Households across lower- and middle-income brackets hold between 80 and 90 percent of their total wealth in housing and Central Provident Fund savings. Although these mechanisms prevent outright destitution, residents face diminished incomes alongside rising expenditures for everyday healthcare and utilities. Adding to these retirement pressures, older citizens are increasingly dropping private insurance coverage due to escalating premium costs.
Key points
Residents reaching age 65 face an average of 21.6 additional years of living costs before…: Residents reaching age 65 face an average of 21.6 additional years of living costs before Singapore shifts to its new retirement age in 2029.
Heavy reliance on illiquid assets leaves older demographics without adequate cash buffers…: Heavy reliance on illiquid assets leaves older demographics without adequate cash buffers to handle urgent caregiving and medical bills.
Escalating private insurance costs are forcing older citizens to relinquish supplementary…: Escalating private insurance costs are forcing older citizens to relinquish supplementary policies despite receiving government subsidies for basic coverage.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
With much of their wealth tied up in housing and CPF savings, ageing households need to consider whether they have sufficient financial buffers to weather unexpected shocks, say Duke-NUS’ Daniel Mahadzir and NUS’ Stanley Sia.
SINGAPORE: Earlier this year, Singapore released data on household wealth for the first time, providing a more complete picture than household income data alone.
Though real incomes have grown in the last decade, a significant portion of household wealth is held in housing and Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, especially among lower- and middle-income households. Those two relatively constrained asset pools account for about 90 per cent of total wealth in lower-wealth households, and around 80 per cent to 85 per cent even for a middle household.
If wealth is tied in illiquid assets, an illness or unexpected caregiving duty may expose a financial vulnerability – from immediate medical costs to long-term health expenses and income loss.
The new data tells us how much wealth Singapore households have and also raises an important question: How much financial resilience does that wealth actually provide when longevity…
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