04 Sep 2019 

SOURCE: CPF Board

Are you prepared to meet your future retirement needs? If you need some help, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you kick off your retirement planning.​​​

Determine your monthly expenses during retirement

Begin by estimating the monthly expenditure for your daily needs and desired lifestyle during retirement. You can do a projection based on your current expenses for necessities, and adding the costs for leisure and/or enrichment activities you may want to pursue in your golden years.

Alternatively, a good estimate is to have a monthly retirement income of 70% of your last drawn salary. The amount that you derive would be an indication of the monthly income you’ll need from your CPF LIFE payouts and/or personal savings.

Estimate your retirement sum to set aside

Based on your estimated monthly expenses, you can use the CPF LIFE Estimator to gauge how much you’ll need to set aside for retirement.

If you are turning 55 this year, you can refer to the Basic, Full, and Enhanced Retirement Sums as a general guide on the retirement sum you will need to set aside for your desired monthly payouts.

Work towards your goal

Work towards your retirement goals by clearing your debts early so that you can save more for the future.

You can grow your savings by topping up your Special Account up to the current Full Retirement Sum (FRS) (if you are below age 55) or Retirement Account up to the current Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) (if you are aged 55 or above) under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme (RSTU).*

Enjoy dollar-for-dollar tax relief of up to $7000^ for top-ups in cash, while your CPF savings grow at up to 6% per annum#! 

Check out simple ways to save money in your everyday life. For budgeting tips and techniques, you can read this article!

^*Top-ups under the RSTU Scheme are irreversible.

^{^}Up to $7,000 per calendar year and applicable only for cash top-ups up to the current Full Retirement Sum (FRS). Cash top-ups beyond the current FRS will not be eligible for tax relief. In total, you can enjoy tax relief of up to $14,000 per calendar year (maximum $7,000 for self and maximum $7,000 for loved ones). Loved ones refer to your parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, spouse and siblings. To qualify for tax relief for cash top-ups made to your spouse or siblings, they must not have an annual income of more than $4,000 in the year preceding the year of top-up (e.g. salary or tax-exempt income such as bank interest, dividends, and pension) or be handicapped. Overall personal income tax relief cap of $80,000 applies for cash top-ups to CPF accounts. 

^#This includes extra interest on t​he first $60,000 of your combined CPF balances (with up to $20,000 from the OA). Please find out more about earning interest on your CPF here​​.​

Information updated as at 27/8/2020