Hi anon, Accrued interest is only for housing, it does not apply to investments made under CPF IS. Your investment proceeds will be returned to your OA/SA when you sell off and you don't have to make up for anything.

I wouldnt deploy every thing at one short. What if, the market crash tommorow and you deploy your full 100k in one day? Best way is to dollar cost average. You average out the cost of your fund every single month. Nobody knows what will happen to the market 1 month 1 year or years from now, so bestis to play it safe and average it out.

I agree. And i think it is so much easier said than done sometimes. However, with regards to the kid, I don't think it might be so extreme to choose between a zero cost napkin and a $1 diaper. That being said, I feel that not everything should be focused on the price tag. Perhaps the time saved from regularly cleaning up the napkin might improve the quality of your life. Let's say that for example, if you have a kid, you might already be stressed from taking care of the kid. A diaper provides convenience as you can just dispose the diaper after it is soiled as compared to having to wash the napkin. So therefore, I feel that for an approach, one should look at the big picture, take what is useful and use it to apply it in different aspects of life. This question can be highly debated/discussed. Just decide and choose the option that appeals to you most.

Hi anon, It's true that your first line of retirement income should come from CPF LIfe. Currently, CPF Life is the best annuity in the market and it will likely remain that way. As you mentioned, the returns are risk free and high (although the 4% interest is reviewed quartery and one has to wonder how long it can be sustained) However, the payouts are meant for a very basic level of retirement and if one wants to have a little more payout to have a better quality of life, then this is where a private insurer's annuity will come in to supplement CPF Life. One should use CPF Life as a baseline (unless you are not SC/PR) and then private annuities stack on top of that. As a guaranteed source of retirement income, there is simply no other asset class that can compare to an annuity (we'll leave CPF Life out this portion for discussion). All other asset classes have some form of risk, and we've seen dividends cut or deferred in uncertain economic times (just look at HSBC). In a retirement scenario, it's about knowing that month to month, you will get a payout that will afford you a decent standard of living. That is why guarantees are so important. Anything non-guaranteed can be used for non-essentials in retirement such as holidays, but you will need a guaranteed pay cheque to ensure your essentials are met. Thus if your basic needs are not met via CPF LIFE, then the other option is to use a retirement plan. About the projected returns, I would suggest you start by looking at the guaranteed yield as well. I have seen guaranteed yields of more than 2.5% which is very decent beyond CPF. Considering that bonuses are guaranteed once credited, I would say that 3%+ in the long run is likely possible, and if the yield does reach 4%, that's a plus. So we do need to have a realistic view of what's achievable with a retirement plan. Yes, the contributions to a retirement plan may be 'forced', but with good planning, then the amount one contributes does not have to be an excessive amount of one's cash flow and should be sustainable for the duration of the premiums. There are also single premium retirement plans which are akin to topping up one's SA/RA when you have excess cash. I do contribute to CPF myself as a self employed, but I am wary that the goalposts could move. CPF LIFE may start later than 65 by the time I approach retirement. Thus I also have my own private retirement plan, which allows me a measure of certainity that when I reach 60 (at least, for myself), I have a guaranteed stream of income to look forward to. What's better than one guaranteed stream of income? Two guaranteed streams of income.

I have answered this in my talk.

I use SRS for the sake of saving income taxes. And since its for the sake of long term, i deploy it in ETF or stocks at the highest risk level, for long term, this will allow me to have a higher returns, and I can stomach the volatility (since its for long term).

No doubt, attaining wealth in the form of cash is the most satisfying as it is as real , as cold, as hard as money gets. If you're comparing $1M in cash vs $1M in CPF then for sure, one would rather go with the $1M cash option. One should not think of 1M65 as the sole retirement strategy but rather, a sure-win safety net for retirement. Here are some points to note about CPF: 1. The repayment of accrued interest when selling your property financed with your CPF OA is so that you are still on schedule to saving for your retirement through CPF. This accrued interest that you top up back to CPF still belongs to you. 2. Not everyone has the financial prudence to save and plan for retirement with cash. Some squander it away on gambling, others splurge the moment they get hold of a sizeable sum of money. CPF is supposed to make it stupid simple for anyone to have a decent retirement plan based on their financial standing (BRS, FRS or ERS). 3. Topping up to your own or loved ones CPF SA up to a max of $7k is tax-deductible. This could be a proposition for some to save on some income tax yet ensuring their loved ones hit a comfortable retirement goal. 4. Amount in excess of BRS can be withdrawn from 55 onwards. It is not as illiquid as you imagine. CPF is designed to make sure you are on track to a decently comfortable retirement where restrictions on withdrawals are there to ensure you do not overdraw on your retirement savings and deplete it before you leave this world.

A great system albeit its "one size fit all" structure, but not everyone will fit into their mold. If you are like most people dont have time or interest in finance to plan for their retirement then relying on CPF is the perfect solution, but if you feel like you belong to the latter group then by all means design your own system to achieve your goal.

My tendency to save and invest money should not change after 65 years old, i guess i'll be a happy guy with a little more silver on my head when I sit back and watch the zeros increase.

Hi Anon, I use an excel to help me with my planning. You have to consider: Potential Cash Upfront: - Initial Downpayment (10% of resale price) - Application Fee - Option Fee - Buyer's Stamp Duty (Link Below) - Legal Fees (Link Below) The Grants - Enhanced CPF Housing Grant - Family Grant - Proximity Housing Grant Once you have the template setup, you can adjust the amount to use from your CPF OA. Useful links for your calculations: Buyer Stamp Duty - https://mytax.iras.gov.sg/ESVWeb/default.aspx?target=MSDBuyResidentialProperty Max. Housing Loan Est. - https://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BP27MaxLoan/BP27PMax1.jsp Legal Fee Est. - https://services2.hdb.gov.sg/webapp/BB14LFEESENQ/BB14POpenForm.jsp