What Does a Good Retirement Look Like? How to Plan for the Retirement You Want

Before calculating how much you need to retire in Singapore, define the lifestyle, relationships and sense of purpose you want your retirement savings to support.

What Are You Actually Retiring To?

Many people spend years preparing financially for retirement without first asking a more fundamental question:

What am I actually preparing for?

Perhaps you picture yourself travelling several times a year, spending more time with your family, volunteering, pursuing neglected hobbies or simply enjoying slower mornings without rushing to work.

Perhaps you would like to continue working—but with greater freedom to choose how much you work and which projects you accept.

Or perhaps the picture is still unclear. You know you want to retire comfortably, but you have not yet defined what “comfortably” means to you.

That definition matters because retirement planning is not only about accumulating money. It is about deciding what you want that money to make possible.

Retirement Planning Starts With a Number?

Retirement planning often begins with financial questions:

How much do I need to retire?
Is $1 million enough?
How much should I save every month?
What investment return should I aim for?
At what age can I afford to stop working?
How much monthly income will I receive from CPF LIFE?

These are important questions. However, it is easy to search for a retirement target before deciding what that money must support.

You may hear that you need a particular amount, a multiple of your annual expenses or a percentage of your final salary. Such benchmarks can offer a useful starting point, but they cannot tell you whether your retirement will feel secure, meaningful or fulfilling.

A retirement figure only becomes useful when it is connected to the life you want to live.

You Cannot Cost a Life You Have Not Defined

Two people retiring at the same age may need very different amounts.

One person may be happy living simply, preparing meals at home and spending most of the week with family. Another may want to travel frequently, maintain a car, dine out regularly and pursue expensive hobbies.

A third person may choose to continue working part-time—not because it is financially necessary, but because work provides social connection, intellectual stimulation and a sense of purpose.

Their retirement plans should not look the same.

Before calculating how much you need, it helps to consider:

Where and how you want to live
What an ordinary week might look like
Who you hope to spend your time with
Whether you want to stop working completely
Which hobbies or experiences you want to pursue
Whether you hope to support your children or grandchildren
What would give you a continuing sense of meaning and contribution

Without this clarity, you may spend decades pursuing a number that is either unnecessarily high or insufficient for the retirement you actually want.

Why Defining Your Retirement Matters

Your desired lifestyle affects nearly every part of your retirement plan.

It influences:

How much you may need to accumulate
When you may be able to retire
How much monthly income you will require
How much investment risk may be appropriate
Which expenses need dependable income
How flexible your withdrawals can be
How much you may wish to leave to your family
What protection you may need against healthcare and longevity risks

If your retirement target is too low, you may eventually have to reduce your lifestyle, postpone retirement or depend more heavily on your family.

If it is unnecessarily high, you may keep working longer than needed, save so aggressively that you neglect your present life or become afraid to spend the money you have accumulated.

The goal is not necessarily to build the largest possible retirement fund. It is to build a fund that is sufficient for the life you want, with an appropriate margin for uncertainty.

Two People, Two Different Retirements

Consider Daniel and Mei, who are both 55 and hope to transition into retirement at 60.

Daniel wants to stop working completely. He plans to travel several times a year, dine out regularly and maintain his present standard of living. Because he will no longer receive employment income, his accumulated assets and retirement income sources must support most of his lifestyle.

Mei enjoys her profession and plans to continue consulting two days a week into her late sixties. She prefers local activities, volunteering and spending time with her family. Her part-time income may cover part of her expenses and reduce how much she needs to withdraw from her portfolio during the early years of retirement.

Neither retirement is better than the other.

They are simply funding different lives.

Although Daniel and Mei are the same age, they should not automatically have the same retirement target. Their desired lifestyles, income sources and retirement timelines are different.

This is why retirement planning should begin with your life—not someone else’s number.

Three Practical Considerations

1. Separate Essential Expenses From Lifestyle Expenses

Start by dividing your expected retirement spending into two broad categories.

Essential expenses may include:

Housing
Food
Utilities
Basic transport
Healthcare
Insurance
Support for dependants

Lifestyle expenses may include:

Overseas travel
Dining out
Hobbies
Entertainment
Gifts
Upgrading your car
Financial support for adult children

This distinction helps you decide which expenses should be supported by more dependable income and which can remain flexible.

For example, CPF LIFE and other predictable income sources might help support essential expenses. Investment withdrawals or other variable income could then fund more discretionary spending.

If markets perform poorly in a particular year, you may be able to postpone a holiday. It would be much harder to postpone groceries, utility bills or necessary medical treatment.

2. Design an Ordinary Week, Not Just a Retirement Holiday

When people imagine retirement, they often picture overseas trips, family celebrations and leisurely mornings.

But most of retirement will consist of ordinary days.

Try writing down what a typical week might look like:

What time would you wake up?
What activities would fill your mornings and afternoons?
How often would you see family and friends?
Would you exercise, volunteer, study or work part-time?
Which activities would require money?
What would give you a reason to look forward to the next day?

This exercise can reveal both your financial and non-financial needs.

It may also show that some elements of your ideal retirement—such as spending more time with family, improving your health or contributing to a cause—do not need to wait until you stop working.

3. Plan for Different Stages of Retirement

Retirement is unlikely to be one unchanging period.

Your lifestyle, health and spending may evolve over time. One simple way to think about retirement is through three possible stages:

The active years

You may travel more, pursue hobbies, learn new skills and spend actively on experiences.

The slower years

You may travel less, spend more time at home and develop simpler routines closer to family and friends.

The supported years

Healthcare, accessibility and assistance may become more important. Some lifestyle expenses may fall, while medical or care-related costs may rise.

These stages will not look the same for everyone, and there is no fixed age at which each stage begins. However, recognising that retirement needs can change helps you avoid assuming that today’s spending pattern will continue indefinitely.

A Simple Retirement Planning Framework

Once you have a clearer picture of your desired retirement, you can work backwards using the following framework.

Step 1: Define

Describe your ideal retirement lifestyle.

Think about your home, relationships, activities, work, travel, health, contribution and legacy.

Step 2: Estimate

Estimate how much that lifestyle might cost each month in today’s dollars.

Separate essential expenses from discretionary spending and allow for inflation over time.

Step 3: Identify

List the retirement resources you may have available, including:

CPF savings
CPF LIFE payouts
Cash savings
Investments
Supplementary Retirement Scheme savings
Property or rental income
Annuities or other retirement-income plans
Part-time employment or business income

Step 4: Build

Compare your projected resources with your estimated retirement needs.

If there is a gap, determine how much you may need to save and invest between now and your desired retirement age.

Step 5: Convert

Decide how your accumulated wealth may eventually produce retirement income.

Different sources may serve different purposes. Some may provide predictable lifelong income, while others offer growth, liquidity or flexibility.

Step 6: Protect

Consider the risks that could disrupt your plan, such as:

Inflation
Market downturns
Unexpected healthcare expenses
Disability or long-term care needs
Retiring earlier than expected
Living longer than anticipated
Supporting family members financially

Step 7: Review

Your retirement vision and financial circumstances may change.

Review your plan regularly and after major life events such as marriage, parenthood, a career change, purchasing a property, receiving an inheritance or approaching retirement.

Singapore-Specific Retirement Considerations

For people planning to retire in Singapore, several local factors should be considered.

CPF and CPF LIFE

CPF savings can form an important foundation of retirement planning, while CPF LIFE can provide monthly payouts for life.

However, it is still necessary to consider whether your expected payouts will be sufficient for your desired lifestyle. CPF LIFE may support part of your essential spending, while other assets and income sources fund the remainder.

Supplementary Retirement Scheme

SRS can be another component of retirement planning, particularly for people who want to supplement their CPF savings while potentially receiving tax benefits.

However, any SRS strategy should be considered alongside your tax position, investment choices, withdrawal rules and overall retirement-income plan.

Housing

For many Singaporeans, property forms a substantial part of their net worth.

But a home’s value does not automatically provide money for everyday expenses. If you plan to rely on your property for retirement, consider how you might convert part of its value into usable income—for example, through downsizing, renting out space or other suitable options.

Your housing preference will also affect your retirement target. Someone who expects to remain in a fully paid home may have different expenses from someone who expects to rent, continue servicing a mortgage or relocate.

Healthcare and Long-Term Care

Healthcare expenses may become more significant later in retirement.

Review how national schemes, personal savings and private insurance may work together. Consider not only hospital bills, but also possible long-term care, rehabilitation and caregiving needs.

The objective is not to insure against every possible expense. It is to identify which risks could seriously disrupt your retirement plan and determine how they should be managed.

Inflation and Longevity

Even moderate inflation can gradually reduce what your money can buy over a retirement lasting several decades.

Holding everything in cash may feel safe in the short term, but it may expose your retirement income to declining purchasing power. At the same time, taking excessive investment risk could make your withdrawals vulnerable during a market downturn.

A retirement portfolio may therefore need an appropriate balance of income, stability, liquidity and long-term growth based on your circumstances.

A Question Worth Reflecting On

If you had enough money to retire but still needed a reason to get out of bed each morning, what would that reason be?

Your answer may reveal more about your ideal retirement than any calculator can.

It can also help you recognise whether your plan is designed merely to replace your salary—or to support a meaningful next stage of life.

Key Takeaways

Retirement planning should begin with your desired lifestyle, not an arbitrary number.
Two people of the same age may need very different retirement amounts.
Separate essential spending from flexible lifestyle expenses.
Plan for how your priorities and expenses may change across retirement.
Consider how CPF, CPF LIFE, SRS, housing, investments and other resources may work together.
Your retirement plan should address wealth accumulation, sustainable income and protection against major risks.
Review your plan regularly as your circumstances and aspirations change.

Is Your Retirement Plan Supporting the Life You Want?

Retirement planning is not simply about accumulating the largest possible portfolio.

It is about building sufficient wealth, turning that wealth into sustainable income, protecting yourself against risks that could disrupt your plans and using your resources to support a meaningful life.

The clearer you are about the destination, the easier it becomes to make purposeful decisions about saving, investing, retirement income and protection today.

If you would like help translating your vision of retirement into a practical financial plan, you are welcome to reach out for a retirement planning review.

Together, we can examine:

The lifestyle you hope to enjoy
Your estimated retirement expenses
Your existing CPF and financial resources
Your potential retirement-income sources
Any gaps or risks that may need attention

Your retirement plan should begin with more than a number.

It should begin with the life you want that number to make possible.

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to purchase any financial product. All examples are illustrative. You should consider your objectives, financial situation and needs before making any financial decision and seek professional advice where appropriate.