Have you thought about the possibility of living pass 100 years old? Given that Singapore's life expectancy is about 84 years old (which means 1 in 2 of us are going to live past 84) and with advancement in technology, healthcare and living conditions, the likelihood of you living pass 100 is not remote at all. How much do you need to live a dignified elderhood? Are you afraid of living too long because you don't want to be a burden to others or worried that you might outlive your economic resources? These are some of the questions that Immortalize encountered when we help people plan their last mile of life, spanning from retirement all through to their legacy. In Part 1 of this CPF LIFE series, we explore CPF LIFE, Singapore's national longevity insurance annuity scheme introduced in 2009, and why we think it's one of the best gift from the government. Base Case Scenario In Singapore, when you hit 65 years old, what usually happens is that you can apply to start receiving monthly payouts from your CPF accounts or choose to defer the payouts till later. If you don't do anything, your payouts will automatically start at 70 years old. If you were born before 1958, you can choose to either be in the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS) or the CPF Lifelong Income for Elderly Scheme (CPF LIFE). If you were born on or after 1958, you are most likely going to be automatically enrolled in CPF LIFE. If not automatically enrolled, you can voluntarily opt in or CPF will pay out your retirements savings till it runs out. How to Join CPF Life? In Singapore, you will automatically be included in CPF Life if you are: A Singaporean or Permanent Resident (PR); Born in 1958 or after; Have at least S$60,000 in your retirement savings before you reach 65. If automatically included, before you turn 65, you’ll be informed on the options available to you. If not automatically included, you’ll receive monthly payouts until your retirement savings run out. You can join the CPF Life scheme voluntarily: If you are a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident Anytime between 65 to one month before you turn 80 years old (when you want to start receiving payouts) If you want to opt out, you can do so if you meet certain criteria. Now, let's decide if we want to be in CPF LIFE or whether we should try to get out of it. In the following section, we will compare RSS with CPF LIFE to decide whether we are better off in CPF LIFE. How does the Retirement Sum Scheme work? Under RSS, your monthly payout amount will be calculated such that your current retirement savings will be able to last you up to 20 years, taking into consideration the base interest rate, which is 4% p.a. at the time of writing. Any extra interest paid will be used to extend your payouts beyond 20 years, up to 90 years old or another 5 years, whichever ends later. Note: Check out here for the extra interest that the Singapore government pays on CPF savings. If you are eligible, you can check out how much gets paid out under RSS here. Payout stops once all the savings run out. If you pass away before the savings run out, the balance on your Retirement Account (RA), including any interest earned, will be paid out to your beneficiaries. Related: CPF Inheritance: How It Works, Tips & More! How does CPF LIFE work? CPF LIFE hedges against your longevity risk by providing payouts to you for as long as you are alive. Note: For an individual, longevity risk refers to the risk of you living longer than expected, which may mean living longer than your money or economic resources can provide for. Overview Once you have decided to start your payout, all or part of your savings in the RA will be deducted as CPF LIFE premium. A monthly payout will be determined and paid to you. The monthly payout will first be deducted from your CPF LIFE premium. If your premium gets fully deducted, CPF will continue to pay you your monthly payout (this is the insurance component). If you die before your premium gets used up, the remaining premium, will be distributed as inheritance to your CPF nominees. Round 1: Duration CPF LIFE wins. CPF LIFE pays you for as long as you are alive while RSS ends when your RA runs out. Now, let's look at the payout. How much can you get from CPF LIFE each month? You can check the amount that you are eligible for via the CPF LIFE estimator. But to summarize, the CPF LIFE payouts are determined by an independent actuarial consultant and depends on factors such as: Age Gender Females tend to live longer than males and so everything else the same, the payout for a female will be lesser than an equivalent male. CPF interest rates The higher the CPF interest rate, the higher the payout. Mortality rates The longer the population is expected to live, everything else the same, the lower the payouts. CPF LIFE premium - The retirement savings used to join CPF LIFE The more you join CPF LIFE with, the higher premium you are paying and thus, the higher the payout. CPF LIFE plan type The plan type determines whether you will get a constant payout throughout, payout that keeps increasing, etc. Let's illustrate with an example. If you turn 55 years old in 2022, the maximum amount that you can use for CPF Life, which is your Enhanced Retirement Sum, is S$288,000. By the time you reach 65 and if you are on the CPF LIFE Standard Plan, you can expect a monthly payout of about S$2,140 - S$2,300, till you die. What is the difference between the CPF LIFE payout plans? There are three CPF LIFE payout plans that you can choose from: Standard Plan - Fixed payout every month This is the default plan that we will use for comparison. It gives the same payout every month and is suitable for people who don't mind adjusting their spending pattern by buying lesser or living more frugally even as the price of things rise. Escalating Plan - Increasing payout every month Protects you against inflation/rising cost of living. Payouts starts lower and increase by 2% every year. The payouts for the Escalating Plan will initially be lower than the payouts for the Standard Plan but will eventually be higher as time goes by. Basic Plan - Fixed and lower monthly payout than Standard Plan This is a legacy plan from when CPF LIFE was first introduced in 2009. Under this plan, about 10-20% of your Retirement Account (RA) savings will be deducted as CPF Life premium. Your monthly payout will first be paid from your RA and after RA is depleted, payouts will continue from CPF LIFE and carry on till you die. You can play around with the different payouts under the various plans here. Does CPF LIFE earn interest? Your CPF LIFE premium continues to earn you the interest that you would have otherwise earn in the RA and that interest is factored into the higher monthly payout. The interest earned on you and other CPF members' CPF LIFE premium is what allows you to continue receiving payout even after your CPF LIFE premium has been depleted. How far can I defer CPF LIFE payouts? You can ensure a higher payout by deferring the date you start receiving to payments till as far as 70 years old Can I change my CPF LIFE payout plan? Once you have selected the payout plan, you can only change the plan type within 30 days from the date of your policy letter via “My Mailbox” in your CPF account. After that, you will not be able to change the payout type. If you are on a legacy plan such as the Basic, Balanced, Plus or Income Plan, you can make the switch to Escalating or Standard plan before the age of 80. Are CPF LIFE payouts fixed and guaranteed? No. The size of CPF LIFE payouts are not guaranteed, but they are designed to be stable. Any adjustments to CPF LIFE payouts are expected to be small and gradual. CPF LIFE is a self-sustaining insurance scheme where payouts are matched to premiums. Guaranteeing a minimum payout would require higher premiums. Round 2: Monthly Payout On a monthly basis, RSS can pay more than CPF LIFE. Here are two examples to illustrate. (Note: Some figures have been rounded up and were correct at the time that they were recorded. The figures may become inaccurate over time.) Scenario 1: Singaporean male born in 1954 named John. Has S$395,000 in RA. Assume John starts his payout now. RSS will pay ~$2,650 for ~18 years. CPF LIFE will pay ~$2,270 till John passes away. Scenario 2: Singaporean male born in 1955 named Peter. Has ~S$108,700 in RA now. Peter already started RSS payout. His current RSS payout is ~$680 for another ~22 years. If he switches to CPF LIFE , Peter will get ~$670 till he passes away. Obviously, the longer you live, the more CPF LIFE make sense. But what if I die early? Let's look at inheritance. What happens to my CPF LIFE premium when I die? After you pass away, any unused CPF LIFE premium will be paid out to your beneficiaries. Unlike inheritance under RSS, for CPF LIFE, only the unused CPF LIFE premium gets paid to your beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries do not get the interest accrued on your CPF LIFE premiums. Here's an example to illustrate: Under RSS, if a member has $450,000 in his/her RA and had already received S$50,000 of payout. When the member passes away, the member's beneficiaries will get $400,000 + accumulated interested. On the other hand, if a member joins CPF LIFE with S$450,000 of CPF LIFE premium and had already received S$50,000 worth of payouts, S$400,000 will be refunded to the member's beneficiaries. Round 3: Inheritance RSS pays more to your beneficiaries than CPF LIFE if you pass away before you could finish using your retirement savings/CPF LIFE premium. Is Retirement Sum Scheme or CPF LIFE better? CPF LIFE wins RSS in duration but RSS wins CPF LIFE in terms of monthly payout and inheritance. So does that mean RSS is better? No. CPF LIFE is better. We'll explain why in Part 2 of this CPF LIFE series, where we'll explore the pros & cons of RSS, CPF LIFE and private annuities to see which is better. Next: CPF LIFE, Retirement Sum Scheme or Private Annuity? Which is Better? Subscribe to our mailing list to get the articles delivered straight to your inbox. Back to CPF, CPF LIFE, SRS X Inheritance Series > Back to Resource page > Immortalize is a Last Mile Of Life marketplace, helping people find the right providers to do all their life, death, estate and legacy planning and execution all on one platform. Need someone to help with your CPF inheritance, will, lasting power of attorney and other last mile of life affairs? Outsource the work to Immortalize Prime, your personal last mile of life assistant! FAQ What is CPF LIFE? CPF Lifelong Income for Elderly Scheme (CPF LIFE) is Singapore's national longevity insurance annuity scheme. CPF LIFE gives you monthly payout regardless of how long you live. What is the difference between CPF LIFE and Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS)? CPF LIFE gives you a monthly payout for as long as you are alive while RSS payout stops when your retirement account is depleted. If you pass away before using up your CPF LIFE premium, the unused premium will be distributed to your CPF nominees whereas for RSS, your balance plus accrued interest will be paid out to your nominees. Are CPF LIFE payouts fixed and guaranteed? No. CPF LIFE payouts are not guaranteed, but they are designed to be stable. Any adjustments to CPF LIFE payouts are expected to be small and gradual. CPF LIFE is a self-sustaining insurance scheme where payouts are matched to premiums. Guaranteeing a minimum payout would require higher premiums. Disclaimer: Nothing in this article or site should be construed as providing legal advice or advice of any sort. The information provided are general in nature and may become inaccurate over time. Please consult a professional for advice. For any issues or queries, please contact j@immortalize.io

An Additional Buyers' Stamp Duty (ABSD) of 35% will now apply to any transfer of residential property into a living trust, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Finance's website. The new rule ("ABSD (Trust)"), will apply to transfers that occur on or after May 9, 2022 A living trust is a trust that is created by a person when he/she is alive Previously, when a residential property is transferred into a living trust, Buyer's Stamp Duty is payable but whether there will be ABSD depends on who is benefiting from the residential property that is transferred into the living trust. When a living trust is structured such that there is no identifiable beneficial owner(s) at the time when the residential property is transferred, ABSD does not apply Now, the ABSD (Trust) is payable upfront regardless of whether there's identifiable beneficial owner(s) A trustee may apply for a refund of ABSD (Trust) if certain conditions are met For more information, please refer to MOF's statement here Back to Resource page > Immortalize is a Last Mile of Life marketplace and information provider, helping people find the right providers to do their life, death, estate and legacy planning and execution all on one platform. Subscribe to our mailing list to get the articles delivered straight to your inbox. Need someone to help with your will, lasting power of attorney and other last mile of life affairs? Outsource the work to Immortalize Prime, your personal last mile of life assistant! Disclaimer: Nothing in this article or site should be construed as providing legal advice or advice of any sort. The information provided are general in nature and may become inaccurate over time. Please consult a professional for advice. For any issues or queries, please contact j@immortalize.io

Choosing the right lawyer is very important but also extremely tough. It’s important to find a right and trusted fit because this is the person you will be telling all your darkest secrets to and revealing your personal information like where all your assets are. Finding this perfect mate is also extremely tough. There’s a lack of information (before Immortalize was launched) and trying to compare whatever little information you can gather is a dreadful pain. Unpleasant Customer Service In our attempt to get pricings from law firms through mystery calling, we found that to get an answer for even the simplest question like “How much does your will cost?” takes between 20 minutes to 6 weeks (some didn’t even answer their calls or reply to emails). There’s very little customer service to talk about and the experience was generally unpleasant. In today’s service-oriented world where consumers want information now, this is just unacceptable. That’s why we gathered the information on behalf of everyone to make it easier for all to find the right lawyer. Finding The Perfect Fit Through this article, you will get an idea of what factors to consider when choosing your lawyer, why those factors matter and see how to easily filter through the data we’ve collected for you to find your perfect fit. Let’s start with an overview of the factors to consider. These factors are a combination of your constraints and your personal preferences. Your Constraints Type of Service Provider Type of Services Office Locations & Operating Locations Specialized/Other Services Your Personal Preferences Mode of Contact Firm Size Price Service Style Reviews We'll discuss them individually, starting from your constraints. Type of Service Provider There are many life, death, estate and legacy planning providers, going from online wills, financial firms, insurance companies all through to funeral parlor. For the purpose of this article, we will only look at lawyers (but feel free to explore others). Type of Services Not all lawyers do wills. In fact, in our conversation with lawyers, some have expressed that they try to avoid doing wills if they can because it’s not very profitable and there’s a high liability. Find law firms that actually say they do wills. Office Locations & Operating Locations Next, office location and operating location and why they matter. Office locations are where a law firm have an office or physical presence so that you can arrange for an in-person meeting. For example, if you live in Australia and needs to do a Singapore will, you may want to engage a law firm that has an office in Australia so that you can sign your will in person. Operating locations are where the law firms/lawyer can operate in. For example, the law firm/lawyer may have an office only in Singapore but is licensed to advice on matters in Singapore and Australia. This will be applicable when you have assets in more than one location as the will you do in one location may not be applicable to your assets in all locations. Specialized & Other Services Not every lawyer can advice on Syariah law for Muslims or is an expert in LGBT+ estate planning matters. If you have such needs, find providers that can advice on such specialized areas. Next, let's narrow the search to accommodate for your personal preferences. Mode of Contact In today’s Covid-19 world, you may prefer to have conversations with your lawyer over video call first and go down to the office only when you need to. Alternatively, you may prefer the traditional way of seeing your lawyer in person. Immortalize Search Tip: Select "Bookable via Immortalize" to seek out law firms that you can get real time information and/or book instantly. Firm Size Some people prefer bigger law firms for their wide presence while others prefer to do their private matters with smaller, more relatable law firms. Price This is probably the key decision factor for many. Here’s a disclaimer because this area is controversial. We have collected price information based on what’s on the law firms’ website, through mystery calling and also voluntary by providers who have signed up on Immortalize platform and graciously agreed on giving price transparency to the public. For those without a pricing or companies not on Immortalize platform, it could be because 1. They complained and didn’t want price transparency. For law firms who aren’t for helping make it more convenient for you, we are fine with dropping them off your radar. 2. We didn’t manage to get it. 3. We haven’t got around to getting it (we will get there soon!). Lesson Learned One thing we learn from collecting pricing information and doing mystery callings are 1. You always need to check what’s included in the price – the cheapest ones often have many restrictions like limits on number of beneficiaries; and 2. Everything else the same, does the more expensive offering means you are getting better advice? There really isn’t an objective standard for this. If you decide to go to a lawyer, what you really should be paying for is someone’s time and the quality of their advice. Make sure you choose a lawyer that spends sufficient time to understand your circumstances and what you want. Once you have shortlisted some firms, you will be able to compare offering details. [Note: The price comparison function will be available soon. For now, you can view the law firm's pricings through their booking page.] Service Style Some lawyers are professional and straightforward while others are personable and thoughtful. What kind of advisor can you relate most to and work best with? For lawyers on Immortalize’s platform, we have sought to enhance convenience for you by profiling them. You can get more information about individual lawyers through their profile link or our interviews with them. [See profiles of the best, the most outstanding and the legitimate providers.] Reviews What’s a marketplace without recommendations from other users? As with all precautions regarding reviews, good reviews can often be fake while bad reviews may sometimes be from unreasonable clients. We make the system as fair as possible for both sides so you can make the judgement call. Conclusion We have now gone through all the key factors you need to know to find the right lawyer for you. Once you have shortlisted a few, make use of our other functions like Quick Consult, where you can have a quick chat with the lawyer, ask them more details on what you need to know and interview them before committing to one. Start your legacy planning journey now. Other Useful Guides: How to Write & How Much to draft a Will? How to Choose a Will Provider? The Ultimate Guide to Online Wills (Singapore) Best Digital, Online Wills in Singapore Read more: What Happens To My Stuff When I Die? (Singapore Edition) Guide To Making a Will - Singapore Edition All About Probate & Administration (Singapore Edition) Find a professional, compare prices, and kickstart your estate planning Disclaimer: Nothing in this article or site should be construed as providing legal advice or advice of any sort. The information provided are general in nature and may become inaccurate over time. Please consult a professional for advice. For any issues or queries, please contact j@immortalize.io

What is Estate Planning? Estate planning involves the preparation of transfer of one’s wealth and assets to heirs and beneficiaries after one’s death. What is Legacy Planning? By definition, legacy means: (1) money or assets left to someone in will; (2) something handed down by a predecessor, an ancestor or from the past Legacy planning involves the preparation of transfer of tangibles such as money and assets, as well as intangibles such as family values or contributions and impact on society, to heirs and beneficiaries after one’s death. Legacy planning includes estate planning. What is Last Mile of Life Planning? Last mile of life planning involves legacy planning (what happens after death) as well as planning for how one wants to live life during retirement all through to before death. Find a professional, compare prices, and kickstart your estate planning Disclaimer: Nothing in this article or site should be construed as providing legal advice or advice of any sort. The information provided are general in nature and may become inaccurate over time. Please consult a professional for advice. For any issues or queries, please contact j@immortalize.io