CPF LIFE is the part of retirement planning most Singaporeans leave to chance, and the part their home decides more than anything else. Dollars and Sense set out how the scheme works this week. Here is what it means for the choices you make about property.
CPF LIFE in one minute
At 55, CPF opens a Retirement Account and moves savings into it up to a retirement sum. From 65, or later if you choose, that account pays you a monthly income for life, however long you live. For members turning 55 in 2026, CPF Board sets the sums at:
Basic Retirement Sum: $110,200. Full Retirement Sum: $220,400. Enhanced Retirement Sum: $440,800.
CPF Board's illustrations for a man turning 55 this year, on the Standard plan, put the monthly payout from age 65 at about $950 with the Basic sum, $1,780 with the Full sum and $3,440 with the Enhanced sum. Wait until 70 and they rise to about $1,280, $2,380 and $4,580: each year of waiting adds up to 7 per cent. There are three plans, Standard, Basic and Escalating, and you choose when payouts start, anytime from 65 to 70.
Where your home comes in
Most Singaporeans reach 55 with much of their CPF spent on housing. That is not a mistake; it is how the system was designed. But it means your flat is the biggest lever on your payout, in three ways.
Your lease can let you keep less in the Retirement Account. If you own a property whose lease runs until you are at least 95, you can set aside only the Basic sum and withdraw savings above it, subject to CPF's conditions. At 55 that means at least 40 years of lease left. A flat bought with a short lease can quietly take that option away; we explained how in what an older HDB flat really costs you.
Selling returns your CPF, with interest. When you sell, the CPF you used for the flat goes back to your CPF account together with the interest it would have earned. For many retirees, that refund is the single largest sum they will ever put back into CPF.
Rightsizing can change your payout band. This is the big one. Roov's HDB records show that moving from a 5-room to a 3-room flat in a mature town releases about $435,000 before costs; from a private condominium to an HDB flat, nearer $960,000. We worked through those numbers in rightsizing in retirement.
Now set that against the payout table. The difference between the Full and Enhanced sums is $220,400. On CPF Board's illustration, that is the difference between about $1,780 a month and about $3,440 from 65: roughly $1,660 more, every month, for life. A rightsizing move that releases a few hundred thousand dollars can fund the top-up and still leave cash to spare. How you move the money in, and how much counts, depends on CPF's rules for top-ups and refunds, so check CPF's planner with your own figures before deciding.
Bigger is not always better in retirement
Large, older homes can be the opposite of what a retirement plan needs: a big lease-dependent asset that is harder to sell and harder to finance for the next buyer. Jumbo flats are the extreme case; we looked at what they sell for and why their leases matter.
Three numbers to run
What your flat would sell for, and how much of it comes back as CPF and how much as cash, in Roov's HDB sale proceeds tool. Whether to stay or sell, with the costs of each laid side by side, in the stay or sell tool. And what the next home would cost you each month, in the affordability calculator.
The payouts quoted here are CPF Board's estimates for 2026, for illustration. Your own figure depends on your savings, your plan, your starting age and CPF's rules at the time, and CPF's Retirement Payout Planner gives a personal estimate.
Thinking about whether selling and moving smaller would raise your retirement income? Roov's agent can work through the sale, the CPF refund and the next home with you. Get in touch.