This entry is more for retirees and about financial planning. May have some tangential use to my post on what’s the number for founders to aim for.
https://limdershing.blogspot.com/2026/08/founders-what-is-your-number.html?m=1
Essentially i am seeing there can be 3 goals for wealth accumulation when fire or retirement. No right or wrong answer as all 3 are responsible behavior for oneself and family.
Tier 1 - goal is sufficient income till death
retire with wealth sufficiently invested to either income method or swr method or some
combo method that is sufficient to pay inflation adjusted expenses till projected death. This is the most common tier discussed.
Tier 2 - goal is tier 1 + maintain inflation adjusted wealth or real wealth
retire with wealth that is invested such that tier 1 is met but also have excess that can help total nominal net worth grow in tandem or above inflation. If this can be done, then essentially min goal is to die with a net worth that is the same as when retired but inflation adjusted. So if one retires with 10m today and inflation next 30 years is 70%, then the target net worth at death should aim to be at least 17m.
Tier 3 - goal is tier 1 + maintain wealth at relative tier at point of retirement.
retire with wealth that is invested such that tier 1 is met but also have excess that can help total net worth grow in tandem or above your relative wealth position. If this can be done, then essentially goal is to die with a net worth tier in your country that is the same as when retired. So if one retires with 5.2m today and at this point it’s the average net worth of top 20% in sg, then if one dies 30 years later, the net worth should aim to be whatever the top 20% average is. This tier was compounding at 5.5-6% per annum last 11 years so it’s way above inflation.
Readers who do financial planning or experienced in investing will realize how increasingly hard the tiers get. Tier 1 is tough enough for most people but with good cost control and savings and some investing, it’s very achievable.
Tiers 2,3 are for the really high achievers/inheritors whose expenses are likely below 3% in swr model and below 2% if as proportion of net worth. It’s also necessarily is for people who enjoy the asset allocation game and challenge. Tier 3 is very very tough as there is no salary or income to help one grow and keep pace with the rest of society of which majority are earning salaries.
So what’s the point of sharing all this? It’s so that there is clarity in a retirees mind what you want and when you retire. Each goal requires effort to asset allocate beyond just expense budgeting. And asset allocation esp on the property side in sg is a massive decision that will affect your actual lifestyle.
