue won't become that big if they'd did what they are doing now in the very past).
... but OCBC investor just get really to tank it
Nothing personal, but majority of these scammers are from India
Really, I think OCBC is considered "very kind". They have the rights not to pay back the customers' scammed saving since the fault is mainly fall on the customers (bank please educate our citizens... the 1st thing to do is not to learn how to use but to learn the important of security, in my opinion). Nice job OCBC
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