Work Out Your Retirement Number →
Quick Answer
Start with how much you want to spend in retirement. List your cash, investments, CPF balances and housing commitments. Note when you expect to stop work. Plan separately for any years before CPF LIFE payouts start.
The Key Point: Plan your spending first. Then match each source of money to when you can use it.
What Should You Gather First?
List your cash, investments, CPF balances, housing commitments and the monthly retirement spending you want, in today’s dollars. Note the age you expect to stop work, not just when payouts start.
Use Retirement Number for money you can spend from your portfolio and CPF Projection separately: not all CPF balances are cash you can take out.
How Do You Cover The Years Before Payouts Start?
Say you stop work at 60 and payouts start at 65. You must fund five years first: at a made-up flat S$3,000 a month, S$180,000 before inflation, other income or returns.
Subtracting future CPF LIFE income from every retirement year hides this early gap.
- Age 60: Stop Work: Your pay stops, but your spending carries on.
- Ages 60 To 65: Fund It Yourself: Five years at S$3,000 a month is S$180,000 from your own savings.
- Age 65: Payouts Start: Only from here can CPF LIFE income cover part of your spending.
Which Tool Answers Which Question?
Read CPF LIFE for the limits of its payout figures, SRS Optimiser for a contribution’s tax effect and Top-Up vs SRS vs Invest for the pros and cons. A tax saving does not tell you if you can afford to lock money away.
How Do You Avoid Counting CPF Twice?
Do not count CPF savings twice, as spendable money and as the source of lifetime payouts. Keep housing refunds and mortgage choices in view with the CPF vs Cash Mortgage guide, and check official balances, eligibility and retirement-sum rules before you transfer or contribute.
Quick Check
Three statements from this guide. Tap True or False to check what you have read. Nothing is saved.
Card 1 Of 3
If you stop work at 60 and payouts start at 65, you must fund five years of spending yourself first.
Why? Card 1 Of 3
At a made-up flat S$3,000 a month, that gap alone is S$180,000, before inflation, other income or returns.
Card 2 Of 3
Subtracting future CPF LIFE income from every retirement year shows the early gap accurately.
Why? Card 2 Of 3
Plan separately for any years between stopping work and the start of CPF LIFE payouts.
Card 3 Of 3
You can count CPF savings both as money you can spend and as the source of lifetime payouts.
Why? Card 3 Of 3
Not all CPF balances are cash you can take out when you want. Check official balances, eligibility and retirement-sum rules before you transfer or contribute.
Your Score
Start With Your Numbers
Try the calculator with your own numbers. The guides linked in each section explain the details.
Work Out Your Retirement Number →Frequently Asked Questions
What Should I Gather Before Using The Retirement Tools?
List your cash, investments, CPF balances, housing commitments and the monthly spending you want in retirement.
Keep today’s dollars separate from future costs after inflation. Note the age you expect to stop work, not just the age payouts start.
What Is The Gap Between Stopping Work And CPF LIFE Payouts?
If you stop work at 60 and payouts start at 65, you must fund five years of spending first.
At a made-up flat S$3,000 a month, that gap alone is S$180,000. That is before inflation, other income or returns. Subtracting CPF LIFE income from every retirement year would understate it.
Which Calculator Should I Use For Each Question?
Start with Retirement Number for money you can spend from your portfolio.
Use CPF Projection separately for balances. Read CPF LIFE for the limits of its payout figures. Use SRS Optimiser for a contribution’s tax effect and Top-Up vs SRS vs Invest for the pros and cons. A tax saving does not tell you if you can afford to lock money away.
Try SRS Optimiser →Can I Count CPF Savings As Part Of My Portfolio?
Not twice.
Do not count CPF savings as both money you can spend and the source of lifetime payouts. Not all CPF Projection balances are cash you can take out. Check official balances, eligibility and retirement-sum rules before you transfer or contribute.
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Sources & Assumptions
Sources checked 12 October 2026. These are examples only. Check the stated assumptions and limits before you use a result.
A planning order, not personal retirement advice. The simple gap example leaves out inflation and returns.