Retirement for ordinary people

On Singapore's retirement system, SMU President Arnoud De Meyer said that the use of savings for housing needs has diverted much money away from retirement. He pointed to research done by the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at SMU showing that most Singaporeans use their money for housing, leaving the remainder with the CPF, and in bank accounts paying low returns. He cited high fees and inertia for the fact that few Singaporeans invest outside of the CPF and suggested that alternative products such as bonds and low-cost life-cycle funds could be useful to deal with the inertia. Prof De Meyer also called for “restraint” on the use of CPF for property purchases, as the rise of Singaporeans outliving their savings remains a challenge.

Source
The Business Times