Retirement & Estate: income for life and a plan for what you leave

Turn your CPF, SRS and savings into income that lasts, check it against bad years, and get your will, LPA and nominations in order.

Most retirement help is about saving. This course covers what comes after that: turning a CPF balance, an SRS account and a portfolio into a regular income that lasts as long as you do, and then passing on what is left so your family is not left to sort out a mess. If you spend too fast, you can run short in your eighties, and if you spend too slowly, you live on less than you needed to. We go through the decisions in order: what you will spend, the floor CPF LIFE gives you, the years before payouts begin, which account to draw from first, how much to take each year, what bad markets do to the plan, and the legal documents that decide who gets what and who decides for you.

What you'll be able to do

• Estimate your retirement spending in current and future dollars and choose the age to plan to
• Size an income floor from CPF LIFE and other guaranteed income to cover essential spending
• Map a year-by-year drawdown across cash, investments, SRS and CPF, starting from your last pay cheque
• Write withdrawal and refill rules and test them against three market scenarios
• Plan for housing and long-term care costs in later life using official schemes and sources
• Map each asset to how it passes on death and put a will, LPA and nominations in place
• Put together an estate file your family can find and use

Syllabus

Module 1: Know what you will spend and how long it must last

Work out what retirement will cost you, starting from what you spend today. Adjust that figure for inflation and pick a planning age that still covers you if you live a long time.

• 1.1 Your retirement income is a stack, not one pay cheque
• 1.2 Estimate retirement spending from today's budget
• 1.3 Inflation and the age you plan to
• 1.4 Build your retirement spending estimate

Module 2: Build an income floor that pays for life

Work out how much of your spending guaranteed income has to cover, fit your CPF LIFE plan and start age into that floor, and see what can raise it.

• 2.1 Cover essentials with income that cannot run out
• 2.2 Choose your CPF LIFE plan and start age for the whole plan
• 2.3 Ways to raise the floor
• 2.4 Size your floor and the gap

Module 3: Fund the bridge years and choose the order of drawdown

Plan the years between your last pay cheque and your first CPF LIFE payout. You will decide which accounts to draw from first and when to take SRS withdrawals so the tax stays low.

• 3.1 The bridge years before CPF LIFE begins
• 3.2 Which account to draw from first
• 3.3 Time SRS withdrawals around your other income
• 3.4 Map your drawdown year by year

Module 4: Set withdrawal rules that adjust with markets

You compare fixed, percentage and guardrail withdrawal methods and the bucket approach. Then you write refill rules that say when to sell growth assets.

• 4.1 Fixed amount, fixed percentage or guardrails
• 4.2 The bucket approach: cash, bonds and growth
• 4.3 Refill rules: when to sell growth and when to wait
• 4.4 Write your withdrawal and refill rules

Module 5: Stress-test the plan against bad markets and a long life

You run your drawdown through three bad patches: an early crash, a long stretch of high inflation and a flat decade. Then you check what a longer life does to it.

• 5.1 Why a crash early in retirement does more damage
• 5.2 Three scenarios: crash, inflation and flat returns
• 5.3 Living longer than you planned
• 5.4 Run your plan through three scenarios

Module 6: Plan housing and care for later life

Decide what part your home will play in retirement, work out what healthcare and long-term care will cost, and plan who will look after you and how it will be paid for.

• 6.1 Your home as a retirement asset
• 6.2 Healthcare and long-term care costs after 65
• 6.3 Who will care for you, and how it will be paid for
• 6.4 Write your housing and care plan

Module 7: Put the legal documents in place

Learn what a will controls, what passes outside it and what happens if you die without one. You will also see how the LPA, Advance Medical Directive and Advance Care Planning protect you while you are alive.

• 7.1 What a will controls and how to make it valid
• 7.2 Without a will: intestacy and Muslim estates
• 7.3 Nominations and joint holdings pass outside the will
• 7.4 Who decides for you: the LPA, AMD and care wishes
• 7.5 Map every asset to how it passes

Module 8: Pass on what you leave without leaving a mess

You will choose executors and trustees, learn how probate and the Public Trustee work, decide whether a trust would help, and put together an estate file your family can use.

• 8.1 Executors, trustees and what they will have to do
• 8.2 Probate, letters of administration and the Public Trustee
• 8.3 When a trust helps
• 8.4 Gifts while you are alive and helping children with a home
• 8.5 Build your retirement income plan and estate file

Frequently asked questions

How long does the course take?

About ten hours of lessons and exercises, plus the time it takes to make or update documents such as a will or LPA. For the exercises you will need your CPF statement, the CPF LIFE estimator and your own spending figures.

How is this different from Financial independence: planning the number and the path?

That course works out your number and how to reach it, including stopping work early, and gives you a first draft of your drawdown. This course goes further into drawing down savings in retirement, choosing CPF LIFE options as part of the whole plan, housing and care in later life, and estate planning.

Do I still need a lawyer for my will?

It explains what each document does, so you can make better decisions and ask better questions. If your will involves trusts, overseas assets, a blended family or a business, speak to a lawyer.

Is this financial or legal advice?

No. The course is education and does not replace financial or legal advice. It teaches you how to plan and decide, and never tells you what to buy. Check the current rules with the CPF Board, IRAS, HDB, the Public Trustee and the Office of the Public Guardian, and speak to a licensed adviser or lawyer about your own situation.

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