How much are you earning per annum?

The key operative word here is "retire comfortably".

Believe me, when you have to settle down at a different place each time, with different culture, different food, language and environment (especially one that is less secure and standard of living is not high compared to Singapore) you will not be comfortable. As you get older, you would want familiarity of surroundings and friends, convenience to facilities and amenities.

The cost of living in these 3rd world countries are lower for a reason.

At the end of the day, you will get what you pay for. There is no free lunch.

Good luck on your choice of retirement location. You don't have to come here and get permission on where you want retire in.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Excellent. Out of the box thinking. Refreshing. A departure from the typical narrow minded people. You don't need to accumulate millions to retire comfortably. Just need a different mindset.

Our HDB flat is a key retirement asset. Don't sell it away. Rent it out and live in luxury in other cities of the world. Besides Penang, we can also consider KL, Malacca, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, etc. There are many cheap cities in SE Asia where we can retire in. We can even retire in the various cities around SEA for short periods of one or two years in each city. This allows us to travel extensively in SE Asia.

There are many "calculators" in the Internet that you can use for free to estimate how much you would need to sustain your specific annual expense in retirement and for how many years.

Most of them tended to be designed for the US market where they included provision for social security when a person reaches a certain age.

I think the simplest and most relevant retirement calculator is the one from our own POSB. You can try it out with this link : internet-banking.dbs.com.sg/IB/Welcome
(You need to add s:// to the above to get to the website)

Using the POSB retirement calculator, it showed that I could retire now (at 56) with a monthly expense of $10,800 (or $129.6k pa), sustain this retirement expense for 30 years, till 86! and still have $1m left over. This calculation considered a 3% inflation rate.

As inputs for the calculation, they needed only the following:
1. Current investment holdings
2. Current CPF savings
3. Cash holdings (including FDs)
4. Current salary and how much of it (eg 70%) you will need in retirement
5. Your current age, when you want to retire and how long in retirement

It is good to know that I could retire now if I wanted to, and maintain my current lifestyle. $10,800 pm should enable us to continue owning a car, have house help, attend live concerts at MBS, and travel once a year.

But we will try and work till the official retirement age of 62 and still enjoy the above activities in the meantime.

This is a very stupid, naive and childish comment. Shallow.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The key operative word here is "retire comfortably".

Believe me, when you have to settle down at a different place each time, with different culture, different food, language and environment (especially one that is less secure and standard of living is not high compared to Singapore) you will not be comfortable. As you get older, you would want familiarity of surroundings and friends, convenience to facilities and amenities.

The cost of living in these 3rd world countries are lower for a reason.

At the end of the day, you will get what you pay for. There is no free lunch.

Good luck on your choice of retirement location. You don't have to come here and get permission on where you want retire in.

Do you look down on people living in KL, Penang, Malacca, Vietnam, Thailand, etc?
Pls don't be arrogant.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The key operative word here is "retire comfortably".

Believe me, when you have to settle down at a different place each time, with different culture, different food, language and environment (especially one that is less secure and standard of living is not high compared to Singapore) you will not be comfortable. As you get older, you would want familiarity of surroundings and friends, convenience to facilities and amenities.

The cost of living in these 3rd world countries are lower for a reason.

At the end of the day, you will get what you pay for. There is no free lunch.

Good luck on your choice of retirement location. You don't have to come here and get permission on where you want retire in.

How old are you? 18?

In every city, there are expensive places. If you want to stay in upmarket places in KL, Penang and Thailand, then you will have find it cheaper to stay put in Singapore. Surprise, surprise.

Ask the experts.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Do you look down on people living in KL, Penang, Malacca, Vietnam, Thailand, etc?
Pls don't be arrogant.

Are you stupid? You can live comfortably in condos in KL & Penang at a fraction of the cost in SG. These places are upscale areas by local standards.

Pls go back to primary school.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How old are you? 18?

In every city, there are expensive places. If you want to stay in upmarket places in KL, Penang and Thailand, then you will have find it cheaper to stay put in Singapore. Surprise, surprise.

Ask the experts.

[Canberra]

Hello everyone, Canberra here to share a friend's remuneration package (approved by him)

As of year 2016, as follows below:

Designation/Appointment: credit risk analyst
Compensation: >200K
Working hours: 8-10 daily
Benefits: More than usual
Work-life balance: Lull period or Compilance leave

Feel free to discuss as he is open to share not-so-sensitive issues for fresh grads.

Thank you for sharing this brilliant idea. My wife and I do occasionally worry about our retirement. We don't earn as much as many of the forumers here. Currently we are living a comfortable middle class lifestyle. To maintain this lifestyle in retirement will be difficult as our lifestyle is supported by our active income.

So, after reading your posting here, we feel excited. Instead of Penang, we are thinking of retiring in KL, where we have relatives and friends.

Upon retirement at 55, we will rent out our paid up condo in Spore at $3500 pm and convert to RM to get about RM10k pm. With this passive income, we can rent a condo (RM2k pm), own a car and employ a helper in KL. We can also travel around neighbouring countries. At 65, once our CPF Life starts paying us, we can travel around the world as we will get $3600 pm extra.

We are excited to retire in a few years time, after our children got married and they move out.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

We can all retire in luxury at 55 if we have no dependents at 55 and our HDB flat is paid up. Here's how.

Retire in Penang. Penang is a good place to retire. Many expats all over the world are flocking to Penang to retire. Penang has a lot of interesting places to visit and explore. Penang is a multi cultural place and we can fit it well. People are very friendly.

Penang has a low cost of living for a retired couple.

- Rental for a 3 bedroom condo, facing the ocean RM1500 pm
- Food and utilities RM1000 pm
- Transport RM300 pm (assume purchasing a RM50k car in cash)
- Medical RM200 pm
- Entertainment RM500 pm
- Misc RM500 pm
- Total spending RM4000 pm

How do you finance your retirement expenses in Penang?

- Rent out your paid up HDB flat S$2500 pm
- Convert to RM, get RM7250 pm
- Savings RM3250 pm

So, if you have an open mind, you can enjoy a luxurious retirement in Penang. You can live in a condo with an ocean view and own a car.

Originally Posted by Canberra

Hello everyone, Canberra here to share a friend's remuneration package (approved by him)

As of year 2016, as follows below:

Designation/Appointment: [URL="://creditrepairex.com"]credit risk[/ analyst
Compensation: >200K
Working hours: 8-10 daily
Benefits: More than usual
Work-life balance: Lull period or Compilance leave

Feel free to discuss as he is open to share not-so-sensitive issues for fresh grads.

How many years experience for >200k pay? And qualification?

2 key retirement assets are our

1. HDB flat
2. CPF Life

When you got married, buy a HDB BTO flat. This is a highly subsidised public housing programme, the best in the world. It is a no brainier to buy a BTO flat because the price is lower than the resale flats around the vicinity. Which means you already make money from Day 1 when you got your keys. After 5 years MOP, you can sell at a profit and use it as down payment for a private condominium. Or you can just stay there and clear your mortgage fast. With no mortgage, you can sleep peacefully at night.

For CPF Life, you should target for the Enhanced CPF Life scheme as it gives the highest payout at 65. Keeping money in CPF is the best risk free investment. Don't try to get rich quick by putting your hard earned money into scam schemes which promise high returns. Don't be scammed.

When you retire, you can rent out your empty rooms, for $800 per room. So, for two rooms, you get $1600 pm. Your CPF Life will give you $3600 pm for a retired couple, so in total your passive income will be $5200 pm. If you live humbly, eating hawker food and don't own a car, this amount of passive income is very good.

If you want to live in luxury, living in a bungalow and drive a car, you can retire overseas. Rent out your flat for $2500 pm and plus your CPF Life payment of $3600, you get $6100 pm. Convert to RM and you get RM17k pm. You can rent a bungalow and drive a big car in Malaysia with this income. With spare change to travel the world.