What kind of outrageous fee did you get ?

I am charged 0.25% percent + nominal fee for investing in equity. Just buy STI ETF using SRS when you dividend level of STI hits 5%.

If you dont invest, then SRS is really a cash investment. 0.25% leh . If you hold for 10 years, assume 4% missed growth, the value of this cash is 40% drop in purchasing power.

In fact SRS is my defacto equity account. I hold it to do equity. I prefer this to using my real free cash float which is unrestricted.

Married couple
Lives in a condominium unit in the OCR
Our combined net worth is average for our age group
Total net worth only $2.3 mil, including our home
We hope to retire by 55
How about you?

mid 40s with 2 kids in primary school (we all living overseas)

income after tax S$140k per annum
passive income: S$50k per annum
cash on hand : S$ 700k
stocks: S$50k
CPF: 0 , used all up to buy HDB more than a decade ago

Singapore Property : value 500K left loan 50k
3 units of Foreign Property : valued in Singapore dollar S$ 2.5 mill
Foreign property Loan : 700K

i am just a mediocre compared to most here...

If you live within your means and Do not use CPF to buy house.

CPF is definitely enough for retirement, don't even need to transfer OA to SA

The problem is almost all singaporeans lack discipline. Always tempted by bigger houses

Issue is property prices are expensive. We cant withdraw the CPF totally when needed at old age. So might as well use it to buy house now.

If you use CPF to buy house, then make sure that is cash for retirement.

Couple, 34 & 32 with a very young kid. Work and live in Singapore.

Total cash ~$260k
Total liquid investment (equity) ~$255k
Total illiquid investment (share options which haven't matured, insurance, fixed deposit etc) ~$200k
Total CPF (OA + SA + MA) ~$360k
Total properties estimated value ~$1.5m
Total liabilities (outstanding loans) ~$880k

Networth is hence ~$1.7m

Among my high flying friends, our net worth is nothing to shout about. We are close to reaching our 50s yet our net worth is only about $2m combined. We live in a small two bedroom condo which will be our retirement home. I think we are below average in our age group. What do you think?

You are doing very well as a couple. You are a couple multi millionaire. Don't need to compare with your friends or other people.

Be happy and contented with your achievements. You are very successful because you have achieved the 5 Cs, especially Condominium, Cash and Car. 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB public housing, so being able to own and live in a private property in Singapore is a big achievement.

Not only that, you can even afford to retire in a condominium, which is again very rare as there are those who may live in a condo but not able to retire in them as they can't afford to clear their condo mortgage by the time they retire.

Well done! By the way, I am 50 and already retired in my 40s.

Well said. These 3 avenues or instruments set up by the gahmen are adequate to sustain a person's requirement.

It is inevitable that most people will use their CPF to fund their property purchase. That is ok. Along your career, as you pay down your mortgage and get promoted and thus salary increases, dont be tempted or fall into lifestyle inflation trap.

If you don't elevate your lifestyle as your income grows, you will be able to slowly return the money to CPF, the amount that you withdrew from it to fund your property purchase.

I was able to start returning money to my CPF account in my mid-40s, and completely paid up to my CPF account all that I withdrew for property purchase when I reached 55. By the way, we have 2 condos.

So just based on our CPF, SRS and CPF Life we are expecting the following income stream in our retirement:

From now to 61 yo
CPF Interest : $48k pa

From 62 to 64 yo
CPF Interest : $48k pa
SRS drawdown : $29k pa

From 65 to 71 yo
CPF Interest: $48k pa
SRS Drawdown: $29k pa
CPF life payout: $40k pa

From 72 yo onwards
CPF Interest: $48k pa
CPF Life : $40k pa

We are supplementing the above with shares dividends (~$60k pa) and rental income (~ $36k pa).

My spouse and I hope to retire at 55. We are a middle class, average couple who lives in a fully paid up, three bedder, relatively new condominium unit located in a middle class district.

We will have about S$1m to spend from age 55 to 65. Returns from the S$1m and capital drawdown will last us nicely over 10 years. We plan to travel the world and enjoy the S$1m while we are still not so old and healthy. At age 65 onwards, we will get S$48k pa from our combined CPF Life.

When we are 65, we plan not to own a car as there is no need to own one since our condominium is well located and public transportation is easily accessible. Owning a car when in retirement is a big waste of money, we reckon. Our children works hard and they will earn a good living and accumulate their own wealth. We don't want to spoil them by leaving behind so much wealth. They are smart and will do well in life, just like we did.