16th July, 2026

Are you retirement-ready? Most people aren’t.

If retirement is 5 years away, this is your window — not to panic, but to prepare.

The truth is, most people arrive at retirement having planned for the big number (their CPF, their savings) but overlooked the details that quietly erode that number. Here’s what we think deserves your attention right now.

Review your insurance coverage.

Your life and critical illness policies may have been set up years ago — do the sums still make sense today?

Also consider long-term care: a CareShield Life supplement ensures you are not left relying solely on the basic payout should you become severely disabled.

At the same time, as you age, a personal accident plan for elderly becomes increasingly relevant — think falls, fractures, and rehabilitation costs.

Protect your healthcare in retirement.

Your Integrated Shield Plan is arguably one of your most important policies. You may want to consider to right size your benefits so that you are not overly taxed by the premiums during retirement.

Some policy modifications are contingent on you being healthy. Hence you should review the plan tier and rider now before any health conditions make changes harder to qualify for.

Get strategic with your CPF.

CPF LIFE acts as a solid foundation for all Singaporeans and PRs’ retirement income.

Decisions like topping up to the Full or Enhanced Retirement Sum, or deferring your CPF LIFE payout to 70, can meaningfully increase your monthly income during retirement.

Rebalance your investments.
The objective should start to shift from growing wealth to generating income. Your portfolio should reflect that — less concentration in equities, higher allocation to investment grade bonds and greater emphasis on preservation and cash flow generation.

Map your retirement income.

Add up CPF LIFE, any annuities, dividends, rental or passive income — then compare it to your expected monthly expenses. You may want to take one further step to rank them based on the level of certainty, i.e. are your income streams subjected to market volatility.

Put your estate in order.

A will, a trust, updated CPF nomination, and insurance policy nominations ensure your assets reach the right people at the right time.

Add a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) so someone you trust can act on your behalf if needed — and consider an Advance Care Plan (ACP) and Advance Medical Directive (AMD) to document your healthcare wishes.

Note: Application fee for LPA Form 1 payable to Office of the Public Guardian has since permanently waived from 1 Apr 2026.

None of this needs to happen overnight. But the earlier you start, the more options you have.

Not sure where you stand? Let’s do a retirement readiness review together — we’ll go through your coverage, your CPF strategy, and your income plan to identify any gaps before they become problems.