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Planning for your retirement with Manulife

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
Manulife Retirement Solutions


Imagine a life where you are free from all your responsibilities, where you never have to work again for a living, and you can do what you have always wanted. This life is called retirement. It is a time to be free and live your ideal life. And it is possible but the most important question is have you planned ahead for your desired retirement lifestyle?Financial security is the key to a worry-free retirement. To be financially independent, you need to plan carefully and start saving early so your money works harder for you through compounding interest.With advancements in medicine and improvements in living standards, the life expectancy of Singaporeans is increasing.

On average a Singaporean male can live up to 83 years while a female can live up to 87 years*
.

This means we can expect a longer retirement period and we need a steady stream of income for approximately 20 years if you retire at age 65. If you do not have a proper retirement plan, who will provide for you in your old age? You may think you can rely on your children. However your children may not be able to render such financial support and even if they can, would you want to give them this additional burden?
As you pass through various phases in life, different needs take priority at different stages. Retirement may seem too far away for young singles. There are immediate needs such as building your career and buying a car. By your thirties, you might have bought a house, gotten married and started your own family. As you approach 40, commitments like caring for parents, children and paying off mortgage loans further delay your retirement planning. Whatever your life’s concerns, retirement will be upon us one day. Rather than meet it unprepared, take the first step now to ensure a financially secure retirement.

How much do you need for retirement?


The amount of retirement funds you need depends on the kind of lifestyle you want to maintain. Do you plan to do a lot of travelling? Are there some hobbies that you would like to pursue? Typically you would need at least 70% of your pre-retirement income to maintain your current lifestyle.

Here is an example of how much you will possibly need for retirement when you start planning at age 45.

Retirement needs: S$5,000 a month (in today’s value)

Retirement-Visual-jpg_081104.jpg


Calculating your Retirement Gap

Assumption: inflation at 3% p.a.,nominal investment return at 5% p.a. & savings at the end of each month.To find out your retirement needs, you can log on to www.manuliferetirement.sg/#calulator

Singaporeans not on track to achieving financial goals

According to the Manulife Investor Sentiment Index that was launched in March 2013, despite Singapore investors’ early head start in life when it comes to planning for retirement, 57 per cent of them are pessimistic about being on track in achieving their financial goals. At the same time, 52 per cent of Singapore investors do not think their personal savings alone can afford them a desirable life at retirement.

Saving for retirement is regarded as the top financial priority for Singapore investors. However, planning for retirement is not just about the cash you save from your monthly income. It is just as important to put your money to hard work because inflation can erode the value of your savings. So besides starting early for retirement planning and taking advantage of the compounding effect to make your money grow, we should make use of the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) to set aside funds for retirement and participate in CPF Life to take care of your basic retirement needs. You also need to build alternative streams of income to support your desired lifestyle as CPF Life’s maximum monthly payout is $1,100.


Addressing the retirement gap

It is important to take a holistic approach to retirement planning. There is a clear opportunity for Singapore investors to better understand and tap the expertise of financial planners to maximise their savings through investment and help them narrow the retirement gap to achieve their desirable lifestyle at retirement. In fact, investors who have financial planners tend to feel more confident about building their nest egg and are more financially prepared for retirement.Manulife Singapore has launched a Retirement Microsite that houses a Retirement Calculator. To calculate your retirement gap, you can log on to www.manuliferetirement.sg. This microsite also educates users on the various ways to build their retirement nest egg.Your retirement dreams and aspirations can only be achieved with careful planning. It does not come by chance. You have to plan ahead for a comfortable retirement life. Secure today, Secured tomorrow.

*Department of Statistics Singapore
 

singham

Alfrescian
Loyal
i remember many years ago, i think more than 14 years ago. i was approached by AIA agents to buy some US dollar fund. the exchange rate then was SGD1= USD 1.6.

i wonder what happen to those who bought it...? tsk...
 
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watchman8

Alfrescian
Loyal
What a joke. $5000 a month per head in today's money, no less. Essentially telling you to give them all your money to invest in their array of crap funds. Their agents will give you five star private banking experience because they will be earning a lot more from you than a high net worth at a Swiss bank.
 

fukyuman

Alfrescian
Loyal
The agent who sells you their yearly or monthly contribution plans earns as much as 30% commission for the first year, all of which is paid by you. Nothing is free in the insurance industry. They have a wonderful way to cream more from you. The money goes into buying you units of the fund, earning the company additional commission to buy for you. They are then promptly resold to top up your insurance premiums, earning them the spread between buy and sell. Next their in-house fund manager takes over. Not the top of the league, the good ones goes to countries where fortunes are quickly made. They are our equivalent of FT trash. Their job is to churn until the risks reward is not worth it. Their annual report will show you portion of their charts where their fund performed better than benchmarks. If you track them yourself, most of them just follow the same trend. No need to use brains. Just earn a fat check doing nothing for you.

With CPF you get 2.5% for ordinary account and 4% for special accounts. Don't be surprised people bought such crappy investment deals using their special accounts. Many are desperadoes hoping for immediate returns such as friendly loans or free beer. Even if you feel powerless against such glib agents, ask yourself the same question. Why put all your money in a single basket, be it SG funds that crawl like a crab sideways for the last 30 years. Or the emergent Asian funds where bubble never seem to burst until you bought into it.

If you die die want to help your agent friend. Buy a single premium 5$K fund. Ask for 2.5$K minimum investment fund if possible. The commission can be as low as 5%. Do not pre-sign any forms so the agent friend can trade on your behalf. They are total newbies like you and I. After a year or even more, check how well the fund performed, top up or cash out accordingly. Again, its all eggs in the same basket situation. You'll suffer a huge loss should the market crash.

Can I use my CPF funds to invest in such a retirement fund? :biggrin:
 

Hawkeye1819

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
Never use a financial adviser to plan for retirement. It will be they who will retire comfortably, not you. The math behind the whole selling thing is OK. But the products they sell is not. A large chunk of your premiums will be eaten up by commissions and hidden fees.
 

AhGuan

Alfrescian
Loyal
Guys,

If you look at the benefit illustration, it is based on 'nominal interest rate of 5%'. You might as well go read a fantasy novel.

U.S. 10-year notes yield is less than 2%. Singapore Govt bonds less than 3%. How to get 5% ? Depend on the equity funds ?

Many people who buy insurance products kenna conned by the benefit illustration because they never look at the interest rate on which the calculations are based.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
The agent who sells you their yearly or monthly contribution plans earns as much as 30% commission for the first year, all of which is paid by you.

You don't have to buy anything from any insurance company in order to plan for retirement. All you need to do is to use the manulife retirement calculator to work out how much you need in order to retire at 45 with sufficient assets to yield $15,000 per month over 40 years.

Once you have the figure worked out, go about creating sufficient wealth to realise your goals. It's that easy.
 

Big Sexy

Super Moderator
SuperMod
sam, the problem is most sinkies can't be bothered to even think of retirement plans of any sort.
they feel it is the government responsibilities to feed and take care of them.


You don't have to buy anything from any insurance company in order to plan for retirement. All you need to do is to use the manulife retirement calculator to work out how much you need in order to retire at 45 with sufficient assets to yield $15,000 per month over 40 years.

Once you have the figure worked out, go about creating sufficient wealth to realise your goals. It's that easy.
 

Hawkeye1819

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
sam, the problem is most sinkies can't be bothered to even think of retirement plans of any sort.
they feel it is the government responsibilities to feed and take care of them.



The typical Sinkee retirement plan is weekly visits to the lottery booth, and typical investment plan is monthly recurring deposits at the Shanghai bank account with the PRC hooker they met at the HFJ.
 

singham

Alfrescian
Loyal
we worked so hard to contribute to the economy and if the gahment don;t take care of us, who'd? also, the fact that heath care cost is very expensive, once you fall sick, that will be it. either sell house or anything that will be needed for your hospitalisation and treatment.

sam, the problem is most sinkies can't be bothered to even think of retirement plans of any sort.
they feel it is the government responsibilities to feed and take care of them.
 

Big Sexy

Super Moderator
SuperMod
if you are talking about health care cost then the government is already taking care of sinkies with subsided medical fees,
Do they also have to cook and change bedsheets for all sinkies?
Do they have to cover funeral cost for sinkies as well?


we worked so hard to contribute to the economy and if the gahment don;t take care of us, who'd? also, the fact that heath care cost is very expensive, once you fall sick, that will be it. either sell house or anything that will be needed for your hospitalisation and treatment.
 

singham

Alfrescian
Loyal
why such a big country like china with over 4 billion population able to pay fully for their seniors over age 55 if they fall sick? tell me why...?

if you are talking about health care cost then the government is already taking care of sinkies with subsided medical fees,
Do they also have to cook and change bedsheets for all sinkies?
Do they have to cover funeral cost for sinkies as well?
 

AhGuan

Alfrescian
Loyal
why such a big country like china with over 4 billion population able to pay fully for their seniors over age 55 if they fall sick? tell me why...?


So are you saying there are no poor people in China because all the above 55 are taken care of ? No beggars in China ?
 

sleaguepunter

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
we worked so hard to contribute to the economy and if the gahment don;t take care of us, who'd? also, the fact that heath care cost is very expensive, once you fall sick, that will be it. either sell house or anything that will be needed for your hospitalisation and treatment.

as much as i agree local medical cost is very expensive but there plenty of medical insurance in the market, all u have to do was start young and the premium will be low in the begining. personally, hospitalisation cost still small problem, the worse part is the after hospitalised, the home care cost that is more scarier for those long term medical condition. breadwinners better have everyhing cover, if really no spare $$, just buy term life insurance which only payout in death but it very cheap. at least provide $$ to spouse and kids after death. then also apply for LPA, so that spouse or other family member can act on your behalf in the event of coma, paralysis etc etc... if not, spouse cannot access to money in the bank while u coma in hospital or sign cpf medisave forms on your behalf. touch wood touch wood.

pls click on link to find out more on LPA.

http://www.publicguardian.gov.sg/PrePlan/HowCanIMakeaLastingPowerofAttorney.aspx
 

tonychat

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
why such a big country like china with over 4 billion population able to pay fully for their seniors over age 55 if they fall sick? tell me why...?

hey sinkie, why you anyhow wack infor one... if you dunno just say you dunno, why like to act intelligent... you must be another one who drink too much distilled water, thinking you are highly educated.
 

singham

Alfrescian
Loyal
sorry for the wrong info, but what is 6 million compare to 1.4 billion. btw, there are about 6.9 billion people living on this planet.
 
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