Endowus Singapore Retirement Report 2021: Almost 50% of Singaporeans have not started retirement planning

Singapore residents crossing the road

Do you know that though CPF members’ total balance has increased from roughly S$125 billion in 2006 to S$474 billion in March 2021, only 63.6% of active CPF members who turned 55 could set aside their Full Retirement Sum (FRS) or Basic Retirement Sum last year?

Hence, to better understand Singaporeans’ attitudes towards retirement, Endowus has worked with YouGov Singapore to develop the Endowus Singapore Retirement Report 2021. The survey took place in May this year with a sample size of 1099 adults, reflecting our tiny red dot’s adult profile population.

Here are its findings.

39% of Singaporeans are worried about retirement inadequacy

The survey revealed that about 1 in 3 Singaporeans are worried about retirement inadequacy. However, the results varied between the genders. Twice as many men than women confidently agreed that they hold sufficient money for retirement.

Almost 50% of people have not started planning for retirement

While 53% of Singaporeans are planning to use or are currently using CPF to fund their retirement, almost 50% of people have not started retirement planning. This is especially true for the younger age group under 35.

Lower-incomers are less likely to plan for their retirement with CPF
younger Singapore residents

Image Credits: The Jakarta Post

Another worrying factor is that those earning below S$3,000 are less likely to plan for their retirement with CPF when compared to those with incomes above S$6,000 per month. This thus also means that lower-incomers are not making full use of their CPF. It also lowers their chances of achieving the FRS for financial stability at retirement.

Only 25% are currently investing their CPF

The report also showed that close to 70% lack confidence in investing their own CPF monies. That is why only 25% are currently investing their CPF. However, most Singaporeans seek higher returns and ranked it as the most critical criteria for CPF investing.

30% are asking for tools on CPF investing knowledge

There seems to be a gap in using CPF around financial decisions; as such, a third of Singaporeans are requesting tools to help them understand the impact of their financial decisions around their CPF. Some are also appealing for resources to aid them in estimating retirement income from their CPF.

To that, Samuel Rhee, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Endowus, agrees. He said, “Considering these shifting time horizons and other uncertainties, more education may be needed to help Singaporeans make better use of their CPF, especially earlier in life, when savers have more time to take advantage of asset growth.”


What about you? Have you started retirement planning? Ponder over these things if you want to be on track to building your retirement fund. For the full Endowus Singapore Retirement Report 2021, please head to endowus.com/insights/singapore-retirement-report-2021.

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Invest Your SRS with MoneyOwl And Get Up To $200 Shopping Vouchers

The Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) is a voluntary scheme to encourage individuals to save for retirement. Unlike the Central Provident Fund (CPF), it is not compulsory to participate in the SRS scheme. A key benefit of SRS is that members can enjoy dollar for dollar tax relief, capped at $15,300 per annum for Singaporeans while saving towards their retirement goals. As a tax deferral scheme, when you subsequently withdraw from your SRS after the statutory retirement age, only 50% of the amounts withdrawn will be subject to tax. Individuals who would like to open an SRS account can do so with either DBS, UOB or OCBC bank.

Don’t leave your funds in SRS un-utilised

After transferring funds into your SRS account, don’t leave it un-utilised! According to Ministry of Finance (2019), over 28% of SRS contributions sit idle as cash balances, earning a low interest rate return of only 0.05% p.a.

There are many ways that you can utilitse your SRS contributions to grow your retirement funds, such as investing in unit trusts, ETFs, stocks, bonds (including Singapore Saving Bonds and Singapore Government Securities) and single premium insurance.  A particular affordable and convenient way is to invest your SRS funds with MoneyOwl to boost your future retirement fund. Here’s why you should do so.

Invest your SRS with MoneyOwl

Investing your SRS funds with MoneyOwl starts from as little as S$50/month or $100 as a lump sum. This means that it is possible to start early without waiting for your SRS funds to accumulate to a substantial level. Besides, there is no platform fee so that more wealth is generated for the you in the long run. With MoneyOwl, you gain access to a globally diversified portfolio of companies with good growth potential at value prices.

Receive up to $200 eCapita shopping vouchers

MoneyOwl is offering a limited time SRS promotion valid till 31 Dec 2020*

Tiers Qualifying Conditions* eCapita voucher
1 S$1,000 to S$10,000 fresh funds invested OR; $50
2 S$10,001 to S$50,000 fresh funds invested OR; $100
3 S$50,001 and above fresh funds invested $200

More details can be found on MoneyOwl’s website

*T&C:

  • This promotion is only valid from 9 November to 31 December 2020.
  • This promotion is only open to the first 500 people who successfully invest their SRS funds with MoneyOwl.
  • Promotion is valid for one-time top ups using SRS funds only. Regular savings plans/ monthly SRS investments are not eligible.
  • Promotion is not valid for cash investments and investments in WiseSaver portfolio.
  • You need to stay invested and not withdraw your funds for at least 2 months after the promotion period is over (i.e. till end-February 2021). Vouchers will be sent to you in March 2021.
  • Only new MoneyOwl clients are eligible for S$50 voucher redemptions.
  • Both existing and new MoneyOwl clients are eligible for the $100 or $200 voucher redemption.
  • MoneyOwl reserves the right to change these terms and conditions from time to time.

About MoneyOwl

MoneyOwl empowers and fulfils lives by helping people make wise decisions to achieve their financial goals. With one of the lowest fees in the market, invest your SRS funds with MoneyOwl today to boost your future retirement income.

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Delayed Retirement Age And Other Changes In Singapore Retirement

Despite the economic headwinds, the retirement age will begin to shoot up in 2022. Manpower Minister Josephine Teo highlighted they “did not arrive at this date lightly even though towards the later part of our deliberations, it was clear to us that the economic conditions have changed quite considerably.” All that is left for us to do is to adapt to the recent changes in the retirement age and CPF contributions.

INCREASED MOM RETIREMENT AGE

Foresee a gradual increase in Ministry of Manpower’s retirement age. Currently, the official retirement age is 62 years old. This number will increase to 63 years old in 2022 and to 65 years old in 2030. Do you think a higher retirement age is desirable?

Nonetheless, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong greatly emphasized that there is no change to the CPF payout ages and withdrawal. You may withdraw money from your CPF RA upon reaching 55 years old and start receiving CPF LIFE payouts from age 65. All these were discussed during the National Day Rally.

ALTERED EMPLOYMENT PROCESS

Possibly one of the most affected with the changes in the retirement and re-employment age is your employer. It is completely legitimate to work up to the MOM re-employment age. Your employer cannot deny you that.

At the moment, the re-employment age is 67. It will increase to 68 years old by 2022 and eventually become 70 years old by 2030. It is highly encourage that employers equip these employees with necessary training and skills to help them tackle the contemporary positions.

In light of the aging workforce, the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers made several other suggestions to restructure the work environment in Singapore.

RAISED CPF CONTRIBUTION RATES

Aside from the changes in retirement and re-employment age, the CPF contributions for workers beyond age 55 will be raised. This will be felt from January 1, 2021 onwards. The extra CPF contributions will go straight to your CPF Special Account.

When the CPF contributions for the 55-60 years old age group increases by 2021, the allocation for your CPF (SA) will jump from 3.5% to 5.5%. The rest will remain the same.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

May these guidelines and significant changes help you decide for a better future ahead!

Sources: 1 & 2

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The Risky Assumptions When Planning Your Retirement

Have you ever wondered how much money do we need in our silver years to be able to afford our desired lifestyles? Most adults would be relying solely on their CPF funds to finance their retirement. Asset-rich but cash poor retirees could be thinking of renting their HDB flats out to supplement their retirement funds. There are indeed several ways to build up our retirement income. However, we must be mindful of avoiding some of the dangerous assumptions when planning for our retirement.

Oversight To Account For Inflation

Inflation can have a big impact on retirees even if they have been historically low. According to Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s historical core inflation averaged an annual 1.7% since 1990. While 1.7% per annum may not appear alarming, it will compound to a staggering 66% over a span of 30 years! If you are a retiree receiving a fixed amount of stipend, the value of your money will decrease with each passing year. Hence, your retirement funds will be eroded by inflation if they are not carefully managed. Unfortunately, inflation does not stop just because you have stopped working. Therefore, it becomes important that your investment grow at rates that are at least equal or better than the rate of inflation to protect the value of your retirement funds. How do we then continue to enjoy the taste of life at our retirement years without feeling the pinch of inflation, especially when we have stopped working and receiving salaries?

Reliance on Rental Income From Property

Some adults plan to rely on rental income from investment properties to supplement their retirement funds. However, with the recent cooling measures announced in July 2018, investing in a second residential property is increasingly out of reach for most working adults.

Some retirees might be thinking of renting out the vacant rooms in their HDB flat especially as their children gradually might have left the home that they grew up in. However, this option comes with its own set of inconveniences. It could take a couple of months before a tenant can be found. There is also the administrative hassle of providing tenant’s details to HDB for record-keeping. Of course, all these pale in comparison to stories of horror tenants who damage the HDB flat or are tardy in their rental payments. In such circumstances, renting out their HDB flats may not be the best option to supplement your retirement income.

CPF LIFE Alone Might Be Insufficient

For a retiree who sets aside the maximum Enhanced Retirement Sum (S$271,500), the monthly payout from CPF LIFE is expected to be about $2,000 per month. If this amount is sufficient to pay for your daily expenses during your retirement, then this is definitely a good safety net for you to rely upon. However, it is not true that all Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents can depend on their CPF funds to finance their retirement entirely. In fact, it is widely reported that almost 4 in 10 CPF Accounts do not even have enough funds to meet the Basic Retirement Sum. For the group of retirees who do not generate enough funds from their CPF LIFE payouts, it is necessary to generate extra income from alternative sources such as investments.

Future-proof Your Retirement Funds With The AIA Retirement Saver (III)

Given that young professionals lead hectic lifestyles, they may not have the time and energy to plan for their eventual retirement. Yet, planning ahead to future proof our retirement is essential and the AIA Retirement Saver (III) is one of the ways to do that. The AIA Retirement Saver (III) is a simple and hassle-free retirement solution which provides a guaranteed stream of retirement income for 15 years. Your hard-earned savings is safely secured since the capital is guaranteed; you will get back every dollar that you contributed at your desired retirement age. On top of that, you will receive potential monthly dividends which could help to cushion the impact of inflation. Premium payment duration is also flexible; single lump sum, 5 years, 10 years or simply pay till your desired retirement age – 55, 60, 65 or 70. It is easy to get started because no medical underwriting and check-up is required. In essence, the AIA Retirement Saver (III) is truly an easy and stress-free solution tailored to any individual retirement plan.

Conquer The Uncertainty & Plan For Your Desired Retirement

With the AIA Retirement Saver (III) solution, individuals can cast aside their retirement worries as their savings will be in the good hands of professionals. The AIA Retirement Saver (III) can be an additional pillar to supplement your retirement funds. As it can be tailored to maintain the purchasing power of your retirement funds, you can be assured that you will still be able to enjoy your desired lifestyle during your twilight years. Don’t leave your retirement to uncertainty. You can certainly plan for the uncertainty by taking action now.

 

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