Lets talk about retirement

[fallen11]

Originally Posted by dman19

Quite true. I consider myself well-travelled and so far I still find SG the ideal place for me to retire in, for now… mainly because education for kids, healthcare and family support and I appreciate the diverse society we have. You all can complain all you want but we have a great education structure here.

I do encourage those who have not travelled much to find opportunities to live for long periods outside SG so you can get exposed and it will be easier to find out for yourself what suits you the most.

To anyone else who is expecting "family support" while living overseas: it doesnt exist.

Dont expect to move to where you want to live and still expect the same friends and family to be there for you with easy access (other than spouse and kids). Unless you're willing to cover all their living expenses and buy them a house there, or give them an even higher paying job than the one they have in SG. Its just not realistic.

[TheWhitePearl]

Originally Posted by fallen11

To anyone else who is expecting "family support" while living overseas: it doesnt exist.

Dont expect to move to where you want to live and still expect the same friends and family to be there for you with easy access (other than spouse and kids). Unless you're willing to cover all their living expenses and buy them a house there, or give them an even higher paying job than the one they have in SG. Its just not realistic.

yes. very true. i previously tried to start anew in thailand. was there for 5 years but finally cannot succeed.

my first year alot of friends still msg etc. second year onwards all start to cold liao. third year like they forgotten you already. got thailand holiday dont bother to meet up catch up de. even family also same. my 5 years there only my dad and my mom continuously check up on me. sibling and friends nothing.

[fallen11]

Originally Posted by TheWhitePearl

yes. very true. i previously tried to start anew in thailand. was there for 5 years but finally cannot succeed.

my first year alot of friends still msg etc. second year onwards all start to cold liao. third year like they forgotten you already. got thailand holiday dont bother to meet up catch up de. even family also same. my 5 years there only my dad and my mom continuously check up on me. sibling and friends nothing.

That is expected, except for the sibling part. usually from what i know, siblings who dont live with each other tend to become even closer than when living together. Of course that depends on individual family too, some siblings only out to pawn each other only.
But 5 years in thailand, should be enough time for you to build up your own new social circle there right?

[TheWhitePearl]

Originally Posted by fallen11

That is expected, except for the sibling part. usually from what i know, siblings who dont live with each other tend to become even closer than when living together. Of course that depends on individual family too, some siblings only out to pawn each other only.
But 5 years in thailand, should be enough time for you to build up your own new social circle there right?

Yeap have Thai friends around but of course not as many as we do in Singapore. Because keep hanging with same few people. ahaha surprisingly they also have small circle of close friends in thai culture as they move around alot province to province. they know many people but really close only a few.

anyway back in sg, suddenly everybody is like ho sei boh?? i am like like that lor... lol

[rickman]

Originally Posted by SexySolid

lots of good info after reading this forum.

Agree with you too

[charger]

I read a few pages back that some bros were considering giving up their citizenship to live in their spouses or girlfriends countries. To me that is a silly option. Many wealthy people pay millions to get local citizenship and others lesser ones are trying their best to obtain one. There are many incentives and benefits as a citizen. Many foreign ladies marry or follow you because you are a Singaporean. Give that up
and you are similar to their countrymen. Best of both worlds are keep your citizenship, rent out your home and stay there a few months a year like a tourist. Believe me they will treat you much better and with more respect.

[fallen11]

Originally Posted by charger

I read a few pages back that some bros were considering giving up their citizenship to live in their spouses or girlfriends countries. To me that is a silly option. Many wealthy people pay millions to get local citizenship and others lesser ones are trying their best to obtain one. There are many incentives and benefits as a citizen. Many foreign ladies marry or follow you because you are a Singaporean. Give that up
and you are similar to their countrymen. Best of both worlds are keep your citizenship, rent out your home and stay there a few months a year like a tourist. Believe me they will treat you much better and with more respect.

Agreed. i think they delusional liao.
Just let them be, they cant be spoken with sense one. Its their right anyway.
Once u finished all your NS liabilities, no point giving up citizenship anymore as no more liabilities.

I remember 1 guy asking why govt lock up their cpf money to 55/65 when he can manage his own finances well. I think that same guy also saying he wanna throw citizenship to take out all his cpf money.
You see the dis-link here?

[Libero]

What an excellent thread this is. Just stumbled upon this, out of my usual sex threads browsing routine.

Skimmed through, and I see so many dai kors from GL, KTV and International Punting threads are here!

I had left Singapore to work overseas here and there for almost two decades so that my monies are not locked up in that elaborate CPF Scheme.

First, I must say that you should never ever give up your Singapore passport, that is the best gift the country/government gave u.

Second, financially it is becoming more and more prohibitive to retire in Singapore, with the middle class becoming sandwiched with higher and higher costs of living. They smoke you with all the CDC and SkillsFuture freebies, and their propaganda on TV and Internet.

Take the benefits of your passport and live elsewhere. Post COVID and in the hybrid or remote work era, you might not get a PR or long term visa but you can easily buy a property somewhere else and shuttle around, especially in Southeast Asia.

[TMNT99]

Originally Posted by Libero

What an excellent thread this is. Just stumbled upon this, out of my usual sex threads browsing routine.

Skimmed through, and I see so many dai kors from GL, KTV and International Punting threads are here!

I had left Singapore to work overseas here and there for almost two decades so that my monies are not locked up in that elaborate CPF Scheme.

First, I must say that you should never ever give up your Singapore passport, that is the best gift the country/government gave u.

Second, financially it is becoming more and more prohibitive to retire in Singapore, with the middle class becoming sandwiched with higher and higher costs of living. They smoke you with all the CDC and SkillsFuture freebies, and their propaganda on TV and Internet.

Take the benefits of your passport and live elsewhere. Post COVID and in the hybrid or remote work era, you might not get a PR or long term visa but you can easily buy a property somewhere else and shuttle around, especially in Southeast Asia.

I can't agree more with this except that I recommend renting a property to stay Vs buying. You also get the freedom to move between countries and different provinces. Unless you are willing to accept total loss when you pass away suddenly overseas or already totally prepared to gift it out from the start. Oversea property and marriage rules varies but are generally written to the locals' advantage. Think thrice before buying.

[TMNT99]

Originally Posted by fallen11

Agreed. i think they delusional liao.
Just let them be, they cant be spoken with sense one. Its their right anyway.
Once u finished all your NS liabilities, no point giving up citizenship anymore as no more liabilities.

I remember 1 guy asking why govt lock up their cpf money to 55/65 when he can manage his own finances well. I think that same guy also saying he wanna throw citizenship to take out all his cpf money.
You see the dis-link here?

I personally think that for those of us that has travelled regionally for many years or even worked outside of SG. We will generally arrive at this viewpoint of keep SG citizenship but spend your hard earned money somewhere else for a better quality of life with the same budget. For those that think of giving up citizenship, please talk to your well travelled friends and relatives and get a better picture. Think and think before you ever want to give up SG citizenship, it is a one-way street.

[fallen11]

Originally Posted by TMNT99

We will generally arrive at this viewpoint of keep SG citizenship but spend your hard earned money somewhere else for a better quality of life with the same budget.

agreed that this is the best choice.
sg is high income. easy to make money in sg compared to most other countries (of course dont compare sg to those top white man countries). You can feel like a poor man in sg but if you take sg kind of income and spend it elsewhere you will find it very worthwhile.

also agree on renting vs buying property to live in other country as well.
easy comparison is to compare the rental yield there. If its low, you should rent instead of buying because it shows that property prices are too high there to make sense. For example in hcm vietnam, the current rental yield (if you buy now, not buy before) for good condos are like 1-2% a yr. Makes very much sense to rent.
Renting also doesnt restrict you to live where you want. Not happy about the place, just move and rent a different place. Also easy to move around countries too and make use of sg passport.
you dont need to restrict your retirement life to just 1 country. you want every season 1 country also can (make use of these countries' 90 day visa free arrangement for sg passport).
Winter live in Japan, Spring live in Portugal or Spain, Summer live in Switzerland, Autumn live in Thailand etc.

Always a comparison on overseas property vs sg property 99 yr leasehold:
you will frequently see overseas property being cheap and freehold as well, compared to 99 yr lease property in sg.
Freehold landed property overseas makes sense but is often prohibited to be owned by foreigners.
So your best alternative is to buy a freehold condo / apartment. But almost everyone fail to consider the below....

What happens when your building becomes too old and too dangerous to live in? Your freehold title deed doesnt mean your condo building will last forever too.
Assume building safety life = 30 years (even shorter if they used substandard materials). What happens after?

1. all owners to come out with money to tear down and rebuild a new condo building on the site. meanwhile owners have to live somewhere else while building is tore down + under construction. very costly.
2. all owners agree to try and sell the land. new land buyer have to fork out cost of demolishing the building so this cost will be considered into their purchase price. you MAY get some money back, but it could reflect far from the real market value of the land. worse if your land is not prime land as buyer has power to press down the price due to lack of buyers. sometimes the selling price could even become negative!
3. owners pay to demolish the building and move to somewhere else to live. meanwhile get an agent to sell the empty land plot and share the proceeds. again if not prime land, difficult. may suffer loss if land price < cost of demolishing building + any taxes.