How do you strike a balance between buying things your parents ask for and your own savings and goals?

Pay yourself first.

(not insurance policies, but an investment policy like robo adviser or POSB Invest Saver)

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When your dad ask for something, show him your bank statement (after it deduct money for the investment portion) and explain you are really tight now, wait for a year when you are getting a pay rise and promotion.

If the item is cruical to your parents health, then of course filial is more important.​​​

Hi Anon, I think the only way to protect yourself would be to say no to your dad if the request is too much for your budget. As your father, I hope he would understand if you explain nicely about how difficult it is going to be for you to save up for important life purchases. Try to find a balance between being filial and taking care of yourself and your future.

One suggestion is to put up a fixed amount per year, and increase it when you can afford to.

So it could be like if my annual income is 20k, I could try to do maybe 600 for the full year which equals 50 per mth. Have that discussion to share your limits and what you can decently carve out.

Once the discussion happened, then the next is just prioritizing how to use that sum. Usually the prioritizing is the part that helps most as you go through the discussion of which item is really the most important and what the family is ready to give up for it (choosing between wish 1 / 2 / 3 )

Sometimes the core issue is you stretch your money but just can't do it all in the same year.

I am not sure how your family is like, but quite a few of our previous generation didnt have much education, and when they started to work, they would beg scrimp borrow to help fulfill the family's wishes, be it sending the children to school, or buying a toy for them once a year which is really tough those days.
If its not unreasonable, we could try to fulfil a few wishes....

Hey there!

I think it's important for you to sit down with them and really explain to them your situation. Exactly what you said above, tell that to your mom and dad. Of course there is a chance they might flare up/be annoyed, but that's okay - Keep your cool and try to understand from their POV (tough for me as well, but possible). Let them know you have a goal to achieve this by when, share with them your dreams. I honestly don't know if it'll work, but all I know is that communication is key. At least you have conveyed your thoughts to them.

I hope it helps!!