The covid-19 recession will hit the middle class hard and the middle class will suffer the most when retired. If you belong to the middle-income class, please read on.
How much do you need for retirement? Financial experts have given a figure of around S$750,000 to S$1million. This looks like an amount that many of us might not be able to put aside, especially so for the lower-income household.
But ironically, the lower-income group are not the ones having to worry about retirement. With limited disposable income through their life, they are used to a simple lifestyle and low living expenses.
In addition, when the lower 20% income Singaporean turn 65, they will be supported by the CPF Silver Support Scheme. – , $, for the rest of their lives.
Together with their CPF LIFE payout, they should be able to live a simple life(like they used to), during their retirement days.
So, who needs to worry the most about retirement? The middle-income class.
A research led by Assistant Professor Ng Kok Hoe from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy gathered people aged 55 and above to talk about what they considered to be their basic standard of living. The result shows that a single man or woman aged 65 and above would need at least $1,379 a month to sustain it.
A couple aged 65 and above would need $2,351. The report also shows that the basic retirement payouts from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) alone may also be inadequate.
This amount is coincidentally similar to what you will receive with a CPF LIFE standard plan monthly payout(between $1,390 to $1,490) if you have the current Full Retirement Sum (FRS) of $181,000 in your retirement account.
There are some fear mongering talks that the CPF Minimum Sum (now known as Full Retirement Sum) is too high and that people will not be able to meet it as the Government ‘seems to be increasing it after 55’. Please don’t listen to them! FRS is set for each cohort when they reach 55, once you reach 55, the FRS for you will not increase. The amount of FRS increase over different cohort is also common sense. Due to inflation, a dollar today will worth less, ten years from now.
But please remember, the research was based on a basic standard of living. The amount set for your FRS will not be able to cover your frequent eating out at a restaurant or your yearly trip to Korea or Europe. If you want a “better” retirement life, yes, you might have to save the $500,000 you wanted to, by age 55.
, , .