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

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

Most retirement advice is about saving. Far less covers the harder part: turning a CPF balance, an SRS account and a portfolio into a pay cheque that lasts as long as you do, and then passing on what is left without leaving your family a mess. Spend too fast and you run short in your eighties. Spend too slowly and you live smaller than you needed to. This course works 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 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 against essential spending
• Map a year-by-year drawdown across cash, investments, SRS and CPF from the last pay cheque onwards
• Write withdrawal and refill rules and test them against three market scenarios
• Plan housing and long-term care costs for later life using official schemes and sources
• Map every asset to how it passes on death and put a will, LPA and nominations in place
• Assemble an estate file your family can find and use

Syllabus

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

Estimate what retirement will cost you from today's spending, adjust it for inflation, and pick an age to plan to that protects you if you live long.

• 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

Size the part of your spending that guaranteed income must cover, fit your CPF LIFE plan and start age into that floor, and see what raises 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 CPF LIFE payouts, decide which accounts to draw from first, and time SRS withdrawals around tax.

• 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

Compare fixed, percentage and guardrail withdrawal methods and the bucket approach, then write refill rules that decide 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

Run your drawdown through an early crash, a stretch of high inflation and a flat decade, and see what a long 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 role your home plays in retirement, cost healthcare and long-term care, and plan who will care for 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

Understand what a will controls and what passes outside it, what happens without one, and 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

Choose executors and trustees, understand probate and the Public Trustee, decide when a trust helps, and assemble 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 to make or update documents such as a will or LPA. The exercises use your CPF statement, the CPF LIFE estimator and your own spending.

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

That course works out your number and the path to it, including stopping work early, and gives a first draft of drawdown. This course goes deeper on drawing savings down in retirement, choosing CPF LIFE options in the whole plan, later-life housing and care, and estate planning.

Do I still need a lawyer for my will?

The course explains what each document does so you can make better decisions and ask better questions. For a will with 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 how to plan and decide, and never tells you what to buy. Check 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.

Explore more

• All Academy courses