My parents paid off their HDB in their early 40s. Meanwhile, our generation is doomed to a lifetime of debt. KNN.
Wah lao, I really cannot take it anymore, need to rant before my blood pressure spike until explode.
Just yesterday during dinner, my dad was flexing again. He proudly told my relatives how he and my mom fully settled their 4-room HDB flat in Tampines when they were just 42 years old. Forty-two, Knn! He talk until so easy, like buying a flat that time was like buying caifan with two meat one veg. He say, “Aya, last time we just work hard, save up, then can clear loan already. You kids nowadays just want to buy expensive coffee, that’s why no savings.”
SMLJ? You compare then and compare now?!
Last time in the 90s, a 4-room flat was what, $100k plus? Their combined salary that time already can comfortably cover the mortgage and still got leftover money to go Genting every year. Fast forward to 2026, you look at the property market now. A BTO flat easily $500k to $700k. If you suay and cannot get BTO, then have to go Resale market—easily $800k to over $1 million for a decent location. $1 MILLION FOR A HDB FLAT LEH! We are paying 2026 prices with salaries that are barely keeping up with inflation.
Every month CPF ordinary account wiped out clean, still must top up cash. Our loan period is not 10 or 15 years like theirs—we are signing our souls away for a straight 30-year sentence. We will be paying off our housing loan until we are 60+ years old! Basically, work until we die just to ensure we got a roof over our heads. How to even think about retirement? How to think about having kids? By the time I finish paying my housing loan, I probably need a walking stick already.
Our parents’ generation hit the property lottery and they think it’s purely because they “worked hard.” They don’t understand the absolute despair of looking at your bank account and realizing you are one retrenchment away from losing your home. We are literally shackled to a lifetime of debt just for a 99-year lease pigeonhole. Really standard drop, stress level sky high, but bo pian, still must wake up tomorrow and grind for the corporate overlords.
Limpeh is just so tired.