Figures
Numbers Cashmere calculates about money in Singapore, with how each is worked out, what it assumes and when it was checked. If you quote one, include the method.
Retirement
Withdrawal rate by length of retirement
8.0% at 10 years, 6.0% at 15, 5.0% at 20, 4.4% at 25, 4.0% at 30, 3.7% at 40, 3.5% at 50, 3.4% at 60 and beyond
The 4% rule is read as the rate for a 30-year retirement, the span it was measured over, and scaled by anchors on the length actually planned, linear between anchors.
Cashmere's FIRE target calculator. The rates for longer and shorter retirements are our judgment about the risk of a bad run of early returns, not a measured study.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in Can You Retire Before 55 In Singapore?.
FIRE number as a multiple of annual spending
12.5× at 10 years, 25× at 30 years, 27× at 40, 28.6× at 50, 29.4× at 60 and beyond
One divided by the withdrawal rate above. A 30-year retirement reproduces the 25× rule exactly.
Cashmere's FIRE target calculator, with the same rates as the row above.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in Can You Retire Before 55 In Singapore?.
Default assumptions behind a FIRE date
4% real return a year, 4% withdrawal rate at 30 years, plan through age 90
The earliest age your money lasts to the end of the plan, worked out month by month at a return 1.5 percentage points below the expected one.
Cashmere's retirement projection. You can change the return and the range in Pocket. Inflation is 2%, used only to show amounts in today's dollars.
Checked Sep 24, 2026.
CPF
CPF on S$6,000 a month at 35
S$2,220 a month, 37% of pay: S$1,200 from the employee and S$1,020 from the employer. Take-home S$4,800.
Employee 20% and employer 17% to age 55, on a monthly ceiling of S$8,000.
Cashmere's payslip calculator, on its Singapore rates for Year of Assessment 2026. The rates follow CPF's published table but are not yet checked line by line against it.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in CPF Accounts Explained: OA, SA, MediSave And RA In 2026.
CPF LIFE payout rate
9% of the Retirement Account balance a year, from 65
A flat rate applied to the balance at 65, credited as lifetime income in the retirement walk.
Cashmere's CPF rates, not yet checked line by line. CPF LIFE payouts depend on the plan chosen and the balance, and Cashmere uses one rate for all of them.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in CPF LIFE Payouts In 2026: How Much Each Plan Pays.
Return on CPF invested through CPFIS
5% a year, against 2.5% left in the Ordinary Account
A single assumed return on invested Ordinary or Special Account money, so an investment has a hurdle to clear.
Cashmere's CPF rates, not yet checked line by line. The 2.5% and 4% floors on the accounts are CPF's published rates.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in CPFIS: Limits, Fees And The 2.5% Return To Beat.
Tax
Income tax on S$100,000 of chargeable income
S$5,650: an average rate of 5.65% and a marginal rate of 11.5%
The resident scale for Year of Assessment 2026, band by band: nothing on the first S$20,000, then 2%, 3.5%, 7% and 11.5% on the bands up to S$120,000.
Cashmere's tax calculator. The bands match IRAS's published table, and are not yet checked line by line against it.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in Singapore Income Tax Rates For YA 2026.
What a S$8,000 CPF cash top-up saves in tax
S$1,200 in the 15% band, or S$600 when the S$80,000 relief cap halves it
Tax computed with and without the top-up as relief, under the cap on personal reliefs.
Cashmere's tax calculator, which treats the top-up cap as one S$16,000 limit, not S$8,000 for yourself plus S$8,000 for family. Not yet checked line by line.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in Is A CPF Cash Top-Up Worth It In 2026?.
Tax on SRS withdrawals
None on S$300,000 taken over ten years with no other income; tax starts near S$400,000
Half of each withdrawal is chargeable income. S$30,000 a year puts S$15,000 into chargeable income, under the S$20,000 where tax starts.
Cashmere's tax calculator. S$400,000 is where the ten-year split first clears the S$20,000 band before earned income relief.
Checked Sep 24, 2026. Worked through in How Much Tax Do You Pay When Withdrawing From Your SRS Account?.
Insurance
Spread in term life premiums for the same cover
S$402 to S$3,655 a year, a factor of 9.1, for S$500,000 of cover on a 31-to-35-year term, male non-smoker, age next birthday 35
The lowest and highest annual premium among the 30 term plans quoting that cell of the grid. Over a 16-to-20-year term the factor is 11.2; over 6 to 10 years, 11.6.
74,747 quotes on 157 products across 530 plans, taken from the insurers' own quote pages.
Checked Sep 24, 2026.
Cards
The Singapore card catalog
76 cards from 14 banks: 41 cashback, 28 miles, 8 rewards. Annual fees from S$0 to S$662.15, with 12 cards at S$0.
Every card counted once; a card in two categories counts in both.
Card details from each bank's own pages, checked on 28 August 2026.
Checked Sep 24, 2026.
Housing
HDB resale medians, 2026 Q3
131 town-and-flat-type medians across 26 towns. A 4-room flat: S$515,000 in Jurong West to S$1,220,000 in the Central Area.
The median of resales registered in the quarter, by town and flat type.
HDB's Resale Flat Prices dataset on data.gov.sg, fetched 8 September 2026.
Checked Sep 24, 2026.
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