EDMW Retirement Thread

[The Legionnaire]

If just alone, a million in your nest egg will be enough(not CPF) when u reach 65! Actually more than enough..

 

[cyke69sg]

i dont hold a full time job.

My job now is employer to FDW and taking care of my mum's med appt etc.

So you are retired but helping take care of your parents and family. There is a EDMW retirement thread for people to share their retirement experience.

https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/edmw-retirement-thread.7218665/

 

[MoeLanYong]

Bro @MoeLanYong
Can share your retirement experiences here?

Er....not sure what you want me to post?

 

[itedino]

If no money. Be pump attendant ba

 

[diequick]

@diequick bro there is this Retirement thread that is not sponsored.

Okay, i m here. Experience ah. I did went back to work after the company retrenched me asked me to join the merged dept (aka boomerang, thrown and come back). Work 2+ years then left, bcos buay ngam with the lady mgr, she used to be ex-engr (in diff dept), kena re-org.

I think when u dont need the $, u will do your BEST work.

 

[cyke69sg]

Er....not sure what you want me to post?

Like what your life is like in retirement. Share what you do. Travels. Etc

 

[cyke69sg]

Okay, i m here. Experience ah. I did went back to work after the company retrenched me asked me to join the merged dept (aka boomerang, thrown and come back). Work 2+ years then left, bcos buay ngam with the lady mgr, she used to be ex-engr (in diff dept), kena re-org.

I think when u dont need the $, u will do your BEST work.

Work without fear.

What's your typical day like in retirement?

 

[diequick]

Work without fear.

What's your typical day like in retirement?

Difficult. Now its revolving around my mum and her behavior, difficult to manage.

I wake naturally. If I dont eat alot carbs (<100g), auto wake up by 5 a.m., eat around 100g, then 7 a.m. Read newspapers, websites. Wait for mkt to open at 9 a.m. Clean, cook. Afternoon, read. If 4+p.m. I used to go to walk, now I do exercise snacks. (shoulder exercises, try to fix the frozen shoulder, improve mobility). If I am seated (nt reading), do soleus push-ups, or tibialis raises. When u get up, do 5 squats. its short enuff not to sweat. Then cook again. Night time is just relax. idk if my mum will call me later in the middle of the nite, cannot differentiate day/night, cannot recognise the phone etc.

What else. I do IT stuff, trying out some agents but i think that one is bad for me). bcos I paid, my brain goes 100% thinking how to tokenmaxx/"squeeze" "them". I am going to stop it. I still think if everyone can connect their home server to the agent, it will enhance the workflow by alot. I will try the free version next.

I do think using AI is bad. We need to be getting AI to get us to the level of doing things w/o AI. My e.g. is IT. Lets say I want to add a new user to my systems. I can ask AI to do it, or I ask AI to write me the script "adduser.sh <username>". The latter is more efficient, and even w/o AI it will still work. And if u switch AI, it will still work, provided the new AI can read a SoT (src of truth) KM.

Thats abt it. I do spend time to read edmw, if can share, then reply.

 

[cyke69sg]

Difficult. Now its revolving around my mum and her behavior, difficult to manage.

I wake naturally. If I dont eat alot carbs (<100g), auto wake up by 5 a.m., eat around 100g, then 7 a.m. Read newspapers, websites. Wait for mkt to open at 9 a.m. Clean, cook. Afternoon, read. If 4+p.m. I used to go to walk, now I do exercise snacks. (shoulder exercises, try to fix the frozen shoulder, improve mobility). If I am seated (nt reading), do soleus push-ups, or tibialis raises. When u get up, do 5 squats. its short enuff not to sweat. Then cook again. Night time is just relax. idk if my mum will call me later in the middle of the nite, cannot differentiate day/night, cannot recognise the phone etc.

What else. I do IT stuff, trying out some agents but i think that one is bad for me). bcos I paid, my brain goes 100% thinking how to tokenmaxx/"squeeze" "them". I am going to stop it. I still think if everyone can connect their home server to the agent, it will enhance the workflow by alot. I will try the free version next.

I do think using AI is bad. We need to be getting AI to get us to the level of doing things w/o AI. My e.g. is IT. Lets say I want to add a new user to my systems. I can ask AI to do it, or I ask AI to write me the script "adduser.sh <username>". The latter is more efficient, and even w/o AI it will still work. And if u switch AI, it will still work, provided the new AI can read a SoT (src of truth) KM.

Thats abt it. I do spend time to read edmw, if can share, then reply.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dividends Warrior]

from what investments?
how much have you been adding ever year? can’t be just compound

Everything is written on my blog over the past 16 years.

 

[Mephist0pheLes]

aiming for age 45.

I have a monthly spreadsheet of all my income, investment and expenses. Jus asked ChatGPT to do a review of my finances:

---
My overall assessment is that your finances are exceptionally strong for age 36. The most encouraging aspect is not just your accumulated wealth, but the combination of substantial existing capital, high ongoing savings, relatively restrained spending and a disciplined investment strategy.

---
Your portfolio has three particularly attractive characteristics: broad index exposure, low fees and a largely systematic investment process.

The combined expense ratio reported in the workbook is approximately 0.21%, which is excellent for a portfolio of this size.

The main concentration is geographical. Your underlying equity exposure is approximately 77.1% US, and your monthly DCA is designed to maintain a US tilt of roughly 80.8%. This is a deliberate allocation choice, not necessarily a mistake.

Given that you are still accumulating aggressively, I don't see an urgent reason to change the portfolio.

---
Your current financial position strengthens the central projection we previously discussed.

Using the September 2026 balance sheet and the cash-flow information from your workbooks, my estimate is:

Central projected financial net worth at age 45

S$4.6 million​

Nominal SGD, excluding property, including CPF

 

[SeeClothes]

At age 55 when I got all my CPF back....oh wait...

 

[bigdingdongbell]

aiming for age 45.

I have a monthly spreadsheet of all my income, investment and expenses. Jus asked ChatGPT to do a review of my finances:

---
My overall assessment is that your finances are exceptionally strong for age 36. The most encouraging aspect is not just your accumulated wealth, but the combination of substantial existing capital, high ongoing savings, relatively restrained spending and a disciplined investment strategy.

---
Your portfolio has three particularly attractive characteristics: broad index exposure, low fees and a largely systematic investment process.

The combined expense ratio reported in the workbook is approximately 0.21%, which is excellent for a portfolio of this size.

The main concentration is geographical. Your underlying equity exposure is approximately 77.1% US, and your monthly DCA is designed to maintain a US tilt of roughly 80.8%. This is a deliberate allocation choice, not necessarily a mistake.

Given that you are still accumulating aggressively, I don't see an urgent reason to change the portfolio.

---
Your current financial position strengthens the central projection we previously discussed.

Using the September 2026 balance sheet and the cash-flow information from your workbooks, my estimate is:

Central projected financial net worth at age 45

S$4.6 million​

Nominal SGD, excluding property, including CPF

wow, what is your total net worth now at 36?

incl and excl. house?

 

[hwarzoner]

kena retrenched last year. staying as a single 51yo, no wife, no car, no own house, no kids, surviving on bank interests and some dividends, play path of exile and delta force. eat cai png sometimes DTF or sushiro.
simple man living simple life.

 

[Mephist0pheLes]

wow, what is your total net worth now at 36?

incl and excl. house?

excl house is about 1.7m. incl house (minus outstanding loan) is about 1.9m.

 

[enimen]

Yeah.
I help my kids set up their investment accounts. Got both growth and income ports
20 years time they should be able to retire on their own.

What about your son's children? Their their children's children and future descendants? Got lay out a 200 year family plan?

 

[gld998]

Yeah, what most pple didnt realise, u need a big cash injection at the start of ur investing journey, after that it gets easier.

CPF. There are 2 camps or maybe more. dun need to eally care abt CPF changes. i.e. e.g. if u meet FRS in SA alone, lets say this year/next year, why do u worry about their changes? Yes, Investment is locked up for a long time, thats why it can compound. Its too late to inject cash near the end. One time tops at different age Search for "One-Time Top-ups".

Kenna squeezed, ya, sandwich gen at 41? What i did, budget. 2 type of expenses, "die die must pay", "manageable". "Die die must pay" will be ur utilities, mobile, transport, broadband, insurance, parents', mortgage, insurance, groceries, clothes/grooming, simply put "if nt paid, there will be consequences". Manageable is ur eating out (restaurant), Grab/taxi, vacation (divide by 12), so on and so forth.

Its a budget, nt tracking expenses daily (where gt time?). And u married, so wife must be on board.

For ur parents, depends on how much u r giving. If they are working etc, its a token, if they r nt, its subsistence. Instead of giving all cash, buy for them bulk/frozen groceries. Parents (Merdeka generation), have been thru hard times, they would understand. Of cos, u dont kaki eat fresh. The best meal is still a warm meal together, not whether how much it is. Old pple (in general) tend nt to have the concept of saving, after all FP is a angmo concept in the 70s, oni reached here in the 90s i think. If there is 3 high(s), at least work with them to get rid of BS, BP. BC, i dun think its gd indicator, and hard to get it down. I can get the BS down, off the med, BP is creeping up, BC they took for years leow. That itself will make the QoL much better.

When i see a "no-need"(want), i always try to think like 10k 4% is $400. I do not have 10k to cover it, so i will save $10k to make my $400 b4 buying it. When i save it, i usually dun want it already. Likewise to get ur replacement income today is impossible. u can only cover ur "die die must pay", anything extra is gd. Start small. Enuff dividends to cover one bill, then the next. I got lucky, Eng Kong, EDMI, Saizen REIT, Croesus, GP Hotels, the stocks got delisted, and give me a big capital boost and I managed to roll into another. Nt terrific, mediocre i would say, 4+%. I dont do XIRR, buy/sell date track, but thats gold standard, but just meet my needs, dont care abt capital gains (unless sold). I would have gone for more capital gains stocks if i m younger in 20s, 30s, but too bad.

If gt kids, and >=13, i.e. sec sch. Check out this channel. I intro a friend to get his kids on it. They didnt subscribe, just watched free. 4 years later, he told me his kids didnt need tuition other than language. Sample size of 2, sec 2 / 4. If older, can try too, but hard to apply. Must be a age to put into practice what they learnt.

Justin Sung - learning to learn.. its very good. I m using his method of thinking on paper to learn now..

 

[cyke69sg]

What about your son's children? Their their children's children and future descendants? Got lay out a 200 year family plan?

No. Actually don't have to think so far ahead.
For one maybe don't even have any grandchildren.
Two it is their lives to live. Not my problem.
I take care of myself good enough.
I used to think about wanting to have legacy etc. But now it doesn't concern me anymore.
Even for kids if they do well is their own lives. Not my responsibility.

 

[fandango]

With combination of ur cash savings, and follow by ur cpf payouuts, then including passive income, if any

technically can tong with cash savings alone from 55 till 65, then draw from FRS, if really want to retire

but from then on, have to live within a budget of ard $2k from 55 till 65, then from 65 collect FRS monthly payout of ard $1.7k

but at least a basic safety net is established

Work till 70 years old. Not retiring.

 

[Elfblade]

With combination of ur cash savings, and follow by ur cpf payouuts, then including passive income, if any

technically can tong with cash savings alone from 55 till 65, then draw from FRS, if really want to retire

but from then on, have to live within a budget of ard $2k from 55 till 65, then from 65 collect FRS monthly payout of ard $1.7k

but at least a basic safety net is established

Retire at age 55 with savings of $250K + CPF OA of $250K.

Already achieved FRS with my SA alone, no intention to pump to ERS. At 55, I will quit my job and live off the $500K cash + CPF OA draw out. Intend to spend only $2.5K per month and live frugally from age 56 - 65. With that I should deplete $300K out of the $500K.

Remaining $200K I can utilize when I hit 65 and start my FRS payout.

Hope can stay employed for the next 10 years to realize my plan!!