Not enough for even a simple retirement
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I am 58 this year and thinking of retiring because of poor health. What I am writing is all true facts.
Just now I sat down to seriously reflect on my future. I expect what I am finally going to find out will be bad news.
I went to CPF website and use the calculator provided, to find out how much money I will need to retire simply.
I key in $1,000 monthly allowance and after filling up other details on my personal savings and balance of my HDB loans,
I submitted my request.
Guess how much cash CPF calculator said I need if i want to retire now?
S$269,000 !!!
Even if I sell my 4 room flat, and buy a studio apartment, I would not have that much cash.
I am starting to worry.
I have made an appointment to talk to CPF officer and hopefully rework the figures again with them. I dont think I will sleep well tonight.
My advice to you all young people is work out your retirement fund now. Use the CPF calculator to help you work out the sums. Dont wait until its to late to do anything for your retirement.
Dont spend lavishly on housing unless you can afford it. -
knn.. u so old already still need every month 1k? what your gona spend?? on those china gers is it?? does your children no give you a single cent??
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There is a way. You can consider leasing you flat out and live in a country with a lower cost of living like Thailand of Philippines. This option is increasing attractive for many retirees who want to have a better life on a shoe string budget. I believe you can get by very comfortably at $300 a month. The prices of air tickets have fallen too, so even if you need to come back and visit your relatives it would not be costly. Healthcare is also more affordable too.
If you need info you can drop me a mail, i can tell you what ever limited info i have. -
wudimax
You dont need to be so rude, if you dont like what I post just keep quiet will do. One day you will face the same problem.
I have no wife now, and no kids since you want to know. -
Calvin
Thanks for your advice.
My next door neighbours, he is a taxi driver and the wife is a nurse. He just bought a house in Pekan Nanas in Johor for R$170,000. This house is for his retirement in future. He is only 40.
He once told me he cant afford to retire here because the cost of living will get worst in 20 years time. His wife is from Pontian.
I checked out rentals in Ipoh, I have a close friend who lives there. It is only R$800 for a 3 room house. I think Malaysia is closer to home, Thailand is a strange country and the language will be a problem.
I think by 2016 , 1,000 dollars will only be about $250 in today's money value. -
Lets be honest shall we?
Most people who don't have enough for retirement must have screwed up their money along the way some how. Either buying a car when it is not really necessary, lost money on stocks or gambling or borrowing too heavily etc. -
Salman
You cannot talk this way. Our generation do not have big starting salaries like today's youngsters.
My first salary in a bank was only $180 in 1970.
I dont screw up my savings like you think, and i dont gamble. I did not save enough because there is not enough left to save. But I never screw up my money.
You cannot generalise by using such a statement. Not many people earn alot of money like you, you must understand that first. -
singapore is like tat, u buy a hse, it ties u down for 30 yrs, after u finish paying ur hse, how much cpf hav u got left??? i believe its not enuff for the 80k min to take out half of the money? yea n u DO NOT own the house, u just LEASE it from the HDB. so much for hown OWNERSHIP huh? n the government keep harping on u owning the house where actual fact ur just leasing the flat...
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how much do u have in ur CPF?
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I believe, no matter how much you have in the CPF account, at the end of the day, they'd still "calculate" about $300 per month when you reach retirement age.Originally posted by NothingLeft:I am 58 this year and thinking of retiring because of poor health. What I am writing is all true facts.
Just now I sat down to seriously reflect on my future. I expect what I am finally going to find out will be bad news.
I went to CPF website and use the calculator provided, to find out how much money I will need to retire simply.
I key in $1,000 monthly allowance and after filling up other details on my personal savings and balance of my HDB loans,
I submitted my request.
Guess how much cash CPF calculator said I need if i want to retire now?
S$269,000 !!!
Even if I sell my 4 room flat, and buy a studio apartment, I would not have that much cash.
I am starting to worry.
I have made an appointment to talk to CPF officer and hopefully rework the figures again with them. I dont think I will sleep well tonight.
My advice to you all young people is work out your retirement fund now. Use the CPF calculator to help you work out the sums. Dont wait until its to late to do anything for your retirement.
Dont spend lavishly on housing unless you can afford it.
My favored option is to give up citizenship and withdraw every damn dollar!
I'm retiring elsewhere!
WTF can $300 per month do??? If I grow old and come down with some serious medical problems, what can $300 do???
To me, CPF retirement fund is like an empty promise. -
Salman, I agree with thread starter.Originally posted by Salman:Lets be honest shall we?
Most people who don't have enough for retirement must have screwed up their money along the way some how. Either buying a car when it is not really necessary, lost money on stocks or gambling or borrowing too heavily etc.
You shouldn't generalize and assume old people screw up savings.
The time will come, when your retirement comes, and you find out for yourself. Even if you have a tidy sum external of CPF, you can test the reliability of Retirement Fund by calculating based on what is in your RF.
When you reach retirement age, see if you can get by on a $300 per month funds. -
its like the olden days war bonds, u give money to the gov, then the gov give it to you aeons later. monetary value depreciates.Originally posted by ShutterBug:I believe, no matter how much you have in the CPF account, at the end of the day, they'd still "calculate" about $300 per month when you reach retirement age.
My favored option is to give up citizenship and withdraw every damn dollar!
I'm retiring elsewhere!
WTF can $300 per month do??? If I grow old and come down with some serious medical problems, what can $300 do???
To me, CPF retirement fund is like an empty promise. -
For the next five years, the retiree would be able to withdraw the money in full if they surrender their citizenship.
After that, when the population is aging and health cost increases, I am not sure CPF can really give the money for all the retirees who want to migrate.
Most probably, what you have slogged for your whole life will be locked in CPF without you having a chance to enjoy it at all.
Every one will be a poor rich man, where their money is a just number in a account book and cannot be used. -
I agree that life is tougher as time goes by and CPF is definitely not a solutionto rectify this problem. I kinda of felt sorry for some of the older generation cos they work hard and save hard but the result they get is this. Hopefully I will not get into this mess when I grow old...
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NothingLeft, I sympathize with ppl in yr generation. You grow up and got older in an era when things appreciated like there is no tomorrow. Government has been asking ppl to upgrade, in their plan taxis drivers should be able to buy executive condo, not that such condo would be priced lower but they expected taxi drivers income would increase. Their tone changed when costs of business become too high due to high rental and high labour costs.Originally posted by NothingLeft:I am 58 this year and thinking of retiring because of poor health. What I am writing is all true facts.
Just now I sat down to seriously reflect on my future. I expect what I am finally going to find out will be bad news.
I went to CPF website and use the calculator provided, to find out how much money I will need to retire simply.
I key in $1,000 monthly allowance and after filling up other details on my personal savings and balance of my HDB loans,
I submitted my request.
Guess how much cash CPF calculator said I need if i want to retire now?
S$269,000 !!!
Even if I sell my 4 room flat, and buy a studio apartment, I would not have that much cash.
I am starting to worry.
I have made an appointment to talk to CPF officer and hopefully rework the figures again with them. I dont think I will sleep well tonight.
My advice to you all young people is work out your retirement fund now. Use the CPF calculator to help you work out the sums. Dont wait until its to late to do anything for your retirement.
Dont spend lavishly on housing unless you can afford it.
When you buy an HDB flat you actually paid much more because of the interest. Nobody realized the impact because you did not pay in cash. Before we paid up for the first flat, many upgraded by moving to a bigger flat, taking up more loans and paying more interests. Can you now sell the flat and get back all the money, principal plus interest?? This may be too late to realise, but few ppl realise the problem we got ourselves in when it was automatic in singapore for everybody to buy a flat, whether we need it or not. You are not alone for many singaporeans are in the same shoes, not much of a consolation for you, but at the appropriate time, through the appropriate channels, let your voices add up, its time for the government to take note.
Retiring overseas is a good option to stretch your retirement money. malaysia is an option, outskirt of KL is a good option if you don't want to go to a small town or village. South China is also an option, outskirt of Xiamen is a good option when the lifestyle is very similar and much more affordable, just be careful if you allow a local woman into your life, cheaper but ... or unless she truely wants to retire with you also.
In all these areas, medical care is an important issue. You can use local GP for cough and cold but surgery and hospitalization are expensive for foreigner. Buy a travel insurance that provide repatriation to singapore during emergency.
If you have a better option, pls let us know. good luck. -
CPF is never enough when it's a faster rising target.
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With inflation in Singapore, rising costs of living and a stagnant salary package, can we truly expect CPF to be sufficient for retirement packages?
The CPF bubble has burst. Other options such as personal investment policies or buying long-term equity bonds are alternatives to preparing for retirement.
My sympathies to the thread-starter; unfortunately, during his time, most people kept faith that CPF contributions would be sufficient to ride future storms and safeguard a person during old age. -
As it stands now, CPF Retirement Fund is useless.
Apart from using it to pay for a HDB flat, it will do no good in retirement with rising healthcare, and general cost of living.
Doesn't mean that people who have children will get financial support from their children. I mean, look at the current number of people in the Bankrupt Listings in ST, and then, mostly are just able to get by hand-to-mouth, or are heavily committed in living their lifestyles.
WTF, the government should just do away with this retirement fund thing as it makes no difference; people are still seeking help even when receiving $300 per month. If you have Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, a heart condition, $300 can't pay for squat the monthly medical costs!!! Even if you don't eat rice, and just buy medication, it isn't ENOUGH!
I urge the government to GET REAL MAN!!! -
the problem faced by the thread starter is faced by millions of retirees all over the world. in america and england the ability to afford retirements is even far worst than in singapore. however the good thing in those countries is that chances are the property value of their freehold homes would continue to rise whereas in singapore the value of HDB flats will continue to fall in real terms. Couple of reasons, people in singapore do not technically own their homes. I never understood the logic of buying a 99 year lease on a HDB flat. HDB owners pay the government above market value rents, disguised as mortgages, for the first 25-30years. As time goes by the lesser the number of years left on your lease the lower the value of the HDB flat is going to be in the future. The worst part about owning a HDB flat is the mountain of conditions each flat owner faces when it comes to selling or even buying. I also never understood the idea of not being able to raise financing on ones own HDB property. there is plenty of locked up equity in HDB flats. The best bet for the trend setter would be to sell his flat and buy another property in malaysia. retire in malaysia! Its the cheapest thing to do and plus its close proximity to singapore makes it more attractive. the truth is singapore 10-15 years down the road is going to be a rich mans play ground. the Swiss standard of living is for the rich, unfortunately not for the asset poor.
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I have worked it out....Work in Singapore when you are young, live in Malaysia or Thailand when you want to retire. Cash out and go. My figures indicate that I can retire quite comfortably in Malaysia at 50...it will be even more comfortable if I work till 55. Then I can go there, buy a house and start a retirement job...
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Originally posted by Salman:
Do you even know the word "honest" ?
Lets be honest shall we?
Most people who don't have enough for retirement must have screwed up their money along the way some how. Either buying a car when it is not really necessary, lost money on stocks or gambling or borrowing too heavily etc.
For a person who boasts of a tertiary education in economics, your qualification certainly reveals itself in the economic depth of a "no brainer".
Buying a car with its original value inflated 200 percent by legislations, and with its economic use artificially regulated to only twenty years - should we penalise a person in this manner, when the vehicle is needed to make one's livelihood ?
Should we not question the higher cost of living in Singapore - despite a strong Singapore Dollar and a strong industrial sector that is to give us a greater comparative advantage over the regional agricultural economies ?
Should we also not question the high cost of Public Housing that require any average Singaporean a period of twenty years to pay for the price of homes built under the Public Housing Program ?
Yet the selling prices do not reflect the supposed lower costs of Public Housing Program - which is in the monopolistic control of the Government, with the price of public housing being pegged at prices only a few percentage points lower than Private Developments.
This is despite the fact that land is seized by legislation with compensation at a fraction of market price, and building costs should have been lower due to the massive economies of scale in the size of Public Housing, and with the building costs of the Public Housing Program and its supporting infrastrucure being funded through the cheap money taken from the accumulated funds in our CPF.
With a National Scheme that sucks every cent from the pocket of the Singaporeans through a multi-dimensional business facets - that force Singaporeans to depend on, as all forms of alternative competitions have been dismantled and wiped out; is it any wonder that Singaporeans have nothing left to survive with once any Singaporean pass his economic Life ? -
This I heard is what 25% of population is currently doing.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:I have worked it out....Work in Singapore when you are young, live in Malaysia or Thailand when you want to retire. Cash out and go. My figures indicate that I can retire quite comfortably in Malaysia at 50...it will be even more comfortable if I work till 55. Then I can go there, buy a house and start a retirement job...
Soon, it can be 50% of people cashing out - then we'll see what our leaders will do or say. -
my parents have been looking at China as a retirement option ... even bought a condo there some time back ... I've been trying to talk them out of this crazy idea, i'd be worried about them living there ...
but yeah, I'm not entirely convinced Singapore is a place for old people ... in anycase we can all take a lesson from the thread starter: it's a good idea to be married, at least there's someone to share your burden with in your golden years ... -
why is retiring in China a crazy option? depending on the city, especially our parents who still speak dialects, it can be very comfortable and affordable to retire in some cities, like Xiamen. The only concern there is the weather, sometimes changes are drastic, need to get used to and be prepared.Originally posted by Fatum:my parents have been looking at China as a retirement option ... even bought a condo there some time back ... I've been trying to talk them out of this crazy idea, i'd be worried about them living there ...
but yeah, I'm not entirely convinced Singapore is a place for old people ... in anycase we can all take a lesson from the thread starter: it's a good idea to be married, at least there's someone to share your burden with in your golden years ...
Security wise, as long as you don't show off your money, it is safer to stay in many cities in china than JB or some parts of KL.
Thailand is cheap and the people are nice there, but you really must speak Thai and enjoy everything Thai, which bring us to a key question, what do we do in our retirement? every day play golf, go massage? My parents decided to stay put here, to be with the grandchildren, that is their joy (and I really appreciate that
). It is not an easy decision to make.