My wife and I have been working for a long time and we are exhausted. We are now in our early fifties and earn a total household income of $206k pa. We save $60k pa. Our 4 bedroom condo is now worth $1.8m and we have an outstanding mortgage of $400k. We will clear the mortgage by the time we retire at 60. Our current net worth is $1.8m. Are we ready for retirement?

Life can be tough sometimes. But we choose the path we walk and have to live with the consequences of bad decisions or enjoy the fruits of good ones.

The more important thing at the end of one's life is not how much you have achieved or gained, but what kind of a person you have become when you have achieved your goals.
For example, do you back stabbed your competitors to climb the corporate ladder? Do you act dishonestly just to make a few more dollars? Do you turn into a hermit or miser just to save a few dollars more each month? You may have the millions at the end of the day, but you may not recognize the person you have become.

Ah, I digressed. It has been a tiring day for me, shuttling from one country to another for business meetings. As I sipped my morning coffee in the airport business lounge waiting for my connecting flight, I wonder how long more I can take of this life. The money is good, but I do not have the time to spend it. I have a nice condo but spent very little time enjoying it. I have a nice conti car but it spends more time in the car park as a showpiece rather than as a utility for me.

How old are you? If you are more than 50 and have a total net worth (you and wife) of more than $2m, you can retire now. What's the point of working so hard and not being able to enjoy your hard earned wealth?

Worst, you die at 55 and leaving behind your millions to your children who then no longer need to work for the rest of their lives and enjoying your wealth.

Congratulations! You both have done well financially. Owning a $1.8m condo is a big achievement indeed. Not many can even own a condo as 80% of people here live in flats. You are lucky indeed!

Since you save $60k pa, you can then save $540k over 9 years, assuming you will retire at 60 and you are now 51. This amount of cash is enough for you to retire on from age 60 to 65. When you reach 65, you will get your CPF Life monthly sum which is enough for a retired couple who has a paid up home and no car. Well done and enjoy your retirement at 60.

We are slightly luckier. Both of us are 45 and work shorter time than you. Just received from IRAS that last year we filed $400k pa income. Too bad have to pay a lot of tax. We just have a fully paid condo probably worth $1.5M. We are waiting patiently to time the market to buy another cheap private property with our cash+CPF on hand of $1M. We hope to retire in Singapore by 55. Can or not?

Yes, you can retire by 55.

Here is what you need to do.

1. Let's assume you save $200k pa between age 45 and 55 (10 years). So your additional savings will be $2m.

2. Invest your total savings of $3m in a 5% dividend yield stocks portfolio which will give you $150k pa in dividend income.

3. Spend $100k pa during your retirement and invest back $50k pa into your stocks portfolio. By the time you are 85, you will have $4.5m. You can donate half of your wealth to charity to help the poor, aged and needy.

What about me then? We are both 40 and work even shorter time. Just received from IRAS that last year we file $850K pa income. Glad we are paying a lot of tax. We have a fully paid HDB prob worth $800K and a corner terrace worth $2.1m, both fully paid. We save around $300K per year and have around $2m invts in a variety of products. We hope to retire by 60. Can or not?

You can retire now ...... at IMH

Thanks, I will vist you there. IMH not for me..

There are many reasons why people continue in their line of work even though they may feel tired, jaded or stressed. They could feel a deep sense of duty/responsibility to the company or work team. Rightly or wrongly they could also feel that they are indispensable. There are others who also loved their jobs and are therefore prepared to make sacrifices like working long hours and go on long business trips. Then there are those who stayed on on their jobs because they have no more market value. Last but not least there is always the monetary rewards of working.

In my case, it is a combination of all the above factors. If I were to quit now, there could be big disruption to the project my team is working on. I also welcome the overseas business trips as a means to break the monotony of working here. At 55, my market value is not what it used to be. I don't think I could walk into a new job at my current remuneration. And yes, the financial benefits of my current is quite attractive.

The question is not about retiring. For me, it is about what to do in retirement. The prospect of doing nothing, living life aimlessly, is not appealing to me. We have achieved financial security 5 years at 50, and we found that we would have a more meaningful life working as compared to retirement with no purpose.