Survey on how much does one have in SAVINGS?

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pinkcat

New Member
Hi all,

Just curious as to know how much can one person save after say 10 years of working experience.

How much money do you have in your bank account?

Care to share anyone? Will at least be able to benchmark my little savings that i have.

This will be good place to share since money may be a sensitive issue to talk with frens or even close frens.
 


Hv abt 100-200k. but a fren of mine similar pay scale hv almost 1m. lucky break as he made a killing buy / sell a property.
 
yup...i would suppose depends how much you earn and spend....

but the idea is trying to find out how much you actually have in your bank account...at this point in time....after working for x number of years.

and probably to also find out what is the average of savings people have.

Aquarius - i think 200k is pretty good...that's an average of 11k per year....around 1k per month.

Based on the average salary in singapore $3k - a savings rate of 33% is good to me..

I am also trying hard to discipline myself to save and not spend unnecessarily.

Which is why I would like to know what is the statistics like for a person who has been working for 10 years , 20 years, 30 years? Regardless of your job, your spending habits and your income....

Because one can earn $10k a month but spend $11k and another can earn $2k a month and save $1k...

Share if you can....
 
I have about $120K cash saving after 10 years of work, average to $1K / month. I am planning to increase my saving to $2K / month.
 
leaving excess cash in the bank is overrated & not too wise since your money loses value. u should instead put it into something that rises with inflation...

to put it bluntly, do u realise that whilst u keep your 500k in the bank to get 0.5% interest, the bank is lending me YOUR 500k at 3% to make 2.5% off your money... and i'm borrowing that 500k to get 10% thus making 7%... then with YOUR 500k, i earn 35k, the bank earns 15k, whilst u get only $2,500. this of cos just a simple calculation to illustrate... but anyway, i get extra 3k to spend a month, whilst u get only $200. and we're both using YOUR money.
 
hi mark

where can i get to invest in govt bonds?
generally, how are the returns like?
and how long is the minimum duration for such placements?
 
oh i dun really use financial instruments which guarantee low returns. if i'm gonna trust some stranger with 100k, i might as well trust frens or myself... they would feel more responsible with my investment money than a stranger... basically i jst go for nything tat gives me 10% or more, be it wine or stocks or property... i get higher returns cos i take higher risk... but then risks can be managed if u have good info...
 
ya its hard to trust some stranger. i came across this new type of advisor who only charge a nominal sum for providing good info n teach u how to invest. maybe u guys here wanna check it out. it has a website: www.secondopinion.asia
 
wow.. i m impressed by the figure....
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worked about 3-4 years..had about 60k last year.. put 25k in unit trust mid last year and now lose about $6k.. heartache like mad... the remaining 35k put in savings.. this year saved another $5k+ as of march, so now 40k+ in savings.

i'm just keeping it in there cos of the wedding. but honestly even if no wedding i also not sure how to maximise the money. FD rate is quite low too.
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anyone know for low-risk (principle guaranteed) type, what is the possible highest return %?
 
shortform for unit-trust is untrust.

if u want guaranteed returns on your money - trust Yourself on your best Knowledge and Information.

all of us are good at Something... even seemingly useless knowledge like a keen interest in Luxury Handbags/Products can be turned into money-making tool...

like for me my interest is in watches... so would actually use the 25k to buy a sought-after watch... sell it for 30k later to have a profit of 5k or 20%. beats Unit-trusts anytime... but sadly, most pple trust financial instruments and strangers more.
 
or get yourself onto the waiting list of luxury bag, by the time you really get your hands on the bag, can sell to those willing to pay a premium for not having to wait (think Hermes birkin and the likes)
 
why?

CPF 'returns'?

That's the mindset that needs correction... not the percentages.

from the day we're born in spore and working in spore, we should not be expecting some financial-wonder from CPF accounts, it's primarily to serve very basic purposes.

else, it's what we do with our disposable income that keep our heads above water. i've nothing against the unit-trusts and financial products, but if i can do better, i dun see much of a need to use these services. personally i advocate using our inborn talents to the best of our abilities, optimise our own resources.
 
yup, stickymouse is rite... it's along that line.

but of cos, balloting for National Day tickets and selling them for profit is Not Considered hor...
 
or.... i could book myself a marina area hotel room with fantastic view of F1 race, and "sell" it.... the most i physically go down and carry out the check-in/out procedures wahahah

i like this... getting fun...
 
yup why not... but hor, mostly booked liao... u might have to wait til next year, keke...

but yes it's fun, and it's Easy... the things we're good at, the things we have interest in... these are all investments if we change our mindset. just as our education is an investment... thos who are skilled in certain niche markets can also invest in themselves or own biz... couple of years back, had a circle of frens who made money from toys... so it's really up to us to play with our disposable income. and u also have uncles who invest in wine etc etc...
 
Rightly said, money in savings accounts even FDs are loosing in value (especially given the low interest rates now). To calculate your networth, one should also consider the liability you are carrying if you are serving housing/car loan. If you've a lot of cash on hand, but also loan a large sum of money, know that as a result you've to bear interest cost in return for the liquidity you are holding. So having a lot of $$ in bank might not means you're better off.

Instead of checking your bank account, might want to consider doing a "net worth" using basic Accounting principle:

1. Consolidate all the liquid/non-liquid assets you have. (Eg. Savings Account, FDs, Unit Trust, Shares, CPF) + current approximate valuation of your property and residual value of your car (depending on years).
2. Minus off any credit card/OD/personal/housing/car loans you are carrying as liability.

With this, it is a more accurate reflection of your current networth. In addition, you can also analyze what is your current assets/liability ratio, percentage in liquidity of your assets, distribution of your weath portfolio in terms of geographical or industry risk (eg. if you are in banking industry and hold high banking shares you are at high portfolio risk).

To add on further, you can also supplement your own income - expense to see how you fare in monthly profit/loss statement. This will give you a view in how "profitable" you are running as a business.

You might also want to consider checking the percentage of principle/loan interest you are serving every month and weigh this against the investment and cash you are holding to see the investments you currently hold make any economic sense. Weighing the investment risk, check if it be better off to liquidate your investment and reduce interest expense incurred.

Just to share my two cents worth and hope it helps..
 
hmm.. at 1 point i was bringing in small cosmetics from overseas to sell online cos there were many biz trips which i was making.. but the returns can be a good % but the actual amount of $ was very small. and it was for interest because it was fun buying from those brands not available in SG.

the luxury bags thingy i also did before.. but the rates (like LV) take a long time to adjust and go up..

can you guys share more examples of using "logical" / "daily" methods to generate wealth? i mean i understand the theory but not sure of the kind of potential wealth that can be generated .. is property one of them? but surely not at current market prices.. ?
 
to me property is, it's probably one of the best no-brainer vehicles to financial freedom. just need to be able to hold them, so your fixed income must be of a decent level to provide good sustenance, else this vehicle is useless if your income is not good enough for bank loans.

there's always 2 sides to things, i'm one of those who feel that there's no bad market to buy property, neither is there a bad time... the Sole factor will always be price. in good times and bad, there will always be the right price, so unless u start to seriously search, u will not be having pple knock on your doors with bargains. just in the last 10 days, i've been shown a couple of under-valued properties... the only good thing abt this market is that u dun have to make a quick decision like last year.

to be very blunt - out of 10 pple, prob 9 will say it's a bad time to buy and also talk abt sub-prime... out of these 9 - how many are a) seriously looking, b) have the finances to invest, c) looking at the right properties, d) have the sincerity in taking risk. prob not even 1 person fits the above 4 condition... maybe more like 1/100 pple. but despite not fulfilling the conditions, the other 99 will dispense free advice on why now is a bad time, why market will come down etc etc... well they may be right, but where did the analysis come from?

of cos it remains a rather interesting topic...
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There is no such thing as guaranteed returns with low risk. If there is, the returns will be low.

If you are not averse to risk, equity funds is something you can look at. I had some chind/india funds which had grew more than 300% over the last 3 years.
 
Hi all,
Just tot I will share this pc of info, my MIL gave me.
RBN has a FD of foreign curr which promises up to 8.6% interest
I have put in only 20k in NZ dollars, the FD will be locked for 1 yr, and after which u can choose to take out or leave in if the curr is low. But the FD interest rates are pretty good.

Can also check out foreign banks, I think euro has some 4% interest rates.

If not, yes, property would be a good investment, if rent covers more or = than the monthly installment..
 
Hi Amarylis,

Foreign Currency FDs are normally considered as high risk investment instruments. The high interest you are receiving is because there is a pressure for the currencies to depreciate and the foreign regulators are using such instruments as means to secure deposits in their currencies.

Even if the currency you invest in does not fluctuate, note that by exchanging in and out of that currencies, you're already incurring FX overheads. To have a better view of the exposure you are incurring, consider netting off the projected interest revenue with the cost of purchasing a FX future option (in your case, SGD versus NZD with a 1 year forward rate). This will give you net current value of this investment.

Hope it helps.
 
wow..this thread is getting rather interesting.

I do not have much savings.. around 10k for the moment although I have been working for 8 years.

I am impressed that one can save 100k wow! So, looking at my financial state, I think I really need to buck up.

I consider myself as a saver as I do not really spend on things. But, somehow....I don't seem to be able to save to the amount i want.

I had a biz earlier which I had ploughed in Sgd10k in it. Although I had to give it up as the rental costs was going sky high, I had a good experience managing and running a small biz.

Now that I am back in the workforce, I plan to take action in speeding up my savings again. Perhaps for another biz? another investment? yup...

I am motivated to know that there are people like powder and nikita who has the capability of making money and saving money.

I have also considered putting into foreign curreny fd like NZ dollar considering the fact that our Sgd rate is pretty miserable. Inflation will soon eat up the money in our bank.

I am looking for ways to make money grow faster and harder....but sometimes I seem to hit a black hole.

I am already simplifying my life....I can't cut cost anywhere....more.

Property is one thing I am considering as well perhaps in the next 1 and half years....but i think i have to do more research and homework before i commit myself to this "project".
 
for properties i just feel that the most impt factor is the price. no matter how "good" a property is, if you don't have the $$, then better don't over-stretch, else will be stuck with a loan that will take forever to pay off (i want my retirement to be as near worry-free as possible!) or worse, have to pay bulk cash if the market crashes.

at this moment, maybe there are really under-valued properties? but these tend to be more mid to high level ppty i think? not the low and more affordable type under 600k? of course my opinion is not of solid basis and i cannot prove it, just feel that way after looking at general trends.

at the end of the day i believe only invest in something if you can bear to part with it. if by investing in something, it's going to affect your normal day to day living, then it's not an investment, it's just poor judgement.
 
nikita u're right.

i guess u really need to start from at least 800k onwards to see returns of perhaps 100-150k from sale or have a 5-6% longterm returns... of cos if u can stretch to 1.5-2mil, u can potentially look at 250k onwards... the sky is the limit BUT playing property requires the most basic 2 Components - 1. Cash upto 200k, 2. Decent Income - to obtain a loan. without these 2, best to leave that aside for awhile first...

If u're young in your 20s, i highly encourage most to avoid excessive spending, and get ready for the next cycle if u're not able to participate in this one. in the meantime try to stay abreast of the goings-on. Dun try to be in this market if u really can't... u have Youth and u have future cycles. but do note - the next cycle is likely to be your last... cos i dun envision 40something year-olds daring to take too much risks unless they have already made it...

HDBs are longterm investments... never short. u'll always be bounded by the rules, and the profit margins are unlikely to be similar to the present unless we looking another 10yrs ahead.

auccess dun really come by accident, so plan well so that u can harvest the crops u lay out... my late father left me with 1 sentence before he departed... "suffer now, enjoy later". now looking back as i'm 10yrs ahead of some of u, i just hope that some of u will not lose faith in your own abilities and to keep believing that u have the right to a better more fruitful life... we can never hope to be born in a better country with opportunities...
 
hi pinkcat,

dun take this wrongly but depending on your profile, 10k after 8yrs is quite horrendous if u dun have any assets. so best place to start is to Address your attitude towards building of finances... cos something there might not be right. of cos if u've expanded your finances getting married, ploughing into your home etc, then it's a decent figure. but if u're single - u HAVE TO change either your thinking or your money management.

biggest worry will be to see u and others submerged under the rising costs... u Do Not want that to happen. the Safest & most popular route may not be the best route. Popular routes are typically popular becos popularity is determined by mass-preference. In a world where masses tend to remain borderline in finances, Logic does point u to take a different path, doesn't it?

your most immediate attention should be to look at your Income, thus review your job/career path. the idea of stable income has been the longest propaganda in our country (pple seem to accept Low stable income! by virtue of it being some perm-job), besides others... Always, Always, Always look at your current superiors/managers and ask yourself if they possess what u intend to possess in let's say 10yrs. Logical isn't it? if our Superiors dun even possess what we want, then why are we wasting our time in a company to get to where they are getting - when that isn't our destination???

going by that simple logic, u're more able to keep your job searches on the right track. If jobs/careers are meant to Bring about a better life, Why then are we not matching them to finances we Need, BUT Instead - matching them to our academics/skillsets? - HEREIN Lies the Difference between those who are earning More, and those who simply settle for less. the Mind determines the difference and pay disparity... not the education like everyone thinks. education doesn't determine how good your mind is, good minds dun necessarily churn out excellent academic results.

well enough said, Take a good look and review your income aspect first... before u figure out how to invest. Money makes Money and that's a fact... the lesser u have, the lesser u dare to risk, the more likely u will lose.... simply becos u can't afford to lose. The sooner u can have 200-300k in your bank, the sooner u can double that money. if u have 20-30k, u can only earn an extra 10-20k, which is a negligible sum by the time we hit our 40s... the fastest simplest way to hit the first 100k is via earned income, and tat's where a review of our job-quest is very crucial.
 
Thanks everyone for sharing and also powder for giving your inputs.

Yes, I am currently reviewing my income and money management. It is an awakening call as I know I have to change my mindset. I believed I had a mental block before of not being able to earn a certain amount. Like crossing the first 5k, 10k, 15k will be somewhat a hurdle.

I realised it recently and I am still learning everyday how to become a better valued person to bring my level of income up.

Yes perhaps I was too rashed before and didn't know how to really save. I am very motivated and encouraged to know there are people who have a few hundred thousand in the bank! wow! I wanna be one of those people!

I plan to save $4k+ a month to reach my goal of having $50k a year. However, like you had mentioned before, we shouldn't be leaving money idle in the bank as the interest is really miserable.

Should I park this $4k a month into some vehicle like unit trust or other instruments to speed up my savings rate? I know now that I need 200-300k to double the money...i understand that clearly now....
 
Excessive spending..? Hmm. I can’t take HDB loan and can’t really afford a condo.

What do you think of buying resale on bank loan?
 
share my train of thought...

resale HDB on bankloan? not much choice if u need to buy Anyway... so having an opinion doesn't really help on such matters... u either need to buy or u dun. But if u're talking abt buying as investment... then resale HDBs are not on my investment list... has to be Direct from HDB. if u're no longer eligible like me, then this isn't even an option to be considered anymore... so left with just private housing... private housing - can't just buy for the sake of buying... need to be undervalued to be worth looking at.

money from property should be made at the point of purchase... not at the point of sale... so must be undervalued.

oh ya, i should add that i have no problem with bank loans... never took a HDB loan before. loans and interest rates are part and parcel of lending... if the bank dun lend me they can lend someone else... the interest is part of the condition for lending me over others... so i just need to make sure i make more out of the Bank's money than the bank... then everybody happy.
 
i need a home.. so it's not an investment. BUT if i calculate the price of a HDB on bank loan, the amount will be so much higher than i can ever recover even upon sale (by then the flat also very old).

caught in a dilemma now.

if i take out my rubbish investment and lose 6k straight away, i might still have enough for a 15yr old 2br condo around 500k+. (about 120k cash & CPF combined). Problem is.. my hb-to-be is not able to contribute, so after i spend my money, we might have to take loan for reno and furnishing.

that thought is off putting.
 
think the bank loans are pretty decent now and there's several to choose from... so perhaps do some loan-shopping to relook at your options... u'll be surprised at what u can find. but u've gotta shop to know... information is King!

If possible, let 1st priority be Location... whether HDB or Pvt. for 2br condo at 500k, i'm assuming suburban location, u're actually better off in an 800k 2br condo in a central location, tat might be a far-stretch but u got an extra option of Good rental should u decide to buy an HDB later and rent out your condo.

if your investment is rubbish, losing the 6k now is better than losing the 6k later... Investing/Speculating are nicer words for Gambling... and when u gamble, u either win or lose. get accustomed to that possibility and learn to cut losses... u can be also be winner simply by knowing when to cut your losses.

u sound like u might be stretching abit for the condo... if u're not comfortable, drop the idea UNLESS u know u have funds coming in. never never stretch yourself becos u immediately lose your Holding power upon buying... might as well settle for a cheaper alternative. it's better to take steps to get to your dream-home, than to try to attain it all at once.

if u're single-income contributor... u must be even more careful with your purchase. the houses we buy are not our last... it is progressive... so take steps... i'm also progressing now, we all are... so take it as a step, not the destination.
 
after marriage, after buying house, now its really time to think about investment and long-term financial planning.
Powder, I've been reading and following a lot of your posts, and i realise that you function and think a lot like my hubby. Even the tone u use in a lot of posts sounds like how he talks a lot of times. Just that maybe in terms of life experiences you probably have gone through more.
Just need some comments, for me, i am conservative when it comes to money. I have only worked for 4 years, but I have close to 50k in cash. My hubby and I recently bought a house, and the instalments have barely started. I am a saver, and not a good investor, so in this case, no risk no gain.
My hubby on the other hand, is probably more wiling to take risks. He also has been working for about 3 years, because all the while he had been doing a masters degree, and he is intending to go on to do phd which will only bring in a stipend of about 2.5k for the next 3 years. He currently does not have much cash. currently about 20k. through the years he invested a lot into his photography, and on and off he's been doing free-lance and getting some $$, but its not a lot because his main focus is still on a regular job.
He's also starting to explore various means of investment like stocks and shares, and he does a lot of reading up. and he also has the mentality that if you have the knowledge it helps to manage risks.
thing is, i am very skeptical and risk adverse, and i always tell him its because i dun take risks i save so much. and i kep thinking at his age and as a hubby, he should have a decent amt of cash to prepare for the future. My hubby always tells me that if i dun open my mind and see that many things can serve as a means to bring in money, and that i have to let go of some $$ to be able to bring in more, i can never get to financial freedom.
what are your views on this? how does your wife react to your kind of money management?
 
hi minmin,

i think your hubby has 10times more potential than the regular joe u might have married. and his risks of losing is probably just double... the Mind is the Biggest impact on one's financial freedom, and by this i dun mean education.

Information is exactly what differentiates the rich and the not-so-rich. and access to that information is what gives u an edge over your peers. If u have a constant flow of good information, it is almost impossible for u to be struggling with finances. ie u know which stock is going up cos of certain news, u know a particular development which is going en-bloc, u know a shopping mall will spring up next to a block of HDBs... to have good information, u must first be trustworthy and likeable - rich pple must wanna give u the lobang... thus network!

pple who dun network, get their info off the Straits Time and other mass-distribution channels - are getting the worst info. this includes listening to advice from pple who aren't even in a position to advise.

if u had put your 50k into certain stocks 2-3wks back, it's prob now 56k already. just like that... more than 10% in less than a month. that's the power of Information! What if u dun have the money??? - again it's information... a particular bank can lend u 50k at 0.3% interest or $150 per month... u take the bank's 50k, use the info on stock to make the 6k, return the bank $150 in a month's time.

pls note above is an example and is not meant to make shares look like an easy deal, becos it is not. it's again - Information... opening your mind. it's actually my personal experience which just happened, but it's a one-off becos i dun play shares... i play Information. this time it just happened to be a particular share. so it's NOT shares/stocks, but STILL - Information.

the Power of Information is one of the most neglected tools. and often, it is neglected by those who need it most. those who need it most - typically spend time to write-off and brush-off information. cos they dun wanna act on it.

actually i dun think u're wrong to think the way u think... becos u have not been proven wrong, in fact u're doing a very good job with your way of thinking! 4yrs - 50k in cash is Admirable. no doubt u're a saver... and a very good one. But let me throw u a New Information - some pple can save 50k in only 2mths. Only.

Now with this newfound info... how does that make u feel? What if i tell u that u can do it too? Doesn't that just open up your mind?? aren't u curious about Tools out there that can help u do that? becos That effectively means for every 1 year, u can save 24yrs of wat u're currently saving. Scary isn't it? but true nonetheless. If u achieve just 10% of that... u would be shaving Years off your slogging life. u may not take risks to save alot, but some take risks and already made what u can save by the time u're 50... and they are only in their early 30s.

Information greatly reduce risks. Good Information. which shouldn't be coming from that uncle telling everyone else in the coffeeshop.

as a partner u dun have to believe in the power of Information and most other stuff your hubby is actively seeking knowledge in. What u need to give most, and what he needs from u most is - Belief & Faith in him. that's all u need to give him.

that's what my wife gives me... she's a grad and i'm not. she studied finance/economics but i didn't. she manages company millions but i dun. so under such circumstance, u'd expect her to be more paranoid abt my money management, but she has faith in me, and that becomes my inspiration. i have no particular money management style or doctrine. i just tell myself to 'earn so much that i cannot possibly dun save'... i try to Earn Beyond My Needs, whilst most pple try to Live Within Their Means... tat's the Power of the Mind. tat's where the disparity comes in... tat's where your degree, my diploma, his o'levels all end on a level playing field and turn into just paper.

so wife doesn't really question nor react too much to my money management. cos she knows we're fundamentally very different.
 
I currently only have 18k in my savings acct and this acct is actually my "disposable income account" so I spend from this account too. On avg I see 15k in my acct. I also have a share acct with hubby, which is for all home expenses. Approx 50k in this shared account.
This is relatively little for a couple. I have worked for 4 yrs and my hubby 8 yrs, so savings is actually very little. But we do have 2 condos and 1 car. 1 condo rented out and $$ goes to paying the 2nd condo which we are staying in. Both condos, we took a max bank loan. Bought when prices for private property were pretty low, so if we were to sell, dun think we will lose out. May profit some.

But I can't help thinking , though we have assets, we are low on disposable income. So if anything were to happen, and we need $$ to tide over, we will be in trouble.

And furthermore both of our gross income barely reach 10k a month. So, no chance to grow our savings significantly. We don't have much luxeries, just the usual yearly holidays. I do shop, but avg a few hundred a month. Based on the above info, do you think we are in a dangerous spot? If property prices were to stagnate or cool off, we will have trouble selling either condo
 
Dear Powder,
wow, its a really inspiring piece of comment. Well, I guess in this sense I really do have to have faith in my hubby. I should probably see it that we are complementing each other. If he takes the risk, and succeeds, good for the family. If not, we still have my reserves to fall back on.
Well, I guess sometimes I react overly because I think its too ridiculous, and no matter how confident he is, I think its not worth the output. So i tend to be protective in this sense. realise that I should stop behaving like a mother and start behaving like a wife.
 
Amarylis,

what is the "anything" in "So if anything were to happen"? besides wat u have in savings, u can also look to borrowing against your property (assume valuation appreciated), selling 1 property, covering yourself with insurance on the unforeseen. So if u have a few layers of precaution in place, why pick up the worry to worry? am sure u already figured most out before u bought the 2 condos... anyway selling the condos is not a problem as long as u dun go into negative. and the way i look at it, pple who think property will fall back to prices of 3yrs back - are basically blurring market reality with their personal wishes. they missed the boat and want so much for the the boat to go back to low levels so that they can catch it again. - i've never seen the market give pple who missed the boat - a 2nd chance.

in my books, u're in a good position and doing what most pple should do. just tat your monthly income may not be the most ideal but i suppose it's likely to go up, than down... so manageable i'm sure. basically u won't sink... and u should be able to tide thru. so think best to leave the worries aside and focus on main work to improve monthly income...
 
minmin,

u're absolutely right in that u complement each other... cos tat's my belief too. 1 of us have to be the aggressive one, one of us keeps the feet on the ground... but what we share are common dreams and goals... and a belief in each other... so what if we fail? are we worse off? i dun think so lor... we will still have each other and the journeys thru ups and downs... Of cos this excludes heavy speculation (aka glamourised gambling) hor... Information is important.

dun be overly afraid of Downs & Failure... it's probably the most-attributed reason behind success that it's kinda weird that pple keep fearing it. as long as u make good informed choices, dun worry abt getting the short end of the stick from time to time... there's always something we might not be doing right and it simply needs fine-tuning.

i wish the two of u an Inspired Journey to learn and grow Together...

ps: all the examples i give are real.
 


minmin, don't listen to him, he don know nuts. Read this article;
If you read the newspapers, you would have come across news about other marriages ending up in divorce due to adultery by either the husband or the wife. It is reasonable for you to think that whoever the person that committed the adultery is a bad person & is sinful. You may also have come across and hear from your friends that so and so had committed adultery & their marriage has to break up. This time you have a stunned reaction for upon close examination of adulterer whom you know, you felt that it is impossible for that person to commit adultery as the person appears to you to be good natured, considerate, kind hearted and doesn't appear to be a sinful person. How did this adultery affair happen? Where did it go wrong?

Most people thought that adultery or extra-marital affair happens because the adulterer is evil & sinful in nature. This is partly true in some adultery cases for men who are lustful & evil. For women, most of the time it is not the case. It is not in women's nature to seek out other men to satisfy themselves. Usually, they do not purposely go around seeking & hunting for men unlike lustful men who deliberately seek out women to have a fling & affair.

Most marriage books or marriage counselor advocate having a happy & loving marriage to prevent an affair or adultery from happening. But let's be realistic, as it is quite impossible for all marriages to be happy & loving all the time. All marriages have their ups & downs, quarrels, misunderstandings, momentarily unhappiness etc. Satan & his demons are also working 24 hours a day 365 days non-stop scheming to break up marriages using human weakness like selfishness to create unhappiness & quarrels in marriages or using weakness for wealth to create dissatisfaction with current monetary marriage situation thereby seeking outside rescuer.

Most adultery cases come in the form of close friendship, developed over a period of time after close frequent communication. Adultery usually doesn't happen overnight but over a period of time. Satan & his demons are very smart & packaged adultery so nicely in the form of good friend thing and love that parties in sin of adultery do not realize that they are committing sin of adultery but it is only forbidden love. Adultery will not happen easily if there are no opportunities for adultery to happen & no close frequent communication between two future adulterous parties. The key thing is talking frequently & deeply to opposite sex outside the marriage and not being considerate to your spouse. When you share your feelings or talk frequently & deeply to opposite sex outside the marriage, you are opening the door & an opportunity for your marriage to end up in divorce because you will eventually develop feelings for each other over period of time. Your days of hunting for a spouse are over and therefore should concentrate on making marriage work rather than seeking outside for love or companionship.

Some readers may thought that married couples forgot their married vows or did not love one another. It is not that people forget their marriage vows but that frequent & deep communication with opposite sex outside marriage have changed friendship to love. In some cases, married couples do love one another but because one spouse was not careful with such a communication (thinking it is no big deal) fall in love with 3rd party through frequent deep conversations and into sin of adultery. Marriages are breaking up at increasingly rate partly because there are more opportunities for process of adultery to take place in this modern society where husband & wife spend more time in a working environment where there are immense amount of male & female interactions.

Satan & his demons are very very smart. Satan & his demons know very well that all marriages have their ups & downs, quarrels, misunderstandings, momentarily unhappiness etc. To bring about sin of adultery and break up in any marriage, all Satan & his demons need to do is to influence whoever the selfish person in that marriage to be inconsiderate, to care about himself or herself and not to consider the feelings of the other partner and whispering in the selfish person's weak mind to rationalize that it is alright to talk frequently & deeply to opposite sex outside the marriage and sharing deep feelings with opposite sex outside marriage. Over time, with more shared feelings, combining with marital misunderstandings or lack of communication due to character flaws of not trusting own spouse but trusting more of external sources, illicit closeness & love will developed and as already being inconsiderate to one's partner, Satan & his demons will come in again & deceive that it is alright to go to bed with someone outside the marriage because the partner will never know as it will be between two adulterous parties & no one else will know. For the grand finale, Satan & his demons will step in with evil intention to reveal that one's partner has gone to bed with others so that both will quarrel badly resulting in either divorce or murder or suicide.

If you truly love your spouse, do be considerate and not put your own marriage in jeopardy and consider the feelings of your partner who should be your best friend & chit chat partner. Don't fall to Satan & his demons who convince you that it is alright to talk frequently & deeply & share feelings with opposite sex outside your marriage. These are lies & deceptions by Satan & his demons and you should tell Satan & his demons that such days are over & you want to concentrate on loving & cherishing your spouse.

If spouses guard their marriages by being very careful in their communication with opposite sex outside marriage, Satan & his demons will not succeed that easily in their dark deeds in sending another person to go after any spouse as feelings did not take root & grow between the pursuer & Satan's target as there were no frequent deep conversations or confiding in each other. Most people take it very lightly that it is alright to talk frequently & deeply to opposite sex outside marriage and with demons-infested so called marriage experts advocating personal space & freedom in a marriage, we have more & more divorces via adultery route due to frequent deep communication with opposite sex outside marriage. We write this article today with the help of our Lord God & Holy Spirit to show the truth so that married couples stay married and children not torn apart with divorce.

Be very careful of whoever tells you that it is alright to talk frequently & closely with opposite sex outside marriage, for your own marriage sake avoid them & reject them as they are bad influence to your marriage. Don't fall to Satan & his demons lies & deceptions that your spouse is controlling who you can talk to outside your marriage when your spouse has good intentions to guard your marriage. Know your enemy, know their lies & deceptions. Any bullshit marriage counselor or marriage books that tell you that you need to have personal space & freedom and that it is alright to follow your heart and talk frequently & deeply to opposite sex outside marriage thereby leading to sin of adultery is sent by Satan & his demons. Cast that selfish marriage counselor or marriage books away and stay away from them & your marriage will be more secured than others who follow their rubbish ways of thought.

Christians have also fallen to sin of adultery for they have not been careful in guarding their communication with opposite sex outside marriage. They could not understand why they have fallen to sin of adultery. They could not understand why God did not protect them or alert them to sin of adultery & blame God for causing them to sin. If they have re-examined their own actions, they would realise that they are selfish & caring more about themselves than their spouse. They did not honour or cherish their spouse and did not work on their marriage but focus more on chatting outside marriage, seeking externally companionship or solutions with opposite sex outside marriage leading them to their downfall eventually.

We can see now that Satan & his demons are very powerful and came in through our human weakness. Satan & his demons made use of a deceitful heart i.e. feelings, selfish character, inconsiderate behaviour, unhappiness, quarrels and human weakness to cause adultery leading to divorce. Don't give Satan any helping hand or assistance by not guarding your communication with opposite sex outside marriage.

It is easy to blame Satan for causing us to sin in adultery and marriage ending up in divorce. We should not blame anyone but ourselves for sinning. We did not stand firm to God's 10 commandments & the scripture. Satan & his demons will not succeed in causing us to commit the sin of adultery if we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ of "love thy neighbour" which is your wife or husband and not acted anything against loving or harming your neighbour. We cannot blame Satan for causing us to sin as we are of weak mind and will and did not guard the mind and spirit against such temptations to sin or guard against selfish thoughts. We have ourselves to blame and should take responsibility & repent and ask God for forgiveness and not sin again.

Now that we know how Satan & his demons can bring about havoc and destruction in our life. We must therefore guard against whisperings, negative emotional thoughts, selfish thoughts, jealousy thoughts etc and adhere strictly to God's commandment and God's word so that no matter and however Satan & his demons try to influence our mind to bring about destruction, they will fail as we are on constant alert for such openings and influencing of minds to sins. Therefore stand firm my brothers & sisters in Christ, do not let Satan & his demons influence any of us in any way. Constantly guard our thoughts & spirit and not be selfish but be holy.
 
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