When Huiqi (not her real name) decided to retire at the age of 37, she knew that her lifestyle choice represented an opportunity cost: Retiring early meant that she would be not be able to own a home or buy that fancy car, but it would give her the freedom to enjoy the independent life she'd always wanted.
In the past year since she's retired, the 38-year-old former business consultant has travelled extensively, and redirected her efforts to helping the community through numerous volunteer activities.
For Huiqi, the prospect of remaining in the endless rat race was not aligned with her values. "A lot of decisions are supported by the overall picture and what's important to [the individual]: I had to ask myself, do I want to look rich, or do I want more time freedom? It was pretty easy to convince myself."
She might shop at "swop meets" and not be able to afford fancy meals, but for her, the sacrifice is worth it.
For many others, however, retirement conjures up images of leisurely business class trips to Europe, weekly golf sessions, and a private condo to boot - and why not? We work incredibly hard, and it's normal to aspire to an upwardly mobile lifestyle.
A 2022 OCBC survey revealed that 34% of Singaporeans in their 20s want to retire in style. That means: living in a private property, owning a car, and travelling regularly. Calculations reveal that such a lifestyle would cost about $6,000 a month.
When Her World polled 800 women for the What Women Want 2023 survey, we found that the average Singapore woman believes that she needs around $880,000 in savings to retire.
Huiqi's goal was $600,000, but she quickly points out that it's not just about achieving that magical number, but also about "making sure you have systems in place that can generate money".
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