facebookWould my plan below lead to a possible FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)? - Seedly

Anonymous

08 Jun 2021

βˆ™

Retirement

Would my plan below lead to a possible FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)?

SPR, mid-20s.
Thinking of converting Singapore Citizen if following is feasible:
1. Convert to SC whenever possible.
2. Accumulate CPF and cash on hand to have at least RM500k (~S$170k) and monthly income of RM100k (~S$3.4k) to apply for MM2H (http://www.mm2h.gov.my/index.php/en/home/progra...).
3. Buy BTO/Resale whenever possible.
4. Kids study in SG (better education system).
5. Retire with RM500k FD, rental/dividend and small business in Malaysia.

Discussion (6)

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I am going to be a wet blanket and say no. Your plan is too simple and too many assumptions with no clear goal in mind.

1) Convert to SC. The application process is long and have you ever thought about how long it would take?

2) Accumulate CPF. You do know that CPF cannot be withdrawn fully unless you give up citizenship right?

Point 1 is going to take very long, which will then make point 2 even longer. And is 170K enough at the point? Inflation, the rising cost of living is going to push the number higher

Malaysia cost of living is also increasing. And If your 500K is in FD, it means you need more money as you need the capital for starting up a business.

I could go on and on. My point is, you need a proper plan with proper timeline and milestone. Your plan may work in an ideal world but the reality is way too harsh.

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HC Tang

28 Aug 2019

Financial Enthusiast, Budgeting at The Society

Hi Let me share my friend's experience here:

  1. Convert to SC whenever possible. - You're a SPR, if all is good, the conversion takes about 7 months (or lesser) if your conditions are desirable (working in MNC, contributed some time to SG economy by working here and finally the government quota/decision of SPR to SC given to ICA)
  2. Accumulate CPF and cash on hand to have at least RM500k (S$170k) and monthly income of RM100k (S$3.4k) to apply for MM2H (http://www.mm2h.gov.my/index.php/en/home/programme/terms-conditions).

= The terms for MM2H below 50 is " proof of liquid assets worth a minimum of RM500,000". CPF is not liquid, you cannot withdraw the funds and thus it is not "liquid". Refer to: https://www.mfa.gov.sg/Overseas-Mission/New-Del....

Point #3: You can only withdraw your CPF in full if you are about to leave or have left Singapore and West Malaysia permanently with no intention to either country for employment or residence. Otherwise, if you come back, you would need to top up the CPF $ withdrawn back to your CPF account. Hence you need to save a large portion of salary and invest to get the SGD170k (RM500k). The good news is that if you're doing it together with your wife, you can reach that saving goal much faster.

  1. Buy BTO/Resale whenever possible. = Possible. If you haven't become Citizen then, make sure your wife is Citizen then you can get BTO/Resale. But the down payment would deplete your cash you wish to save in #2, be sure to save enough.
  1. Kids study in SG (better education system). = As long as both one you are citizen, your kids would be SG citizen, then fees would be lower. Otherwise, the fees would be high and eat into your living cost.
  1. Retire with RM500k FD, rental/dividend and small business in Malaysia. = If you going for the plan, #2 is a must, so there's RM500 but I would rather show M'sia Immigration that your liquid asset is in SGD / Forex for better rates. Go ahead and try to run a small business in Malaysia, best is going for export / foreign business so that it hedges your cost. Earn high and keep the cost of living low in M'sia, it is then viable.
    For your considerations and possible planning. All the best! :)
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