Category: retire

old retirement, not “retire young”

livelihood: welfare state,nanny state,the big brother

Posted on by tiger40490

See also war-chest: le2 H.Yin

Extracted from a longer blogpost [21]livelihood[def2] x-class #S.Liu

— welfare state, nanny state and the big brother

If you live in a reasonably /functional/ economy, then half of your livelihood concerns are at least partially /provided/ by the state or an efficient, affordable (free) market “system”. Otherwise, you need private resources to fend for yourself or join private “clubs” that provide livelihood /support/ to paying members. Using the U.S. as an example,

  • nutrition + education + housing + transport have functional systems, but the healthcare “system” is notoriously unaffordable, forcing consumers to acquire expensive health insurance.
  • Some middle-class parents also perceive education provision as inadequate, and opt for private schools, but I doubt it is for livelihood reasons.
  • [[Nomadland]] makes a point that during the subprime period, many homes were actually unaffordable to the average American, but these subprime home buyers were enticed to buy beyond their means, and eventually forced into nomadland.

Singapore livelihood systems are as well-managed as Scandinavian systems or any other countries, until covid19 lock-down uncovered /fault lines/. Perhaps half the workers experienced a (temporary) job loss or income insecurity. I had a rare glimpse into the livelihood concerns among Singaporeans.

I’m fully aware that my livelihood concerns are a distant threat because in Singapore I’m able to enjoy a decent living at a reasonable cost-to-my-family because about half of the livelihood needs are supported by the nanny state. I recently reconnected with a China->Singapore->Canada immigrant friend, and she hinted that the Singapore government provides more (than the Canadian government), even though Singapore is not a welfare state.  Although most of my listed livelihood needs are taken care of, my life at 47 is still littered with negatives (anger, parenting pains, wellness decline, technology churn, age discrimination..). At this moment, it feels like I’m more motivated to maintain and protect the current carefree easy life, rather than seeking more happiness.

When we move to the U.S. our livelihood concerns would grow. By the Singapore standard, I feel most Americans are left to fend for themselves. I’m now building a war-chest ($200k – $400k) precisely for this reason.

covid19:U.S.systemic weakness revealed #600w

Posted on by tiger40490

XR,

You were surprised by the level of response in the U.S. public health system. You seemed to feel the U.S. is on a decline at least in public healthcare. Well, there might be strengths to the U.S. system but today I want to focus on the negative side. Essentially, U.S. healthcare system has always been horribly expensive, inefficient, fragmented, and dominated by private, commercial entities. Therefore, for decades, the low-income residents (African Americans, poor immigrants etc) have suffered from wholly inadequate healthcare. There’s no decline – it has always been this bad for decades.

Public healthcare provision is worse in the U.S. than most rich countries.

Healthcare should not always be profit-driven but for decades, it has been this way in the U.S. for decades.

Pandemic response requires strong central government, but U.S. political system is decentralized. Many state governments have a lot of autonomy and limited trust in the federal government. I think some state governments are more effective than the white house.

This March 2020 TheAtlantic article in my blog offers good insight into the U.S. public health infrastructure issues.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/us-cannot-handle-covid-19-poor-response-capitalism-trump-12796618 is similar but shorter.

— 7-point score card .. https://bintanvictor.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/covidhandling7indicator.pdf is a 7-poipnt scorecard developed by international experts to evaluate a country’s coping strategy, track record, public policies against covid19, and readiness to lift lockdown. This new scorecard addresses limitations of two existing assessments:

  1. Existing scorecard — Some countries – among them the United States and Britain – had ranked highly under old scorecards such as the Global Health Security Index (GHSI), an annual assessment of how ready countries are to deal with infectious disease outbreaks, this did not reflect their actualpandemic preparedness. So GHSI proves to be an inaccurate scorecard.
  2. Case numbers — are dependent on a country’s testing strategy and capacity, and the extent to which individuals go for testing. It also neglects how effectively clusters have been contained and virus transmission suppressed.

Even though the 7 criteria are not developed by Asian experts, these criteria seem to show that the strongest countries ( except New Zealand ) are all in east Asia such as Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea. I think China scores high on most of these 7 criteria.

My damning assessment of the U.S. public health system:

  • vulnerable and neglected groups — not well protected in the U.S. Many nursing homes and low-income black/Latino communities suffer a disproportionate number of deaths.
  • contact tracing — can contain clusters and stop their exponential expansion, but I don’t know if U.S. governments give it any priority. The percentage of cases detected through contact tracing (as percentage of all cases) is high in SG, Korea, Germany, China. I doubt the U.S. percentage is comparable. See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/contact-tracing-a-key-way-to-slow-covid-19-is-badly-underused-by-the-u-s/
  • proactive cluster management — is center stage in SG, Vietnam, China, NewZealand, SouthKorea ,,, partly because these countries have low case numbers and can focus on clusters. I don’t know about the cluster management in low-infection cities of the U.S. I believe NY and NJ governments are not paying enough attention to clusters taking shape and exploding. This is reactive management, not proactive.
    • Actually, Singapore has had very high case numbers per 1 million population, but the government took decisive actions to identify and contain more than a hundred large clusters and many smaller clusters. Therefore, enduring high case number is not an excuse for neglecting the tough job of cluster management and contact tracing. “亡羊补牢”，而不是  “破罐子破摔”
  • protection of frontline workers — a serious concern in the U.S. but I don’t know how it compares with other countries. Singapore frontline workers always have adequate protective equipment, even though Singapore doesn’t manufacture any. Planning and coordination seems to be the key.
  • testing capacity — not as good as China, S.Korea etc, despite the technological advantage and economic power of the U.S.
  • death rate — per 1 million population is very high in the U.S. compared to China, Korea, Taiwan, NewZealand, Vietnam etc. Singapore has one of the lowest death rates (27 in a 5.6 million population)

 

SGX n Sgp_fin_sector

Posted on by tiger40490

k_hongkong

When people compare two financial centers, they would compare the two currencies (and capital control);;; the two AUMs [1];;;; the two financial sectors’ workforces;;;; the two work visa policies;;; the two regulators (and stable, progressive legal frameworks);;;; the two tax regimes [for institutions, investors and employees];;;;; the two English proficiency standards;;;; and the two cities’ financial (beyond stock-) exchanges. By these standards, Shanghai is lagging behind as a _global_ financial center. In Singapore’s case, Sg stock exchange has been losing market share, losing “customers” [IPO companies, retail investors,,,], but things are not as disastrous as perceived —

  • SGX is more than the (sleepy) stock exchange… SGX is profitable mostly from derivative business including commodities.
  • Singapore is doing fine as a financial hub, esp. a PWM center, albeit with a sleepy local stock market.
  • Switzerland is a PMW financial center, without big financial exchanges. I think Singapore has chosen a similar direction.
  • Therefore, the persistent criticism on SGX relative to HKEX is being challenged and rebuffed in the Bloomberg article below.

As to the eq business, SGX is playing the hedgehog, presumably resigned to a shrinking market share, and tightened “quality control”, in a bid to strengthen its reputation as home to conservative, traditional, proven (some say Sunset industry), safer stocks. Such stocks are “suitable” for local investors + some private banking clients. I guess many institutional investors globally like the defensive dividend stocks on SGX.

I think a nearby regional bourse may boast far more listings (than the Sgp bourse), but often mixed quality, including many small, less proven stocks that may not qualify for the major exchanges. Analog — my dad authored many quality academic books, but far less than other authors of low-quality books.

[1] aggregate AUM across all financial companies of a city is an indicator of aggregate profit, tax revenue, and fund mgmt job market. More broadly, AUM (smart_money) is also an indicator of the financial stability of the country. Temasek^MAS_OFR^GIC shows about SGD 5T AUM. Note Smart_money is different from hot_money. Smart_money is legally free to leave but there are financial consequences so most investors “stay here” long term.

—  based on a 2019 Bloomberg article (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-02-11/the-incredible-shrinking-singapore-stock-market)

As of 2021, Singapore was ranked #2 most competitive (not largest) wealth management center — ahead of Hong Kong and second only to Switzerland globally.

One reason why total listing is lower on SGX than other exchanges? SGX doesn’t “refrain from delisting zombie companies just to keep its numbers up”. A smaller pool of companies limits the choices investors have, even as the fund management industry continues to grow. A lot of private bank money is now in Singapore, and they actually like the core, somewhat boring, defensive stocks.

SGX main board’s backbone consists of safe, steady stocks favored not for their growth prospects but for their dividends.

Q: Are SGX stocks showing better total return than other regions, measured in SGD?
A: yes, better than all regions (except U.S.), mostly due to dividend
A: measured in USD, I think picture would be even stronger

Having a sleepy stock market (SGX) does little to burnish Singapore’s reputation as a financial hub, according to one practitioner.

A Maybank economist and a SGX officer both cite SGX’s strengths as:

  • an established REIT market;
  • notably high valuations for medical-services companies;
  • a good track record in listing consumer stocks
  • about half of the companies listed on SGX are foreign
  • institutional money trusts the Singapore market

y SG rated most expensive city

Posted on by tiger40490

I don’t want to spend too much time on questions that only bother other people, like this question:

Q: why is Singapore rated as one of the world’s most expensive cities?

In this case,  I decide to spend a few minutes, because my family members may ask this question, or they may face this question from their friends.

— First, these rankings are often politically motivated, perhaps to weaken the competition like a smear campaign.

— Next, to understand the ranking, we need to zoom into the basket of goods used to compared expensive cities. The score is a weighted sum over this basket.

According to various sources, the biggest reason for SG’s bad score is cost of car ownership (not taxi not public transport). Weightage of this item in the basket can be adjusted/manipulated.

— Note the basket is often constructed for a foreigner, perhaps a foreign executive, not an average local resident.

Local residents enjoy subsidies in education, healthcare, utilities, public transport,,, How about the elephant in the room — Housing?

Public Housing for SG citizens is subsidized in the demand-controlled HDB housing market. If (without demand control) a rich foreigner were allowed to buy HDB in bulk, then price could double or triple to the level of private properties.

Therefore, Citizens face a lower home price than foreigners. How about renters — do foreign renters endure higher cost? I would say arguably yes. My foreigner colleagues (Indians, Chinese, Koreans, not to mention Caucasians) mostly rent in condos. As a local, I’m more likely to rent in HDB.

a currency=stocks of a national economy

Posted on by tiger40490

resource-rich .. countries like Australia, Canada and oil nations have their “stocks” backed by the natural resource. An A$ is a claim on a part of that resource.

In contrast, U.S. is home to the largest concentration of tech companies, who create value from technology, rather than resources underground.

A tourist-dominated economy like Thailand or Macau would issue new “stocks” when their tourist economy expands.

— proven reserve of resources .. new discovery (or depletion) of aggregate reserve in a national economy can directly affect the “book value” of its national stock, leading to appreciation (depreciation)
— foreign reserve .. a national gov can stash away the stocks of other nations, as backing for its own stocks.
Best example .. gold is the standard foreign reserve.

Trade surplus .. if a country enjoys trade surplus for years, it could accumulate a lot of foreign reserve and see its national stock appreciating. A nation’s private exporters deposit foreign currency into local banks. They transfer the currency to the central bank. These exporters typically need to convert the foreign currency in order pay their expenses.
— issuing new stocks or printing money .. I think many governments issue 0.1% new money only when the (national) economy expands by a similar amount.
U.S. government prints money by issuing Fed debts. Japanese? Perhaps similar.

Issuing new stocks during economic decline .. leads to depreciation of the national stock. Even during economic expansion, (excessive) new stock issue can lead to depreciation, when the expansion is not sufficient to support the massive new issue. Investors would realize that a share of this national stock is now diluted.
— demand by foreign investors .. US as an “issuer” has many weaknesses but its “stock” the USD is highly in-demand.
— depreciation due to economic decline.. Even in the absence of new “stock issue”, a stock can lose value if the company is perceived as losing competitiveness.

[25]cpf: stop online theft

Posted on by tiger40490

Overall, cpf is a safer system than banks, because “immediate/frequent withdrawal unneeded”.

A 2025 cpf roadshow staff told me that so far the only scams occured via online withdrawal (after member reached 55). In-person theft is unheard of.

If you are between 55 and 65 and you don’t need some 100k for the rest of your life, why not lock it away in cpfRA forever? No one can withdraw. See lock up100k]cpf if no liquidity need

— protection: withdrawal lock .. If you are a CPF member aged 55+ and have no immediate plans to withdraw your CPF savings, you are encouraged to safeguard your CPF savings by activating the CPF Withdrawal Lock (MoneyLock) to disable online CPF withdrawals. You can do so via the CPF account settings after logging on to the CPF website using your Singpass.

When you need to withdraw your CPF, you can enable online withdrawals again via the CPF account settings. For your security, this will be subject to Singpass Face Verification and a 12-hour cooling period. Members who do not wish to enable online withdrawals again can withdraw in-person at CPF Service Centres.

— protection: daily withdrawal limit .. CPF Board has also introduced a default Daily Withdrawal Limit of $2,000 for all members aged 55 or older, as part of a suite of anti-scam measures.

Members can adjust this limit via the CPF account settings. All limit increases are subject to Singpass Face Verification and a 12-hour cooling period.

[22]midclass livelihood ]Chn as well-off as SG@@ #w1r4

Posted on by tiger40490

My concept of Chn’s middle class is mostly-urban, white-collar, usually college-educated. A concept confirmed in a book by XS.L (梁晓声 Xiaosheng.Liang).

When I interact with my relatives, ex-classmates, /repatriated/ ex-colleagues, repatriated young graduates (acquaintances) …   I often have a vague, unfounded livelihood assumption that the Chinese middle-class has some advantages + some disadvantages[2] vis-a-vis SG middle-class counterpart, but on balance equally well-off. This assumption has a theoretical cornerstone — the middle-class’s definition. This definition implies that the middle-class in any country is well-off (小康富足) although the numerical criteria depend on location. Those criteria are vastly different in Bayonne vs 天津 vs 建德 vs Cambodia vs Manila due to PPP-FX.

[2] A lot of times, I could feel a strange sense of inferiority. Highly distorted and irrational. This is the same illusion as (not similar-to)

  • my distorted illusion that HwaChong JC and NUS were possibly perceived as inferior to 实验 and Tsinghua.
  • my distorted illusion that 实验 was somehow inferior to 四中, when both high schools produce top graduates on par with each other
  • my distorted illusion that Singapore was a /backwater/ compared to Hongkong or Shanghai

In this blogpost, I want to point out some of the hidden but crucial differences between SG and Chn middle class livelihood. Not a Chn-watcher, I won’t go in-depth. Mostly based on hearsays, but from trusted sources such as serious intellectuals.

  • :(▼healthcare .. different people in Chn and SG give me very different descriptions. I feel well taken care of in SG. XS.L said for many lower middle-class families, a medical event could sink the family to cashflow low ground, and grandpa agreed.
  • 🙁 long-term inflation .. hurts the retirement livelihood. I feel confident about SG esp. the medium term.
  • :(▲precarious .. worry about drop-out from middle-class exclub , as XS.L described. I feel secure. Overall, in SG there is some level of safety net, perhaps not as strong as in the western welfare states.
  • 🙁 full-time nursing .. this cost is relatively affordable in SG (thanks to foreign workers) but very high according to my parents’ earnest market research.
  • 👍 food, transport, outpatient medical .. probably cheaper in Chn.
  • difference: CRBR .. My parents have adequate pension. Not sure about the 20Y prospect for current cohort of middle-class. I feel most of the middle-class in Chn or SG don’t feel very safe about retirement income. However, CPF-life is better than nothing.
  • 🙁 environment .. PAP government has a reputation for tackling long-term environmental challenges
  • 🙁 caring society .. (for the /vulnerable/, but hey folks do drop out of middle-class, as XS.L pointed out.) I feel Singapore is overall a slightly more caring society than the Chinese cities I know. Vague feeling. If I have to be specific, then most of the reasons are related to government services; some nonprofit organizations and individuals also play a part.
  • 👍▼Chn’s economy will keep growing at a speed higher than SG. However, in the foreseeable future, living standard will remain lower than SG. Chn is decelerating more rapidly than SG which has reached maturity decades ago. It remains to be seen if faster growth translates to better livelihood for Chn’s expanding middle-class.
  • — Some differences are not exactly about “livelihood”:
  • 🙁 aspiration for branded degree .. harder to achieve for the Chn middleclass, partly due to lower absolute income. Large portions of the urban middleclass aspire to an overseas education/experience.
  • 👍 gap from median .. Suppose we compare the ratio of middle-class household income to the national median. Somehow, I feel the Chn counterparts “enjoy” a higher ratio than the SG counterparts.  If (a big if) that’s the case then the Chn middle class feel more self-conceived superiority and satisfaction (Shuo.L) than SG middle class would. How important is this self-esteem?

— 🙁 Difference: housing … The most intriguing difference. If a Chn middle class family of 3 could avoid buying a 2BR home [3] in a tier-1 city, then livelihood pressure can be tolerable. I just don’t know how many of the urban middle-class can avoid it. They are drawn into it by some invisible force, unable to free themselves.

[3] XS.L specified 70 sqm 居住面积 for an a stereotypical white-collar young couple planning to have kids, but XS.L didn’t say Tier-1 city.

Tier-1 city’s home price is comparable to, if not above, SG condo (at least 100% above HDB flats) but typical Tier-1 city salary is still lower than SG. The price tag is so large as to require contributions from 3 generations of a middle-class family, as XS.L confirmed. When we compare livelihood, this price tag is the elephant in the room.

I used to feel this peer pressure was exaggerated by the media, but XS.L, my parents, and my Chn bachelor colleagues all confirmed that this peer pressure is both pervasive and entrenched.

A major factor is mate selection, which affects entire families! Girls often demands not only a tier-1 city dowry home, but a 100 sqm [grandpa said, 建筑面积] home. So if you have a bachelor son, can your family avoid “it”?

— personal medical reserve .. This is not a SG^Chn difference per see, but quite relevant.

In the late 2000s, my mom said CNY 400k (si4shi2wan4) was a good-enough medical reserve for each retiree, on top of public health insurance (reimbursement-based). Such insurance has coinsurance, and numerous exclusions such as elective treatments [imported medication, supplements,,].

In early 2022 my dad recalled that consensus figure among retirees of that time — regardless of the medical condition, if CNY 500k is spent over and on top of insurance, and still the life can’t be saved, then it’s reasonable to give up. As such CNY 500k was a reasonable last-resort personal medical reserve, for millions of well-informed Chinese retirees.

Fast forward to 2022, CNY 500k-1000k of family savings is common according to my dad, living in Beijing. I think this improvement in savings reflects (medical++) inflation, rising income, rising wealth esp. in rEstate.

[21]livelihood[def2] x-class #S.Liu #w1r9

Posted on by tiger40490

(A letter to a friend) The concept and criteria for “livelihood” are fundamental to many discussions I had with friends including our last email exchange, so let me clarify.

Henry Luo, a schoolmate of mine and a fellow programmer , has 5 kids. Henry told me that parenting, even in expensive Singapore, is not such a financial burden when I said many Singaporean parents (I didn’t talk to Malay parents) can’t afford more than 2 kids. I’m sure Henry knows exactly what specific items are , or aren’t part of “livelihood”.

image.png

  • [m $$] adequate healthcare …. yes is part of livelihood. As a specific example, Singapore hospital wards are classified by level of care. Pictured above, the lowest is class C with ceiling fans over a large hall housing multiple beds. C-ward patients still receive /adequate/ medical care, but not so much comfort. Access to this level of healthcare is a livelihood need.
  • [m $] healthy nutrition …. yes, but expensive foods or fine dining… are not part of livelihood. In other words, we can live well without them.
  • [m $$$] safe shelter … yes in a safe, /sanitized/, sustainable environment, free of hazards. Housing is the most elastic item in this list. Specifically, perhaps 2 bedrooms for a family of 4 would be a comfortable minimum by my standard.
  • .. exercise facilities .. is not part of livelihood. In my experience, all residential locations offer some clean open spaces or affordable sports facilities or both.
  • [$] reliable public transport …. yes, but a private car is not a livelihood requirement in the Singapore context.
  • .. When I lived in NY/N/MA, we were coping fine without a private car.
  • .. My parents, living in Beijing for most of their lives, don’t have a car.
  • .. How about telecom? See section below
  • ^^ All of these cities have extensive public transport networks + affordable tax networks (my parents use taxis every day).
  • [m $] rigorous public education …. yes, but a prestigious college is not a livelihood need. Such a luxury education is really for the affluent like you and the future “me”.
  • .. [$$] If my child is academically qualified but unable to afford a college education, I would (unfairly) classify it as a livelihood issue, but hey, why do I worry when there are multiple layers of financial assistance like 1) scholarships or loans 2) work-n-study 3) work for several years then go back to school
  • [m $$$] dependable retirement income …. yes a common factor in financial hardship. The “livelihood amount” is hard to define. As a concrete illustration, the Singapore government provides an annuity that pays up to SGD 2k/M of retirement income. Upon my inquiry, an officer said that amount was considered adequate for the majority of Singaporean retirees. I have since confirmed with friends (in their 50’s) and also read personal stories that even SGD 1500/M is adequate. Adequate for livelihood, not adequate for a “retirement in style“.

[m=aligned to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs]
[$ to $$$ = non-trivial financial cost]

A somewhat academic clarification on the “retirement factor”. Some sharp observers would point out that retirement doesn’t qualify as a fundamental/basic factor of survival, like food, shelter or healthcare. An average (lower middle-class?) retiree’s minimum burn rate is perhaps split between nutrition, healthcare and transport.

In fact, transport and education are not absolutely essential factors.  In the same vein, many housing “requirements” are elastic and non-essential. My concept of livelihood is different from basic survival. Each “policy” would target a certain standard of livelihood. In my chosen standard_of_livelihood, retirement is a major factor.

Livelihood is about the long-term survival of one’s family (so childless households perceive livelihood differently). As life expectancy increases,  livelihood worries grow, esp. in terms of healthcare and retirement income. This echoes the pervasive perception that superlong retirement can lead to hardship, unless you prepare over a long time. Therefore, many old folks choose to keep working.

I watched the 2021 Oscar winner [[Nomadland]], featuring livelihood struggles (and thrills) of thrifty old Americans surviving on a budget. By the above definition_of_livelihood, many of them have some but insufficient 1) retirement income 2) sanitized shelter from hazards 3) healthcare 4) perhaps healthy nutrition.

Worldwide, I guess as high as 80% still work hard to avoid “livelihood” hardship as in my definition. In some rich countries, perhaps half the population still have livelihood concerns such as street safety, sanitation, job discriminations, debt repayment, inflation, natural disaster protection… Singapore government often talks about the livelihood of Singaporeans. In their context, Livelihood (something like 生计) is about economic survival, satisfying reasonable needs, and not left behind. More precisely, the Singapore government has always used some criteria (eg: means testing) to judge if a family has livelihood needs. Their criteria are higher than financial hardship.

I hope these examples help to clarify what livelihood includes and what resources, aspirations fall beyond the basic standard of livelihood. The most common phrases I tend to associate with “livelihood” are hardship, deprivation, left-behind, and life chances.

Q: Is my definition_of_livelihood too basic for us the middle class? Well, Henry is also middle class, based on my interaction with him. I don’t think his 5 kids feel hardship, deprived or lower-class. In 2020 I visited his new home .. clean (thanks to a full-time maid), not /cramped/ at all.

— telecom .. comparable to transport as an essential /service/ needed by everyone, a livelihood “need”. Lack of telecom service is a hardship comparable to lack of transport service… really? (Q9)

Paradoxically, some families spend more on telecom [TV, broadband, mobile] than on public transport. I think it reflect the nature of telecom as “discretionary spend”, more like entertainment spend. Now, if you remove the entertainment layer and focus on the “essential service” portion, you may notice the telecom cost is improving decade after decade. The most essential of all, landline, is almost free ! A2: The “hardship” is about lack of essential service, which is very very affordable nowadays.

The livelihood standard is very different for me vs my family. For me, I need reliable broadband, mobile voice/SMS, minimal data, no TV. The cost of this package is much lower than cost of public transport. For my family and most middle-class families, telecom bill keeps growing. Part of the reason is the “technology upgrade” by the operators. Telecom operators constantly upgrade their infrastructure and stay on the latest. The upgrade cost is passed on to consumers. Apparently, land line, mobile voice service, SMS and basic data tend to drop in price. The increase in the bill amount lies somewhere else in the bill like more data, faster broadband, more TV channels… all discretionary.

car dependency ] old age #Nomadland

Posted on by tiger40490

k_X_car_dependency

My parents are becoming less and less self-reliant and more dependent. That lead me to think that retirees in the U.S. probably depend on other people more than in China, due to driving.

Not based on data, but driving feels like dangerous [1], and car ownership sounds high maintenance. I feel it is far less reliable than public transport in Singapore.

[1] Why do I feel highway driving will be more dangerous the older I get? Perhaps due to vision, limb and mental alertness, some retirees have difficulty driving. If they live in a car-dependent location, then they become dependent on other people.

https://livingonthecheap.com/live-without-car/ points out .. Many older folks should not be driving but can’t imagine life without a car. So you see many of them still driving everyday and you may be mislead to think “It’s OK.”

https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/getting-around/info-2015/older-adults-without-cars.html says
When older people have transportation options they can age in place and not depend on others to drive them everywhere.

https://www.aarp.org/auto/driver-safety/info-2021/older-drivers-are-now-safer-drivers.html discussed several aspects of older drivers.

[[Nomadland]] portrays car ownership as affordable (and reliable), but consider

  • repairs
  • regular wear n tear
  • gas
  • parking and tolls
  • insurance

 

%%big-ticket outlays: 55-65

Posted on by tiger40490

This analysis applies to any amount I transfer to wife’s CPF-SA.

If between 55 and 65 I were to top up $100k to RA to earn 4% interest, that amount is locked in and can’t be spent on “anything”, but is there anything to need that $100k? If nothing, then who cares? After 65 I would start receiving CPF-life payout from that $100k.

— U.S. home purchase or property investment?

— college funding?

— Medical cost?

— cumulative repair costs in U.S., which tend to be much higher than SG