If High Earners Not Rich Yet ('HENRYs') are worried about retirement with enough, what about 'MENREs'? 😂

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Credit: Business Times article (7 March 2026)

Today, I chanced upon this Business Times article about High Earners but Not Rich Yet ('HENRY') in Singapore being worried about retiring with enough. It set me thinking, if HENRYs are worried about retirement in Singapore, what more for 'MENRE' = Middle Earners Not Rich Ever (including yours truly here 😂)? Truth of the matter is, I guess MENREs would form the majority of our population.

Coincidentally, last night I also happened to watch (yes, I know I consume a tad too much finance related news and info😂) a very insightful YouTube interview of Mr Christopher Tan (CEO of Providend) who gave many great advice and shared his life philosophy and dished out words of wisdom. I would certainly recommend all to watch it here:- What To Do With Your Money in 2026 (From a CEO Who Manages $1.7 Billion) | Christopher Tan

Wanted to pen down some of my thoughts distilled from the Business Times article and the YouTube video, from both the money angle and from the (mental) health perspectives.

I have broadly grouped my thoughts into a few categories below; supplemented with several words of wisdom from Chris Tan's YouTube video (highlighted in green below as food for thought for us ☺️):

(1) Cashflow matters MORE than Net worth

The article mentioned about HENRYs generally living in private properties, driving cars, owning memberships. By inference, MENREs would usually live in HDB, maybe drives Japanese/Korean cars. However, in retirement, our net worth (what house we own, what car we drive, what memberships we have) matters less than the cashflow we generate to sustain our retirement lifestyle and expenses.

I remember this famous line - In the economy, liquidity is like the blood in our body. Similarly, cashflow is like the blood flowing throughout our body, without which we would be dead.

The Business Times article mentioned that HENRYs may be active investors but many lack financial clarity, long term strategy or diversification and invest when the time feels right or engage into emotional investing or trend-chasing leading to volatile portfolios. For STABLE, CONSISTENT cashflow like an endless flowing river, I personally feel that MENREs like me should take a more focused, discipline approach towards investing for passive income as soon as possible below to let time do its magic: (a) Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) - By investing a fixed sum of money every month, be it via Regular Savings Plan with brokers, Robo-Advisors or Investment portfolios with the 3 banks;

(b) Investing into income generating assets - Such as REITs, dividend stocks (e.g. banks and other stocks), also see my previous post here - A Happy shareholder 😍 Full Year 2025 Results for HRnet Group and Comfort Delgro;

(c) Forming the stable base of your pyramid with bonds - Such as Singapore Savings Bond, T-bills, PE Bonds, see previous post on - Temasek's Astrea 9 PE Bonds - 5Ws and 1H - Who? What? Where? When? Why Buy? How to Buy?

Remember: "What you have or do not have does NOT define you."

"Your identity is not based on what you own or use or have, these things don't define your identity."

(2) Contentment is KEY (XXXXX is Never Enough)

As the saying goes, "Comparison is the thief of joy". As such, CONTENTMENT is Key, after all, ____________ is never enough! You can fill in the blank - Money is never enough, House is never big enough, Time is never enough, Happy Times is never enough. You get the point?

As 1 of my favourite author, Morgan Housel (of The Psychology of Money fame) mentioned in his latest book (The Art of Spending Money) - Happiness is contentment, and contentment is what you have relative to what you want. When you don't appreciate what you already have and focus on what's missing, nothing ever feels good enough and Happiness remains elusive!

More so than ever, this applies to MENREs, especially if they compare themselves with HENRYs. If HENRYs feel they are not enough, what more for MENREs? We all want everything we can't have - A bigger title, Bigger house, Higher salary, Expensive car, More followers, Nicer body, Prettier face, no?

Problem is? If you don't have these things, they meant a great deal to us. But when you finally get your hands on them, they mean nothing to you after a while. The problem with discontentment or wanting more, bigger, nice, better is once you achieved them, the goal post moves! 😨

The solution? When you are content, you are no longer chasing, we live in the moment (活在当下), we enjoy what we have right now, rather than dwelling on the past or dreaming about the future. To be content with what you have is the surest way to enjoy the home you've purchased, the vacations you take, the car you drive etc.

Remember - The best measure of wealth is what you HAVE minus what you WANT!

"Contentment is not a passive acceptance of things, rather it is an active pursuit of what is most important for you."  

"You cannot have everything, but when you have those things that are of most importance to you, you can be contented."

(3) It's not how much we earn, it's how much we SAVE and INVEST

The key difference between HENRYs and MENREs is their earning power. But did you know - it's not just how much we earn, but also how much we save and invest.

Imagine a HENRY earning $10,000 but spending $11,000? Or a MENRE earning $5,000 but saving $2,500?

The key is to spend within your means, or better, spend BENEATH your means! 😁

Case study to prove the point:- See the investment growth of a HENRY - Person A who earns $10,000 per month but spends everything but invest just $500 per month vs MENRE - Person B who earns $5,000 per month but saves to invest $1000 per month, and let the returns compound at 5% over 20 years:

Outcome After 20 Years:

Person	Total Invested	Portfolio Value
Person A (HENRY)	$120,000	$205,517
Person B (MENRE)	$240,000	$411,034

Conclusion: A higher savings and investment amount beats a higher income when building long-term wealth. Despite earning half the income, MENRE - Person B becomes twice as wealthy as HENRY - Person A after 20 years. In real life, there are many success stories of those who earn lesser but saved and invested to compound over the long term, see:

• The janitor and gas station attendant who built an $8 million investment portfolio despite earning a modest salary (https://marketrealist.com/who-is-ronald-read-the-janitor-who-built-an-8-million-investment-portfolio/ )

• The auditor without formal education in investing but generated a passive income stream, living on dividends and built $22 million wealth with a minimal salary (https://www.dividendpower.org/dividend-millionaire-anne-scheiber/ )

Remember: "Luxury once enjoyed becomes a necessity." whereas "Simplicity once appreciated becomes a sanctuary." "Do not buy things that you don't need, with money that you don't have, to impress people you don't even know!"

(4) Insurance - Health is Wealth

Health is one aspect that HENRYs and MENREs are pretty similar as both groups are affected by the rise of healthcare costs, inflation and aging population with a smaller younger population as the base. Both groups are expected to support their aging parents, young children and their own healthcare needs, all while saving for their own retirement.

I have written in 1 of my previous post on the importance of sufficient Insurance coverage here (Investing in your insurance coverage - Are you underprepared and underinsured? 🤔 Investment in Insurance = Good financial health!)

"If we cover the downside, the upside will take care of itself". Investing in insurance coverage equals to covering the downside in our financial health! Otherwise, without foresight of sufficient investments in your investment coverage, no matter how high is your salary as a HENRY, your medical needs/bills will drain your income away! Not to mention, how would we be able to work to earn the salary if our health is not there? 🥶

Let's not forget - No matter whether we are HENRY or MENRE, we are all exchanging our time/work/efforts for money from our employment. Once we are unable to work, the salary stream also stops (i.e. 手停，口停 = Once your hands cannot work, you have no food).

Note: Nobody cares about your money and health more than you! So let us all ascertain the sufficiency of our insurance coverage by either doing our own homework, asking for advice or seeking third-party professional opinions. Ultimately, REMEMBER - We are not just protecting ourselves by insuring our various long-term protection needs, we are also investing for the future and protecting our loved ones who will have to look after us and journey through with us! 😉

Remember: "Health is an investment... Just like money, you need time for your money to compound, in health, you also need time for compounding."

"Money won't change anything... it won't make you any more secure. It is what is inside of you that gives you that security."

In conclusion, the worry about finances and retirement ultimately boils down to more than just our income as HENRY or MENRE, but also our financial literacy, investment strategy, level of contentment, money management.

While all these are means to an end, retirement is a lifelong journey for everyone of us to keep learning, taking actions, adapting and savouring the moment!

Mr MoneyandHealth's words of wisdom:- By penning my thoughts above regarding the various aspects of our financial lives, I hope to raise the financial mindfulness and personal finance expertise that can be accumulated and compound to be transformative in our financial journey and contribute to our retirement goals!

You may be a financial savvy expert who already know most of the pointers mentioned above, or you could be a money noob who could benefit from incorporating several of the above factors into your life. No matter what, if nothing else, I hope you have absorbed some nuggets of wisdom or at least gave you some budding ideas or bits of food for thought as you embark on your own financial evolution path and wealth mastery pursuit! 🥰

To your money and health,

Mr MoneyandHealth (Mr MH) 🥰

Disclaimer: The above article is just the author expressing his layman views talking to himself, if you are peeping or eavesdropping, please forgive if it doesn't make sense. It is NOT financial advice, and NOT a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or REITs. While the author has tried his best to provide accurate information and up to date details, readers shall do your own due diligence to ascertain the accuracy and facts before taking any actions. Pls consult a qualified financial advisor or insurance agent before making purchasing any insurance, stock or REIT, or taking any actions. Pls note that past performance is not an indicator or guarantee of future performance or potential.