Last Updated on January 3, 2024 by Tree of Wealth

Planning for retirement has been a dilemma for some. Should you go for a retirement endowment plan, or go for a savings plan instead?

Basically, retirement marks the end of striving hard in your career that has been built over the years and the start of enjoying golden years. Conducting meetings, giving presentations and attending to clients is soon replaced with a spending time with family sprinkled with holidays. Although many people look forward to this idea, a lot more get worried about losing a steady income source. 

That being said, some of the features that made the original MyRetirementChoice by Aviva (Renamed to : Singlife Flexi Retirement in August 2022) your retirement choice may not necessarily be your best choice. Here in this latest update we look at how the most competitive Retirement plans in Singapore compare and fare with one another.

Why do you need a retirement plan?

A good retirement plan will help alleviate any stress that you may be having with regards to retirement. Your CPF LIFE payout will help boost your income during this period and assist you acquire your basic living needs.

You should, however, not expect the CPF Life cover to give you an extravagant lifestyle. But why do you need a retirement plan? Here are some questions to help:

• Would you prefer a retirement plan that is more flexible and able to control?

• Are you making preparations for sustaining your financial lifestyle once you retire?
• Do you feel the need to maintain a specific lifestyle even as costs increase daily?
• Do you want to do things that need discretionary spending such as traveling overseas when retired?
• Do you consider predictability and stability to be important when choosing a financial product to maintain your stream of income during your retirement period?

If you have answered yes to a majority of the questions then a retirement plan should be in consideration to ensure that you always have a steady flow of revenue.

What are some of the best retirement plans in the market?

Although CPF Life is a great retirement plan that ensures you have a fixed stipend at the end of each month, it may not be sufficient to fulfill a luxurious lifestyle. As mentioned before in our CPF life article, the amount that you will get will be sufficient to cater for your basic needs but will not accommodate further. The CPF Life also falls short on other factors when compared to other retirement plans in the market. For example, it does not cater for old age needs such as increased risks of sicknesses or even disability.

Moreover, CPF Life lacks the flexibility to allow you to tailor the sums of the payout along the way or to choose a lump sum instead of the monthly payout. To avoid these challenges, it is recommended that you combine CPF Life with other private annuity/retirement plans. It is worth noting that the retirement plans you choose are complimenting products from both the government and the private insurer. They are not competitors. When paired together, the retirement plans or annuities and the payouts from your CPF life will ensure you can supplement your income when you retire. With these, you can double your payout multiplier due to disability or when you can’t perform a minimum of 2ADLs (Activities of Daily Living).

With that being said, there are a lot of commercial retirement plans. Each of them has different offerings and benefits but work to ensure you can maintain your lifestyle even after retirement. Most of these plans are based in paying a fixed premium term that you wish, a maturity period and a payout period. But first things first…

How do we choose the best retirement plans?

There are a lot of factors that informed our top choices for some of the best retirement plans on the market.

What was most important was, however, the fact that all these plans are capital guaranteed and also include an extra non-guaranteed benefits component. What does this mean for you? Aside from the extra monthly payments, each of these plans comes with a protection component. This may include a death benefit and a payout in case of disability. Here are some of the things we considered when picking 3 Best Retirement Plans in Singapore In Terms of Coverage, Guaranteed Returns and Flexibility;

• Guaranteed and non-guaranteed rate of financial returns and even payouts
• Premium term of Single Premium/5/10/15/20/25
• Accumulation and Payout Period
• Flexibility with regards to payouts and no minimum age required
• The features of riders that complement health coverage (Additional guaranteed payout)
• Unique product features in each retirement plan
• Disability leniancy in claim payout
• Policy flexibility available for period of income payout

Key Benefits At a Glance

Choice of Premium/Payout Term

Premium Term
Singlife with Aviva Singlife Flexi Retirement	NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex
5 Years	Single Premium
10 Years	5 Years
15 Years	10 Years
20 Years	15 Years
25 Years	20 Years
–	25 Years
–	30 Years

Payout Term
Singlife with Aviva Singlife Flexi Retirement	NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex
5 to 35 Years	10, 20 Years or till age 100
Payout Years Adjustable Before Payout Years	–

 Choice of Accumulation Period

Accumulation Period
Singlife with Aviva Singlife Flexi Retirement	NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex
0 – 40 Years	10-40 years

Comparison: Non-smoker, Female 40 Years Old

Retirement Plan	Singlife with Aviva Singlife Flexi Retirement	NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex
Premium Term	10 years	10 years
Payout Age	65 years old	65 years old
Payout Period	22 years	20 years
Guaranteed Monthly Payout	$500	$500
Non-Guaranteed Additional Cash Bonus	$110.50	$673.50
Non-Guaranteed Additional Monthly Income	$82.66	NA
Annual Premium	$9,324.75	$9,002.50

Best Retirement Plan for Highest Guaranteed, Retrenchment & Premium Freeze Benefit –

Singlife Flexi Retirement

• Currently Highest Guaranteed
• Choice of payout term – Set the number of years (5, 10, 15, 20 Years of Payout or Lifetime Payout) to receive your monthly cash benefits. Enjoy the flexibility to change your selection any time before your first monthly cash benefit is due.
• Disability Benefit – premium waiver if unable to do 2 out of 6 activities of daily living (ADL)
• Additional Guaranteed 1x Monthly Income Benefit if Loss of Independence (inability to do 3 out of 6 ADL) occurs during your retirement pay-out period.
• Disability illness payout due to Loss of Hearing, Loss of Speech and Major Head Trauma
• Retrenchment Payout – 40% of Annual Premium/10% for Single Premium when retrenched or unemployed for a consecutive period of 30 days
• Premium Freeze Option. Stop paying premium for 1 year while keeping your policy in forced
• Additional Guaranteed 0.5x Monthly Income Benefit if Intermediate Stage Loss of Independence (inability to do 2 out of 6 ADL) occurs during your retirement pay-out period.
• Payable via Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)
• Option to change payout terms 2 years before retirement

The Supplementary Retirement Scheme option

Singlife Flexi Retirement has another great option that allows you to use funds from your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) as a single premium. SRS is a savings plan that can complement your CPF savings while also allowing you to enjoy tax deferment once you transfer it to your retirement plan.

Best Retirement Plan for Flexibility – Singlife Flexi Retirement

• Additional payouts under the Care Income Benefit should you be unable to perform at least 2 out of 6 ADL during the Income Payout Period
• Choice to exercise the Fast Forward Option to receive a lump sum before your income payout.
• Choice of retirement age – Retire at any
• Choice of pay-out term – from 5 to 35 years.
• Disability Benefit – Waiver of all future premiums if policyholder is unable to do 2 out of 6 activities of daily living during payment
• Additional Guaranteed 1x Monthly Income Benefit if policyholder cannot perform at least 2 out of 6 activities of daily living during retirement pay-out period.

High Death/ TPD/TI Coverage

While the other insurers offer 105% of death coverage, Singlife Aviva’s rider EasyTerm provides a lump sum payout of up to 5 times the plan’s basic annual premium. For disability benefits, there is a waiver of all future premiums for permanent or partially blind, as well as if they are under TPD (Total Permanent Disabled), unable to perform 3 out of 6 Daily Activities, 2 times of monthly guaranteed monthly income will be paid out.

While it is the most flexible when it comes to premium and accumulation years, allowing to retire at any age, it is now one of the most expensive retirement plan in the market.

Yield

	Singlife with Aviva Singlife Flexi Retirement	NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex
Guaranteed Income	$500	$500
At Projected 3% p.a	$291.41	$356.95
At Projected 4.25% p.a	$618.91	$673.50
Pay-out Term	22 years	20 years
Premium Term	10 years	10 years
Premium	$9,324.75	$9,002.50
Guaranteed Yield	0.73%	0.98%
At Projected 3%	2.24%	1.75%
At Projected 4.25%	3.5%	3.25%

Conclusion

Like all retirement plans, each of these schemes has their own advantages and benefits. While it is important to consider the maximum payouts when choosing a plan, you should also ensure you consider life circumstances and your specific financial plans.

Want to find out which is the best for you? Not sure which is most suitable for your needs? Drop us a message below and get in touch! Get all three quotes here for a hassle free experience!

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