In Singapore, ‘Henry’ also worries about retiring with enough

MEET Henrik and Ryna, a married couple in their 30s who each make S$15,000 a month. Their salaries seem aspirational, yet they often feel uncertain about retirement adequacy.

These archetypal characters are “Henry” – short for “high earner but not rich yet”, typically defined as households in the top 10 to 15 per cent.

The paradox of high income paired with persistent anxiety deserves closer examination, especially in a society grappling with rising costs and shifting financial benchmarks.

To understand the Henrys’ anxieties, we must first look at their financial realities.

Henrys typically hold senior positions and juggle demanding schedules. Many live in private property, drive cars and outsource domestic chores. Wellness and self-care are priorities, and social memberships are common. They want the best for their kids, often purchasing enrichment classes and experiences.

These choices are not frivolous on their own, but together they create a high fixed-cost lifestyle.

How do Singapore’s Henrys invest?

Henrys tend to invest aggressively, often without a coherent strategy or clear financial goals. With limited time and bandwidth, they are more likely to follow peer advice or market trends when investing.

This can result in significant exposure to speculative assets such as crypto or concentrated positions in single stocks, particularly in sectors like tech. Blackbox’s SensingSG research found that high-income earners in Singapore are 50 per cent more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies than medium-income earners.

Many also invest in property, influenced by their parents’ success with real estate. Property feels familiar and safe, but it can lead to overconcentration, illiquidity and sizeable mortgage obligations that limit financial flexibility later in life.

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At the other extreme, some Henrys retreat into excessive caution, over-allocating in T-bills, fixed deposits and low-yield savings plans. Such behaviour is often driven by fear of losing hard-earned savings and limited confidence in navigating markets.

Over time, this financial conservatism, compounded by falling interest rates and the rising cost of living, fuels anxiety about slow wealth growth.

Why Henrys feel financially inadequate

Henrys oscillate between early retirement optimism and losses, leaving them unsure if their current investments are sustainable. Despite being active investors, many lack financial clarity, long-term strategy and diversification.

The Endowus Wealth Insights Report 2023 found that while 60 per cent of Singaporeans invest, more than half do so “when the time feels right” – a euphemism for emotional and opportunistic decision-making.

Emotional investing and trend-chasing lead to volatile portfolios. Recent market volatility has underscored the risks of such behaviour.

Many are also over-leveraged. Multiple properties, car loans and big mortgages can absorb a substantial share of income. When combined with childcare, tuition, domestic help and lifestyle parenting, cash flow quickly becomes strained.

Inflation compounds the pressure as rising incomes are matched by rising expectations. Within Henry circles, higher standards of living, from private housing to education, become normalised, steadily lifting recurring costs. The cycle of earning more and spending more can leave many wondering when financial security will truly arrive.

Adding to this are healthcare costs. With medical inflation projected to hit 16.9 per cent in 2026, alongside rising eldercare costs, many Henrys must support ageing parents while saving for their own retirement, deepening their financial strain.

Not just first-world problems

It is tempting to dismiss the anxieties of Henrys, especially when many households live on far less. But Henrys aren’t the ultra-wealthy. They are part of our upper-middle class – a group expected to self-provide for retirement, healthcare and eldercare, while contributing disproportionately to taxes and consumption.

Henrys’ unease mirrors broader financial concerns across Singapore. Two in five Singapore residents believe they will never achieve financial freedom. These fears reveal a real gap between income and financial security.

So what can Henrys do to get off the “hamster wheel”?

For some Henrys, the lack of clarity on their finances results in anxiety and false urgency. A simple lifestyle audit will reveal if your spending supports your true priorities.

A personal finance audit

Reclaiming control starts with gaining clarity on what matters more: current luxuries or future freedom? If it’s the latter, savings and investments must rise alongside income, rather than being crowded out by lifestyle inflation.

Next, scrutinise spending and audit expenses for duplication and underused subscriptions. Also involved is a reassessment of insurance coverage and recurring lifestyle memberships that no longer deliver value.

But in more consequential cases, the issue is structural. For Henrys with concentrated portfolios, high leverage or emotionally driven investments, the solution is not just having financial clarity. It is also to introduce proper frameworks for investing.

First, ensure your investment strategy aligns with your goals. If retirement is the objective, define it in concrete terms by distinguishing essential from discretionary expenses.

Structure a portfolio of multi-layered, well-diversified income streams. Your fundamental needs, such as utilities and minor medical expenses, should be met by a lifelong, guaranteed income stream such as CPF Life or a private annuity.

Lifestyle spending – for instance, travel – can be met by variable income sources such as investment dividends. Once you quantify these requirements, reverse engineer your portfolio to meet them systematically.

Second, rebalance your risks. A portfolio overweight in property, crypto or single stocks may generate turbulence in investment performance and anxiety. Diversification across asset classes, geography and liquidity tiers reduces volatility and emotional mistakes.

Third, stress-test your leverage. If mortgages, car loans and private commitments consume close to half of your income, ask: Would this structure survive a retrenchment or market downturn? Your financial resilience should hold in both bull and bear markets.

Last, separate speculation from strategy. If you have excess resources, it is reasonable to allocate a small portion of capital to higher-risk ideas. The key is to ensure your core retirement portfolio is separate from your high-risk investments and does not rely on speculative bets.

In a high-cost, high-expectation society like Singapore, even high earners are not immune to insecurity.

Ultimately, the worry over finances faced by Henrys shows that financial adequacy isn’t just about income. Having a framework, intentional choices, clarity and resilience can transform financial anxiety into confidence.

The writer is associate director at Finexis Advisory