Ask the expert: How much do we really need for retirement in Singapore?

How much do we really need before we can bid goodbye to the corporate world? A million dollars sounds like the magic number – enough to put your feet up, enjoy a few good holidays and never worry about money again.

But in Singapore, where the cost of living is high and retirement can stretch for 25 to 30 years, that number may not go as far as we think. For women in particular, who tend to live longer, it never hurts to plan for retirement from as early as your very first pay cheque.

So... Is $1 million enough?

Assuming one retires at Singapore’s retirement age of 64, using a conservative 4 per cent withdrawal rate (you withdraw 4 per cent of your savings in year one, then adjust that amount for inflation each subsequent year), that is roughly $40,000 a year, or about $3,300 a month for 25 years, before CPF Life payouts kick in. And we’re assuming the home is fully paid off.

That funds a genuinely comfortable, though not lavish, retirement: regular dining out, regional travel a few times a year, healthcare buffers, hobbies, spoiling grandchildren. It cannot fund a high-end lifestyle, frequent long-haul travel, or a car, without eating into the principal faster than what is sustainable.

Already have $1 million? Make it last

Think in three layers:

1. CPF as the fixed income floor. CPF Life payouts remove longevity risk from part of the equation, so this is your foundation, not your whole plan.
2. Invest the money outside CPF. Broad, low-cost global index funds like VWRA over concentrated stock bets or high-yield instruments like S-REITs work best, because retirement today can easily mean a 25 to 30-year runway, and you need the portfolio to keep growing, not just survive.
3. A separate healthcare and emergency buffer, ring-fenced. This exists so a health scare does not force you to sell growth assets at the worst possible time.

Know your CPF Life payout first, size your investment withdrawals around what is left, and treat the buffer as untouchable unless there is a genuine need.

How much should I save for retirement?

The idea of a single magic number might do more harm than good. It makes people either give up because it feels unreachable, or feel falsely safe once they hit it, without ever checking if it actually matches their lifestyle.

Instead, use a simple framework: Take your expected annual retirement expenses, divide by a safe withdrawal rate of around 3.5 to 4 per cent, then layer CPF Life on top as a separate income floor. For a household wanting a moderately comfortable, home-owned retirement in Singapore, that framework tends to land somewhere between $1 million and $1.8 million, outside of CPF. The framework matters more than the number, because everyone’s version of “comfortable” is different.

Chris Chong is a financial content creator and founder of HoneymoneySG. He is a former Chartered Accountant (Singapore) and Bachelor of Accountancy graduate from Nanyang Technological University. Follow him on Instagram or Tiktok at @honeymoneysg.