15 Sep 2025
SOURCE: CPF Board
Starting a family and owning a home are two heavy commitments. Both require lots of financial planning, preparation and a strong understanding of your needs. It can be difficult to keep track of everything, but it’s rewarding when you pull it off! The housing planning checklist for parents aims to help you balance your housing plans with your parenting responsibilities, so you don’t compromise either.
At this stage, you’re either getting things ready for your newborn, or planning around a young child. The most important things to note about home purchases at this point are cost, and location.
When buying a home, the price of the home is of course a big consideration, but so is your housing loan. The Home Purchase Planner is a tool that can help you estimate your home purchase budget, as well as the amount of housing loan you can get, and project the impact on your retirement savings.
If you need more resources for financing your housing plans, there are some handy CPF calculators and resources for housing planning you can refer to as well. For first-time resale flat buyers, there’s also a guide to help you take that first step towards owning your ideal home.
The location of your home base is key in this phase of your life, and a big part involves convenience, especially for your child. For example, are there playgrounds and family-friendly amenities nearby, and is it close to a school for a fuss-free daily commute?
Another key consideration is family support. By choosing to live close to your parents, they can help with caregiving and also enjoy the ease of getting to see their grandkids as well. This not only strengthens familial ties, but can also impact your finances.
The Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) is a CPF housing grant designed to encourage families to live closer together, and supports multi-generational living. Under this grant, married couples and/or families can get $20,000 for living within 4km2 of their parents, thereby alleviating some of the costs of buying a home. If you want to find out more about the PHG, the guide to enhanced CPF housing and proximity grant is a good starting point to map out your journey.
In the blink of an eye, your young ones have reached their youth years. They are asserting their independence and learning how to make their own life decisions. At this stage, you may be reviewing if your current housing situation still fulfils your family’s needs.
For one, it’s possible that the location of your current home may no longer be as convenient as it once was. As your child grows older and moves to secondary school or tertiary institutions, they may start traveling further distances on their own. If you have more than one child, they may also be needing separate bedrooms if they are of different genders.
As you look through your wishlist, you’d want to ensure that it also makes sense financially. This process differs from your first home purchase, as you will need to sell your existing home and manage financing timelines carefully, which affects your budgeting. Don’t forget, a new home shouldn’t take you further away from your dream retirement. An alternative you could also consider is renovating your home to provide a more conducive environment for your family.
Before you make a decision, you can use the Home Purchase Planner to work out your housing budget and its impact on your retirement. Understanding what happens to the sales proceeds after selling your home is also an important part of upgrading your home, as these form the foundation of your funds.
When your child becomes fully independent, the focus shifts yet again. At this point, you can put the focus on yourself and your retirement years. This mindset extends to your home as well, and how it can support your retirement planning.
Monetising your home helps you to boost your retirement income. First, it’s important to decide if you want to keep living in your current home. If you’re thinking of moving to a smaller house, you may be able to enjoy the Silver Housing Bonus if eligible. If you do not wish to move, the Lease Buyback Scheme enables you to supplement your retirement income by selling part of your flat’s lease while you continue to live in it.
When looking for a home to spend your retirement years in, it’s important to consider your own needs in those years. Access to healthcare institutions, convenience in the form of amenities and shops are some of the basic ones. You can also consider neighbourhoods where your children are living or would want to move into when setting up their own homes in the future. This way, you or your child would be able to benefit from the Proximity Housing Grant mentioned above.
If you’re keen to learn more, here are three retirement housing options for you to help you get started.
Your home is more than just a roof over your head. By knowing the various monetary considerations around it, you can better prepare for not only your family, but for your own retirement years as well.
Information in this article is accurate as at the date of publication.
