And after all the hue and cry about the changes to the CPF system ... what are you going to do about it? Personally, I mean.A couple of points, if they were not that clear to you previously, ought to have become somewhat clearer by now. Firstly, whether you like it or not, chances are that you WILL live to a ripe old age. Here's some calculations by Tan Kin Lian, done in an ST article on 21 Sep:
"Many people think their chances of reaching 85 are slim. But they are mistaken. I estimate more than 50 per cent of the population will live to age 85 and beyond.
You do not believe me?
The Department of Statistics' publication Population Trends has data for the death rates of each age group over a period of 25 years from 1980 to 2005. Death rates have been falling over this period by about 3 per cent yearly.
I did some projections based on that data, assuming the decline will continue. This is likely to be the case, at least for the next 10 to 20 years. It has been falling at this rate for the past 25 years. Why should it stop now?
Based on my projections, a male at age 55 today has a 57 per cent chance of surviving to age 85, and 32 per cent chance of hitting 95. The probability for a female is higher, at 70 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.
If you still do not believe me, remember I am referring to people who are 55 years and less today. This group will have a longer life expectancy compared to that of the older people living today."
Secondly, for many Singaporeans, CPF money alone won't be able to sustain them through their retirement. If these Singaporeans also do not have children to support them (adult children being the traditional safety net for the aged, in Asian societies), then the challenge grows greater.
Whatever the government may do now at the policy level, understand that it's pitched at the subsistence level. A monthly annuity payout of $300 is really just to ensure that you'll have enough money to buy your bowl of rice every day with a few sticks of veggies and toufu in it. It's to make sure that when you're old and wrinkled, you don't have to die of starvation on Singapore's nice, clean streets and spoil the scenery for tourists.
So if you want to enjoy your retirement years in much better shape than that, Mr Wang suggests that you spend some time thinking about how to save, invest and grow your money more effectively.
There's no point complaining: "But I only earn $X every month now, and after I pay my utilities bill and my handphone bill and my mortgage and my car instalment and my food expenses and give $Y to my parents, I only have $Z left, I have hardly anything left over to save."
Because, folks, it's your own life. And you know our kind of government is definitely not the kind that's going to give you any free money on a silver platter.
So you have to find a way, that's all.
Me, I drew up my first financial plan for retirement, during my 3rd year of working life. A crude model, no doubt, since I didn't know very much about personal financial planning then, but it got me started.
Whatever the government may do now at the policy level, understand that it's pitched at the subsistence level. A monthly annuity payout of $300 is really just to ensure that you'll have enough money to buy your bowl of rice every day with a few sticks of veggies and toufu in it. It's to make sure that when you're old and wrinkled, you don't have to die of starvation on Singapore's nice, clean streets and spoil the scenery for tourists.
So if you want to enjoy your retirement years in much better shape than that, Mr Wang suggests that you spend some time thinking about how to save, invest and grow your money more effectively.
There's no point complaining: "But I only earn $X every month now, and after I pay my utilities bill and my handphone bill and my mortgage and my car instalment and my food expenses and give $Y to my parents, I only have $Z left, I have hardly anything left over to save."
Because, folks, it's your own life. And you know our kind of government is definitely not the kind that's going to give you any free money on a silver platter.
So you have to find a way, that's all.
Me, I drew up my first financial plan for retirement, during my 3rd year of working life. A crude model, no doubt, since I didn't know very much about personal financial planning then, but it got me started.
What about you?
Here's an interesting exercise - think of five ways you could cut down your expenses, without compromising the quality of life that you're accustomed to right now. No, let's make it more interesting - think of five ways you could cut down your expenses, which would either not compromise your current quality of life, OR improve it.