The S$1 Million National Day Paradox: Money Dysmorphia Amid a Wealth Surge

Writing in The Business Times, Lionel Lee, partner at InvesUnited and author of Into the Moneyverse, argues that Singapore’s wealth metrics mask a deeper anxiety. By almost every traditional measure, the country is a winner. Rising property values, Central Provident Fund savings, investments and decades of disciplined wealth accumulation have created a nation where many households have a net worth running into seven figures.

Yet the wealth is unevenly distributed and largely illiquid. Much of it is tied up in homes, CPF balances and long-term investments rather than money that can be spent freely. Someone may technically be a millionaire because they own a home that has increased in value over 25 years, while simultaneously worrying about children’s education, ageing parents, healthcare costs and whether they can comfortably retire.

No asset illustrates this more clearly than housing. The term “million-dollar HDB flat” has transitioned from a shocking headline into a regular market feature. Housing has been the single largest creator of personal wealth for early generations, but the same rising prices now represent higher deposits, larger mortgages and longer repayment periods for younger buyers.

Lee observes that the traditional formula for financial security was relatively straightforward: study hard, secure a stable job, buy a home, work hard and retire comfortably. But in what he calls the “Moneyverse”, the reality is very different for millennial and Gen Z households. They are expected to live longer, face rising healthcare costs, and navigate an investment landscape that has become global, digital and increasingly complex.

Furthermore, those in the bottom 20 per cent, holding a S$293,000 net worth, would need to save 100 per cent of their earnings for 451 years to match the S$5.3 million average wealth of the top 20 per cent. Financial well-being, Lee argues, is no longer determined solely by how much one earns.

He distinguishes between “financial literacy” (knowledge of products such as mortgages, insurance and CPF) and “money literacy” (knowledge of how wealth behaves over an entire lifetime). The real questions for the next generation are: how to make decisions under uncertainty, how to avoid lifestyle inflation, how to prepare for careers that may not yet exist, and how to achieve work optionality.

Lee concludes that Singapore’s challenge ahead is psychological as much as financial. National wealth should ultimately improve the quality of life for all Singaporeans, and not merely increase the value of sovereign balance sheets. As the nation celebrates another National Day, the most important question is not how many millionaires Singapore has created, but how many Singaporeans wake up each morning believing that financial security remains within reach for themselves and their families.

In the Moneyverse, the greatest financial achievement is not simply becoming wealthy. It is feeling secure enough to live well. Part two of the National Day theme will address how Gen-Z graduates, mid-career professionals and young families in Singapore can financial-proof their “Singapore Dream”.