a man sitting at a table with a jar of coins
SG man loses S$100k in failed business after more than 10 years of saving: ‘I feel so stuck’
SINGAPORE: A man in his 30s earning S$4,500 a month has shared that he's been grappling with financial anxiety since losing roughly S$100,000 in a failed business venture.
Writing on the r/singaporefi subreddit, he explained that the money represented more than 10 years of savings.
With a wedding, a home, and possibly children on the horizon in the coming year, he noted that he still has adequate savings, a six-month emergency fund, and some money in ETFs — yet he can't shake the unease left behind by such a heavy loss.
He said he had launched the business hoping to break free from stagnant wages, but its failure instead left him feeling worse off than before.
"I really want to give a better life to my future wife and kids, but I just feel so stuck," he wrote. "I've been saving a lot living with no dependents and liabilities, but it's not going to be the same in the future."
Seeking a way out, he posed several questions to fellow Redditors: "For those people who suffered such big losses, how did you guys rebuild and even turn things around to end up earning everything back and more? How do I even achieve FI at my current rate?"
He also asked those supporting families on S$4.5k how they cope—whether they're happy and what they might do differently in his position.
‘What's critical here is your ability to recover’
His post drew plenty of advice from Reddit users who understood the weight of a major financial setback.
One user, who said they were around the same age and had been diagnosed with aggressive cancer, wrote: “My advice is to control the things you can and anything out of your control is out of your means and worrying doesn’t help. Get your basics covered, e.g., emergency funds/proper insurance etc as one crisis could wipe you out.”
Another shared that they too had lost a substantial amount of money, but were eventually able to rebuild their finances.
“My friend, you’re still young. I’ve lost S$200k before in my early 30s, a mix of failed business ventures and degen trading. The bank account was down to 3 digits. Saved aggressively in 2 years, and I’m back. It’s going to feel horrible because you feel like you’ve set yourself back and you lost the amount of years you spent saving it. But time still goes on. Nothing like life humbles you and gives a lesson you never knew you needed. Learn from it and be smarter.”
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A third told him, “Suffering a large financial loss is secondary; what's critical here is your ability to recover. Your earning power is low. The key word here is survive. You will survive this. People have gotten worse fates and survived. Thriving is a different challenge.”
Meanwhile, a fourth suggested he confide in his fiancée rather than strangers online. “Look. If you're going to marry this woman, you absolutely need to talk to her about finances. It feels like you're taking on the anonymous nature of the internet. The only thing that matters is her and you. You are young and will earn it back, no point in crying over split milk.”/TISG