The honest answer to the best annuity plan in Singapore is one most blog posts bury: for almost everyone it is CPF LIFE, the government scheme you are already in. Set aside the Full Retirement Sum of S$220,400 at 55 and CPF LIFE pays an estimated S$1,780 a month for life from age 65, backed by a Retirement Account rate of up to 6% with a 4% floor. No private annuity matches that payout per dollar, because no insurer can promise 4% risk-free. Private annuities from Income, Manulife, Singlife, China Taiping and others still earn their place, but mostly as a top-up for income before 65, for a payout you can shape yourself, or for idle SRS money. This guide gives the real 2026 numbers, separates the guaranteed slice from the projected one, and shows who each plan actually suits.
An annuity is a deal you make with an institution: you hand over money now, and it pays you a stream of income later, usually for the rest of your life. You give up the lump sum in exchange for the certainty that the cheque keeps coming no matter how long you live. That is the whole point of one, and it is what makes an annuity different from a fixed deposit or a portfolio you draw down yourself, where the money can run out.
Every annuity has two phases. During the accumulation phase you pay premiums, as a single lump sum or over a set term, and the money grows. During the payout phase the income starts, either for a fixed number of years or for as long as you live. A lifetime annuity is the version that solves the one risk a self-managed retirement cannot: outliving your savings.
In Singapore the word covers two very different things. CPF LIFE is a national longevity-pooling annuity that almost every working Singaporean is auto-enrolled into. Private annuities, also called retirement income plans, are insurance products you buy on top. The trap is treating them as rivals when, for most people, they are layers.
Before paying any insurer, look at the annuity you already own. CPF LIFE (Lifelong Income For the Elderly) pays a monthly sum for life from your payout eligibility age of 65, funded from your Retirement Account. The reason it is so hard to beat is the interest rate behind it: the first balances in your RA earn up to 6% per annum, with a floor of 4% guaranteed by the government. No private insurer can offer a 4% risk-free floor, so none can match the payout per dollar.
The numbers for 2026 are set. If you turn 55 in 2026, the Basic Retirement Sum is S$110,200, the Full Retirement Sum is S$220,400, and the Enhanced Retirement Sum is S$440,800, which is now double the FRS. Set aside the FRS and CPF LIFE pays an estimated S$1,780 a month for life from 65. Set aside the ERS and that rises to roughly S$3,440 a month. You can use the CPF LIFE payout calculator to estimate your own figure against your projected RA balance.
There are three plan variants. The Standard Plan gives a level monthly payout. The Escalating Plan starts lower but grows 2% a year to fight inflation. The Basic Plan starts slightly higher but the payout can dip once your balances fall below S$60,000. Deferring your payout past 65 raises it by up to 7% for each year you wait, so up to about 35% more if you start at 70. The full trade-offs are in our CPF LIFE plans comparison.
| Retirement sum | Amount to set aside at 55 | Estimated monthly payout from 65 |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) | S$110,200 | ~S$950 |
| Full Retirement Sum (FRS) | S$220,400 | ~S$1,780 |
| Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) | S$440,800 | ~S$3,440 |
If CPF LIFE wins on payout per dollar, why buy a private annuity at all? Because CPF LIFE has hard edges that a private plan can soften. CPF LIFE only starts at 65, you cannot choose a different payout shape, and once your money is in the Retirement Account it is locked into the scheme. A private annuity can start paying as early as your 50s, can be sized to bridge the gap until CPF LIFE kicks in, and lets you pick the payout duration and frequency.
The other genuine use is your Supplementary Retirement Scheme money. Many people open an SRS account for the tax relief, then leave the cash earning a token rate. A single-premium annuity funded with SRS turns that idle balance into a structured income stream, and you can run the relief maths first with the SRS calculator.
What a private annuity is not is a way to out-earn CPF LIFE on the guaranteed portion. The insurer is investing your premiums in a participating fund and passing back a return, and the guaranteed slice of that return is typically far lower than CPF's 4% floor. Buy a private annuity for flexibility and timing, not because you expect it to beat the government on certainty.
There is no single best private annuity, because the right one depends on when you want income to start, how you want it shaped, and whether you are paying in instalments or in one lump sum. Below are the plans that consistently top the shortlists, grouped by what each does best. Treat the figures as structure rather than a price tag: insurers reprice tranches and illustrations, so always pull a current quote before committing.
One number to keep in mind across all of them: the guaranteed monthly income is usually a fraction of the total illustrated income, with the rest coming from non-guaranteed bonuses tied to the insurer's par fund. Income's own Gro Annuity Pro illustration shows the gap plainly, which we break down in the next section.
| Plan | Best for | Premium | Payout to | Notable feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Gro Annuity Pro | Immediate lifetime income | Single, from S$10,000 | Life | Entry age 40-85; payouts can start immediately |
| Manulife RetireReady Plus III | Disability protection | Single or 5/10/15/20 yrs | 5 years to life | Pick retirement age 50-70; premium waiver on disability |
| NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex Pro II | Flexibility | Single or flexible | Age 100 | Adjustable payout period and start age |
| Singlife Flexi Retirement II | Guaranteed payout + capital | Single or 5-25 yrs | Age 120 | 100% capital guarantee at end of accumulation |
| China Taiping i-Retire (II) | Lowest premiums | Flexible | 10/20/30 yrs | Low entry cost; fixed-term payout |
| AIA Retirement Saver (IV) | Defined payout window | Single | 15-20 years | Fixed payout period, not lifetime |
A single-premium plan from S$10,000, with an entry age of 40 to 85. It is an immediate annuity, so payouts can begin right after you commit, on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis for life. Good for someone retiring now with a lump sum who wants income tomorrow, not in a decade.
You choose the guaranteed monthly income, a retirement age from 50 to 70, a payout period from 5 years up to lifetime, and a premium term of single or 5, 10, 15 or 20 years. Its edge is the disability angle: premiums can be waived if you become disabled during the term, so the plan keeps building even if you cannot.
Premium terms of single or 5 to 25 years, with a 100% capital guarantee at the end of the accumulation period, meaning the cash value is at least the total premiums you paid. The single-premium version accepts SRS funds, which makes it a natural home for idle SRS cash.
This is the part marketing glosses over and the part that decides whether a private annuity is worth it. The income on the brochure is almost always a blend of a small guaranteed amount and a larger non-guaranteed amount that depends on how the insurer's participating fund performs. If the fund underperforms, the non-guaranteed slice shrinks, and the headline figure you were sold never arrives.
Take Income's published Gro Annuity Pro example. On a S$100,000 single premium with payouts at 65, the illustration shows a guaranteed monthly payout of about S$70.70 plus a non-guaranteed payout averaging around S$51.15, for roughly S$121.85 a month in total. The guaranteed part is barely 58% of the headline. Bonuses come from the Life Participating Fund, with 90% of par-fund surplus allocated to policyholders, but the word that matters is non-guaranteed.
Compare that to CPF LIFE, where the payout rests on a 4% floor the government has committed to. The practical rule: when you read an annuity illustration, find the guaranteed column first and decide whether you would still buy it if the non-guaranteed column were zero. If the answer is no, you are buying hope, not income.
Most Singapore annuities return your remaining capital if you die early. Income's Gro Annuity Pro, for example, pays the single premium less the total annuity payments already made, so your estate is not shortchanged if you pass away before the payouts catch up to what you put in. Singlife's Flexi Retirement II goes further with a 100% capital guarantee at the end of accumulation. These features answer the most common fear about annuities, that the insurer keeps your money if you die early.
The cost of that comfort is liquidity. Surrender a participating annuity in the early years and the cash value is below what you paid. Gro Annuity Pro returns 85% of the net premium after one year, rising to 100% only from year five. So an annuity is the wrong home for money you might need back soon - that belongs in an emergency fund or a Singapore Savings Bond you can redeem anytime.
As an insurance product, a private annuity is not covered by SDIC deposit insurance. It falls under the Policy Owners' Protection Scheme, which protects guaranteed benefits up to S$100,000 per life for the guaranteed sum assured per insurer for annuities. For most plans that headroom is comfortable, but it is the guaranteed portion that is protected, not the projected one.
Work backwards from the income, not forwards from the premium. If a private annuity's guaranteed yield is around 2% to 2.5% a year, then securing S$1,000 a month, S$12,000 a year, on the guaranteed portion alone needs roughly S$480,000 to S$600,000 of premium. That figure shocks people, and it should, because it shows how much heavier the guaranteed lifting is than the illustration implies.
The same S$1,000 a month from CPF LIFE needs far less capital, because the 4% floor does more of the work. This is why the standard advice is to fill CPF LIFE first, up to the Enhanced Retirement Sum if you can spare the cash, before buying any private annuity. You can pressure-test the whole plan with the retirement calculator and sanity-check the compounding with a compound interest calculator.
A workable layering for many people: top up CPF to the FRS or ERS for the lifetime floor, hold a Singapore Savings Bond or T-bill ladder for flexible cash, and add a private annuity only to bridge income before 65 or to deploy SRS money. Stacking a private annuity on top of a maxed CPF makes sense; using it to replace CPF rarely does.
Annuity sales pitches lean on features that sound reassuring but rarely change the decision. Capital guarantees are near-universal, so they are table stakes, not a differentiator. The absence of medical underwriting is normal for savings-style annuities, not a perk. And riders bolting critical-illness or life cover onto an annuity usually buy less protection per dollar than a standalone term life policy would.
The things that actually decide whether a plan is good are duller. How large is the guaranteed monthly income relative to the total? Does the payout start when you need it? Can you afford the premium term without straining cash flow? Is the payout for life or just a fixed window? A 15-year fixed-term plan that stops at 80 leaves you exposed in exactly the years longevity risk bites hardest.
If you want to see how an annuity sits beside the other ways to fund retirement, our guide on building passive income in Singapore covers the full menu, and CPF retirement planning shows how to get the most out of the annuity you already own before paying for another.
For payout per dollar, CPF LIFE is the best annuity in Singapore, because the Retirement Account behind it earns up to 6% with a 4% floor that no private insurer can match. Among private plans, the right pick depends on your needs: Income Gro Annuity Pro for immediate income, Manulife RetireReady Plus III for disability protection, Singlife Flexi Retirement II for a guaranteed capital floor, and China Taiping i-Retire for the lowest premiums.
For a member turning 55 in 2026 under the Standard Plan, the estimated monthly payout from age 65 is around S$950 with the Basic Retirement Sum of S$110,200, about S$1,780 with the Full Retirement Sum of S$220,400, and roughly S$3,440 with the Enhanced Retirement Sum of S$440,800. These are CPF Board estimates and your actual figure depends on your Retirement Account balance and chosen plan.
Usually not on guaranteed return, because CPF LIFE rests on a 4% interest floor that no private insurer offers. A private annuity is better only when you need something CPF LIFE cannot give: income before age 65, a custom payout shape or duration, or a way to put idle SRS money to work. The common-sense order is to fill CPF LIFE to the Full or Enhanced Retirement Sum first, then add a private annuity for flexibility.
From a private annuity with a guaranteed yield around 2% to 2.5% a year, securing S$1,000 a month (S$12,000 a year) on the guaranteed portion alone needs roughly S$480,000 to S$600,000 of premium. CPF LIFE delivers the same income for far less capital because its 4% floor does more of the work, which is why topping up CPF is the cheaper route to guaranteed monthly income.
Guaranteed income is the amount the insurer is contractually bound to pay regardless of investment performance. Non-guaranteed income comes from bonuses tied to the insurer's participating fund and can shrink or disappear if the fund underperforms. On Income Gro Annuity Pro's illustration, a S$100,000 premium shows about S$70.70 guaranteed plus around S$51.15 non-guaranteed per month, so over 40% of the headline is a projection, not a promise.
Yes. Several single-premium annuities, including the single-premium version of Singlife Flexi Retirement II, accept Supplementary Retirement Scheme funds. Using SRS for an annuity converts idle SRS cash, which otherwise earns a token rate, into a structured retirement income stream, while the original SRS contributions still gave you income-tax relief in the years you made them.
Most Singapore annuities return your remaining capital. Income Gro Annuity Pro, for example, pays the single premium less the total annuity payments already received, so your estate recovers what you have not yet drawn. Some plans, such as Singlife Flexi Retirement II, add a 100% capital guarantee at the end of accumulation. This addresses the common worry that an insurer keeps your money if you pass away soon after the payouts begin.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.