BRS vs FRS?

There is no wrong in that you may want to draw out lump sum at 55. This can be used for whatever reasons, child education, travels, early retirement, investments, medical fees etc.

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Please check that you own a property with remain lease that can last you to at least age 95, you may withdraw your RA savings (excluding interest earned, any government grants received and top-ups made under the Retirement Sum Topping-up scheme) above your BRS.

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However, please do consider the difference in the expected payout for CPF Life.

How much do you need monthly from age 65? Are you OK with the lower amount?

Also note the CPF housing refund needs to restore your RA to your FRS when your sell/transfer the property in future.

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At 55, the default amount set aside in your RA is the prevailing FRS.

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Conceptually, you can think of it as FRS being the amount one requires in his retirement to pay both rent and living expenses.

This is why if you own a property, you can apply to use your property to make up your FRS (i.e. Set aside BRS + Property)

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The consideration should be how much you need monthly for your desired lifestyle and that should guide your decision between setting aside BRS or FRS.

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By choosing to withdraw more from 55 to 65, you leave lesser for the monthly payouts from 65. It is likely that you will still be working from 55 to 65 and likely will not need access to this money yet. If you decide to plan for an early retirement and stop working at 55, then setting aside BRS with a property will allow you to unlock more retirement funds in the early years of retirement!