Skip to Content

Singapore young adults have it better than US young adults.

One aspect of life I realize that is different between US young adults that came out to work versus that of Singaporeans who just came out is the level of difficulty facing them.

The level of student loans faced by the average young adults for college and university look so much higher. Granted you have to compare like for like, and Singapore young adults have an advantage because NUS, NTU and SMU university school fees are subsidized.

Still, the young adults that I work with are immediately going for public housing in Singapore after only a few years out of work.

They are not financial ready for it.

The difference I feel is that property have not burst yet. It is a cultural thing in Singapore that property is the way to go and it will always appreciate in value.

They have seen their parents and uncles make a pile from the recent property boom and would like to take advantage as soon as possible.

Housing also becomes the push factor to get married. If you have a public flat, you have to get married.

The young adults in Singapore are better position to sustain the mortgage.

The unemployment is at a record low compare to US at 7.7%.

They can complain all they want, but they are better off no matter how you look at it.

The average 4-year college grad is saddled with student loan debt to the tune of $26,000. A quarter of them owe more than $50,000, according to FinAid.org. The typical payment on that debt is about $300/month (for a 10-year repayment program), or $3,600/year, in addition to the ~$31,000 we spend on basic needs, clothing, healthcare, and entertainment (according to the BLS’s Consumer Expenditure Survey from 2011). After taxes, that leaves us only about $5,000 for savings. Hardly what’s needed for the down-payment on your average $180,000 home in the US. And if federal regulators approve the new Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) rules proposed for the beginning of 2013 – which, very simply, could impose some stricter lending standards – even more of this group could be locked out of the housing market for much longer.

They also aren’t in a rush to start a family anytime soon. The average female now gets married at 26, and males at 28; in 1980, it was 22 and 25.But according to the US Department of Health & Human Services, only 32.8% of 4-year degree holders aged 25-29 are currently married; just over half (50.9%) of those at the older end of the Millennial generation (30-34) have tied the knot. The good news on this front is that there’s a 70% change that college grad females will be married by 30, and a 58% of the same for men. By 35, those numbers increase to 84% and 73% – presumably because men tend to marry at older ages. Still, that puts household formation (and therefore home buying) back by a few years.

[The Reformed Broker | Why Aren’t Millennials Saving the Housing Market | Read more]

Kyith

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.