How Much Salary You Need To Live In Singapore | TDK Podcast #99

Jon Paul living in the metaverse. He thought inflation was caused by the game admins reducing drop rates

As an economics graduate, it’s interesting to hear what is the average Singaporeans’ general understanding of our economy.

The relationship between inflation / monetary / fiscal are complex but perhaps need more knowledgeable guest for this topic to get the basic facts down.

I stayed and worked in several countries from 3rd world to developing to 1st world countries. Singapore cost of living really not high neither low. It's just nice. The survey/report saying singapore is the most expensive city to live in is based on expats not citizens. Then "some" Singaporean spreading and magnified it till most ppl think the survey/report is based on citizens.

Low key actually a good podcast to revise H2 econs with real life examples

Actually, in 22:44 SG does not increase interest rates at all. The MAS chooses to allow the SGD to appreciate, maintain or depreciate. A strong SGD usually helps to manage cost-push inflation as factor inputs and other imports from foreign markets become cheaper in SGD. Good episode! :)

Very good topic to discuss about! I have enjoyed this video very much. Thank you!

Thanks for this episode, great topic

can yall do an episode about how younger ppl earning so much money compared to our elderly folks these days?

An episode on 'How Much Salary You Need To Own a Car In Singapore'?

12:34 Your seller decides the price, yes. How is the price decided? If he's the only seller, then there's low supply, and thus increase in prices. If he has many competitors around him, then there is higher supply and he may have to sell at a lower price or else his competitors will get the business instead of him. So it still comes back to supply and demand. 13:50 So how do companies come up with the actual stuff that you like? By pouring investment into research, sourcing for better quality or more niche products, and thus increasing the price. 18:40 That's just poor family planning, do you have plans for contingency? Sounds like he doesn't. Also, haven't turned on my aircon in years, it actually isn't that terrible without aircon. 31:27 This is exactly why I do not want a welfare state. Why does the fruit of one's labour has to be shared among those who have not contributed? Off-topic for this, but this is the same reason I rather have CPF as a retirement scheme compared to a pension system. Where does the money for pension come from? Taxpayers. I rather fund only my own retirement than to have to fund other's retirement as well yet collecting the same amount as those who contributed less. 34:47 I agree with this take a lot. SG is generally a pretty affordable country, and help should be extended only to those in very unfortunate/disadvantaged scenarios instead of those who are just digging their own graves with an irresponsible lifestyle and mindset. Honestly, when comparing to other countries, I think the only expensive items in SG is housing and car. Cars is not even necessary in our case as our public transport infrastructure is pretty extensive, so the only remaining issue is housing. You can compare food prices to other first world countries, and how many of them can still get a meal (neighbourhood area) for around our equivalent of $4? I can usually spend even just around $3 to get a meal. The more expensive items like alcohol and tobacco are not necessary items as well.

Great Episode!

1.2k may be enough to sustain an minimal lifestyle however that doesnt include unexpected cost or monthly cost stuff like medical, insurance and etc. Plus if theres isnt enough money for savings, when rainy day comes, you get fcked. Which is why we always yearn for a bigger margin of income rather than just right. Also does Singaporean complain too much? Yes, cos we love to complain regardless but i think that applies to most people in the world but we are alot more vocal about things like that because we always want things to be better if possible.

The economy and supply chain will stiill be a big issue for the rest of 2022 ( ie Malaysia chicken export ban, food shortages). Would be cool to have an economist guest in a future episode!

Interesting food for thought: should we adjust our income or our expenses to deal with inflation?

It'll be interesting if you guys can cover other real issues or daily living concerns like resale prices at million dollars for HDB flats, just so to get Singaporeans thinking and discussing about such issues and concerns :)

It’s a pinch on all people !Hopefully this inflation period will be stopped .(Governments maybe off the money printer?)

This podcast really woke the econ brain I didn't know I had

If currency gets too strong, it makes our exported goods and services less attractive to other countries. Thus the business goes more to our competitors. As what Dan said, the way for a country to get richer, we need to earn more from exports.

A healthy amount of inflation is a good thing. That would be 2-3% per year. It shows that the economy is still growing. This also means our cost of goods become more expensive but our wages will also increase. The 2-3% of inflation also acts as a buffer against going into deflation. Deflation is more scary than inflation. Your cost of goods goes down but so does your wage. Even though your purchasing power may be the same but psychologically it affects people demand for goods. They will look at it as "my income decrease i will consume(buy) less stuff". Consumption and investment falls. This affect the economy and our gdp growth. Thus having a healthy amount of inflation is not a bad thing and it does not make no sense.