Don't let the crisis crush your retirement nest egg

A recent survey found out that majority of Singaporeans are not relying on the CPF savings as their only source of retirement income as they believe that CPF will provide only some or very little of their retirement income. An alarming 52% of people do not know how much they will need for their retirement years.


Emergency cash reserves should be set aside first before you begin investment in equities for wealth accumulation. Investors are reminded to protect your current assets by ensuring you have appropriate insurance protection to hedge against liabilities, such as home loans. Proper insurance protection can also prevent money from your investment or savings going to the surgeon’s income when misfortunes happen.

For people before the age of 40, time is generally on your side as your investment horizon is easily more than 10 years which allows you to be able to ride the market ups and downs.

For people before the age of 60, the risk which you are taking will be moderate as retirement is not far away. There is a need to stay invested to recover losses if investment took a beating in the previous crisis; however it is important to move towards safer assets as you approach retirement.

A few pointers to note:

• Rule of thumb, the percentage of equity investment should be 100% - (Your current age)
• Reduce your debt and limit your spending by keeping track of your expenses to make sure you are not living beyond your means.
• Ensure you have adequate medical cover.