Am i on track?

[secretsis]

I’m 25 yo, just graduated dental school and currently awaiting for compulsory government posting in abt 3 months (read:unemployed and doing part time jobs)
My parents contributed a lot and here’s my current situation

TH: 25k
KWSP: 15K
ASB: 12K
Savings: 9k
Luno: rm800
current income: 1.5k/month

I’m a girl with a bit of a spending habit and have this idea that “money will come again but I’ll never be this young” so i only I saved up around 300 a month and spend most of my income on eating out, travel w friends.

Currently i dont have any commitments but i’ll be taking over my car payment once i start my government position.
Car payment is 788/ month (7 years).
An I’ll have to start paying JPA 30k (because i chose not to stay in gov)
I’ll be earning around 4k a month in government but i plan to enter the private sector after a year (min 7k/mnth first year)

I’ve started to learn about finance, picked up a couple of books and started to looks into investment apps like moomoo. I plan to start investing more once i have my gov salary.

I really just want to enjoy my life before being a tired dentist but i’m also scared if i won’t have enough to be comfortable or im being careless with my money.
My goal is to at least have 300k by 30 and i want to make sure it’s doable

 

[mtollett]

@secretsis 5 years to reach 300k seems hard even if you start earning 7k/month now, minus off all expenses.

 

[warriorforchrist2020]

@secretsis Doable but tough. For 300k u need to save another 240k which means 4k per mth. 3k+ if you invest and get 5% the 4k u save per month.

That means you have to save more than 50% of your earnings per month which requires tremendous discipline and sacrifice.

Ask yourself what are you saving this 300k or RMXXX for is more of the right question.

 

[secretsis]

@warriorforchrist2020 Thank you for the wake up call. I’ll try to keep better track and a better plan tbh. 300k by 30 just as a financial goal but now I think i should set a proper plan and a goal that can be achieved with that plan.

 

[dwilson928]

@secretsis Nope. Since you've mentioned having a spending habit, a loan to repay, and other commitments, unless you can offset these with investments or savings and consistently earn higher than, lets say 5k a month, reaching 300k in five years is a significant challenge.

 

[secretsis]

@dwilson928 Thank you for ur input. I should be earning more than 5k/month as dentist in the private sector hopefully

 

[yamfood]

@secretsis Just doing the math, and taking into account the current commitments your goal amount is a significant challenge. The costs of keeping up with dental education and equipment e.g. loupes can add up as well. And the private salary (7k/m) may not be consistent depending on clinic business, especially with the heavy competition nowadays

Good spending/savings habit initially will be a start. Other than that welcome to the profession, I wish you well in your endeavors.

 

[secretsis]

@yamfood Means a lot coming from a dentist! my family owns two dental practices and yeah the competition is apparent nowadays, and definitely not doing as good as we were. I didn’t really think through when i set up that goal, but my main goal is to grown those practices, hoping to make them more profitable and i just thought I should have a goal for my personal finance too.

 

[campbell2210]

@secretsis Chill la.. 200k by 30 also OK. Should spend some money to explore the world a little bit and self improvement etc.

 

[nativepride]

@secretsis Your TH is more than ASB. Any specific reason? ASB better for a while now. Unless you are getting better returns. May want to re-balance.

9k savings where? under mattress? ideally put in ASB also.

saving 300 from a 1.5k salary is ok. just remember its a trade off / balancing act. immediate or delayed gratification. Its not binary. So balance it out. Eat out but pick and choose where and how important it is to join. You don't have to join all social events. Your future self will thank you for saving as much as you can.

Even if you don't reach 300k by 30, focus on the process of wealth building. You are doing ok.

Small suggestion would be to think about portfolio management (low, med, high risk investments). You are young, so you can afford a bit more on high risk investments to get higher returns (because if it fails, you still have time to recover). Investment is about risk-adjusted returns (the amount of risk you have to take to get returns).

 

[secretsis]

@nativepride 9k savings in savings account haha. Thank you for the asb/th advice!

 

[mopell]

@secretsis Good enough but to have 300k before 30 is not really possible unless you plan to save around 6.5k every month, I would suggest that you slowly dissociate with anyone who you spend time going out with everytime to save money and segregate your savings into a fixed deposit account and go+ (tng), cimb principal investment, etc... so that every month from each account you'll earn at least RM 50 in total or more from interests. Normally after when I get my paycheck the first thing I'll do is to pay the necessary bills first and put the rest to investment accounts and the balance would be my freebies

 

[oneanswer]

@secretsis If you want to save up RM300k or whatever amount you have in mind i’d suggest you to invest the money into learning high income skills.

Having 1 source of income in this economy will only bring so many limitations later on in life. It will take some sacrifice in learning the skill, but the payout will be beneficial if you bite your teeth and go through it for 5 years.

Please don’t get into any MLM schemes or anything shady. Keep it simple & embrace the long game.

 

[ubutyf]

@secretsis You have to ask yourself- What are you saving up the RM300k for? A house? A holiday? A nest egg? To start a business?

You don't want to splurge and live beyond your means. But it's also true that you shouldn't slog yourself out and "ikat perut" just to save up RM300k. Enjoy life a little, but don't spend beyond your means lah.

 

[secretsis]

@ubutyf Thank you for this. I wouldn’t say i spend above my means, i keep close track of my spendings but also want to enjoy my 20s

 

[ubutyf]

@secretsis No worries. So don't mind if I ask- why do you want RM300k by 30?

 

[pheebs89]

@secretsis 300k by 30yold is doable if you save 36k per year @6% return.

Mine is more unrealistic, 25yold aiming 500k by 30yold. Currently with 70k with 6k income (provided I still have this job in the future) and all of my savings is currently in very high risk investments

 

[jimmyk]

@secretsis Your take home pay will be around 6k
You'll be spending half of it for living expenses, and half of it for saving, ill say you save about 36k a year, so to achieve that it be around mid 2029, pretty unrealistic but yeah

 

[7iceman7]

@secretsis I have a friend who reached this figure by 35. He benefited a lot from employer EPF contribution being above 16%. changes job every 3 to 4 years. Doesn't travel. Earns close to 5 figures. Still drives his first bezza. No kids.

 

[evangelicalangelic]

@secretsis Try make it 100k once u get there 300k gets easier.
Get another source of income to funnel that into the investment stocks/crypto which ever you have strong constitution.
If you like to get there fast. Do budgeting monthly cutdown what ever “wants” like eat out/grabfood/etc.
spend only on the needs.
Wish you get there soonest!