Whether one downgrade or not depends on your financial circumstances when retired and early planning. You can see from this forum, many posters moved up to stay in condos even though their HH income qualifies them for HBD or EC. It is highly likely these families will downgrade to HDB when they retire. There is no right or wrong here, only the lifestyle you aspire to lead. Remember, you only live once!

My wife and I are in our mid-50s, both still working. We upgraded to a condo only when we were able to fully pay for it upon purchase, when we were 46. I must say that the quality of our life went up a few notches! We thoroughly loved it, and regretted that we didn't choose to stay in one when we were younger. I can thus understand why people are eager to move into condos even though their HH incomes qualify them for HDB and EC. We are physically more active now. Everything is so convenient that even on days when I come back late from work, I could still swim, work out in the gym, or have sauna. We loved it so much we actually went and bought another condo for investment purposes.

Did the thought of downgrading cross our minds, now that we are in our mid-50s? Financially there should no need for us to downgrade when we retire. We also prefer to age in place. While we do have neighbours who downgraded when they retired, there are a number of retiree families in my condo who could still buy new cars! They are physically active (I see them playing tennis, squash and table tennis regularly) and carry themselves with dignity. We see ourselves in them - healthy, physically active, and still living life to the full when we retire.

We have been preparing for retirement for a long time. With our nest egg near to $6m, and still growing nicely at the rate of $350k-$400k pa, we are looking forward to a good retirement without downgrading. Living within your means, saving and investing are key to a good, dignified and financially worry free retirement.