Retirement

Retirement planning and security in a rapidly changing world The world we live in today is full of volatility and uncertainty. COVID-19 has impacted us greatly in ways we could not have imagined [...]

In this episode, I hope to stress that both phases in retirement planning – accumulation and consumption, are equally important to secure retirement adequacy (not necessarily a luxurious [...]

In this episode, I will answer the following frequently asked questions on CareShield Life: How is Total and Permanent Disability insurance different from CareShield Life? What are the other [...]

In this episode, I will further elaborate on CPF LIFE – the national annuity plan which provides a way out of the longevity risk that retirees face with provision of income throughout their [...]

In this episode, I will highlight the key principle governing CPF and shares about the Minimum Sum Scheme, CPF LIFE as well as the hottest debate in 2014 concerning the interest rates we are [...]

In this episode, I will share the resources available to fulfil the three basic needs in our retirement age – a house to stay in, medical expense insurance, and a reliable monthly income [...]

Whenever we talk about retirement planning, the focus has almost always been on accumulating towards retirement. Very little has been spoken about withdrawing during retirement. But planning for [...]

If you have a hidden passion which you have always wanted to try, you don’t need to wait until you’re 65 for age is only a number, a cipher for records. In this podcast, Max shares how having [...]

By age 38, Kyith has achieved financial independence and helms Singapore’s most well read financial blog where he openly shares his personal wealth building journey since he was 24. In this [...]

TLDR: You also need a solid plan and a certain level of social proof. This idea of mini retirement (or sabbatical year or career break) has been around for many years. A mini retirement is when [...]

 In the last part of this series, we share about the concept of SA shielding and illustrate the difference in your CPF OA and CPF SA balances before and after you optimise them. You can [...]

 In this video, we explain the rationale behind CPF Full Retirement Sum and whether CPF LIFE is adequate to fund our retirement. You can find the link to the other parts here: Understanding [...]

 CPF LIFE is probably the best life annuity scheme you can find in Singapore. Question is, how do we choose between the Standard, Basic and Escalating plan? In Part 5 of this series, we share [...]

 At age 40, if your income is $20k/month, with $150k in your OA and $100k in your SA, you can easily amass a total of $1.08m in both your OA and SA by age 55. That means you can withdraw [...]

 CPF is one of the best “investment” tools for your accumulation towards retirement as the returns are high (and guaranteed) relative to its risk. In fact, OA returns up to 3.5% p.a., SA and [...]

 How many accounts are there in our CPF? Three? Well technically, there are four. If you do not see the fourth account yet, that is because you are still young 🙂 In this video, we spell out the [...]

 As a start to our 7-part series on understanding CPF for retirement, we talk about the 5 key risks that retirees face and specifically, in terms of investing, the sequence of returns risk. You [...]

In conventional retirement planning, advisers often assume that their clients’ annual expenses (adjusted for inflation) remain flat throughout their retirement years. Therefore, many retirement [...]

In Singapore, the current official retirement age is 62 years old but to have a realistic estimate of when you can really retire, it ultimately starts with determining your retirement needs. If [...]

I had a friend who asked me this question recently: When did you realize you were financially secure and didn’t need a job anymore? I thought I will give an answer here (since we are a fee-only [...]

There are two distinctive phases for retirement planning- Accumulation and Withdrawal. However, many of us tend to only focus on the accumulation bit pre-retirement and often neglect the [...]

In a world with so much geopolitical issues and uncertainty, retirement seems to be a scary subject to think about. Retirement planning during withdrawal phase is more complex because retirees [...]

In my last 2 parts, I shared the need to initiate a conversation with your other half and to take actions as soon as possible. In this final part, I hope to touch on the topic of children. After [...]

In the previous article, I shared that by starting the conversation about finances and retirement planning with your other half allows both of you to think about your desired current and future [...]

Somewhere in the middle of last year, I met up with a friend of mine. Over coffee, she lamented, “Hey, Yong Cheng, you know I have been wanting to speak to my husband about planning for our [...]

As you journey through life, the phases of your retirement planning process should progress with you. However, many retirement planning instruments available are meant for the earlier stages. [...]

It’s a key question when it comes to planning your retirement or setting a financial goal, and you will find it hard to get a straight answer. You need to take into account your current and [...]

There are so many issues that trigger us as Singaporeans, that it’s hard to keep track of things. Taxes, ERP, CEOs, health… The list seems to go on and on. But let me get real with you on [...]

I am writing this column on a plane, on my way back home from Mauritius, having just finished 3 days of speaking engagement to a group of financial services people there. I have always enjoyed [...]

Over a business lunch recently, one senior gentleman was relating to me on how his private banker tried to sell him a financial product. It was an equity-based investment meant to give a certain [...]