When I first met “Ben” (not his real name) at a hawker centre in Tiong Bahru, nothing about him screamed “early‑retired millionaire.” He was wearing flip‑flops, eating kopi‑o peng, and cheering on his two primary‑school kids as they slurped mee pok.
But Ben, 45, hasn’t had a boss in three years. After two decades as a management consultant, he walked away with a nest egg of roughly S$4 million (about US$3 million). “My goal,” he told me, “wasn’t to be flashy—it was to buy my time back while the kids are still young.”
From jet‑lagged consultant to stay‑at‑home dad
Ben’s résumé could fill a small suitcase: Big‑4 consulting stint, regional strategy roles, and enough KrisFlyer miles to circle the globe ten times. The pay was great—starting at S$6k a month in his mid‑20s and peaking above S$28k (including bonuses) in his late 30s. The hours, however, were brutal.
“I knew I’d burn out by 50 if I didn’t make a plan,” he said. “So at 30, I drew a line: work hard for 15 years, invest harder, and be done.”
The simple math behind $3 million
Ben reverse‑engineered his target:
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Annual spending goal: S$120k (≈S$10k / month covers mortgage, kid expenses, and a bit of travel).
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Withdrawal rate: 3.5 % felt safe to him in Singapore’s pricey environment.
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Required portfolio: S$120k ÷ 0.035 ≈ S$3.4 million. He padded this to S$4 million for good measure.
That became the finish line.
The “boring” strategy everyone skips: maxing CPF early
Ask most people about their Central Provident Fund (CPF) and they roll their eyes—it’s mandatory, it’s complicated, it’s for old people. Ben saw the opposite: a tax‑sheltered, 4 %‑yielding bond backed by the Singapore government.
Starting at 27, he voluntarily topped up his Special Account (SA) every January—just S$7k at first, then the annual maximum when bonuses grew. Those early top‑ups compounded quietly at 4‑5 % for almost two decades. By 45, his SA alone sat at about S$600k, throwing off more than S$24k in risk‑free interest every year.
“People chase crypto when there’s a guaranteed 4 % sitting right under their noses,” he laughed.
Where the rest of the money went
| Bucket | Allocation | Why it worked |
|---|---|---|
| Global index ETFs (VWRA, VOO) | 55 % | Low fees, instant diversification, USD exposure |
| Singapore REITs | 20 % | 5‑6 % yields, natural hedge against local housing costs |
| CPF SA & MA | 15 % | 4 % “floor” + tax relief |
| Cash / SSBs / T‑Bills | 10 % | Two years of expenses for peace of mind |
Ben automated everything: salary credit hits DBS, standing instruction zips money into ETFs via Interactive Brokers, surplus bonus tops up CPF, and a small slice lands in the kids’ Education Savings Accounts.
Crushing lifestyle creep
Making S$28k a month in Singapore can disappear fast—condo upgrades, car loans, Michelin weekends. Ben and his wife set one rule: inflate lifestyle one year behind income. If his bonus spiked in 2022, they upgraded something in 2023—never immediately. That one‑year lag kept spending anchored while investments snowballed.
Total household spend averaged S$8k per month for most of their accumulation years, barely half their take‑home pay.
What $3 million buys in Singapore
Ben’s family lives in a 3‑bedroom resale condo in Pasir Ris (mortgage nearly killed). Their post‑retirement budget:
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S$4k housing (loan + maintenance)
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S$2k food, transport, utilities
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S$2k kids’ enrichment & school fees
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S$1k travel + fun
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S$1k insurance & misc.
Portfolio income covers 100 % of that. “I still consult 5‑10 hours a month because I like it,” Ben admitted, “but it’s optional—and the pay just tops up our vacation fund.”
Lessons from the man himself
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Treat CPF like a high‑yield bond. Top it up early; you’ll thank yourself later.
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Automate the boring stuff. If you have to click ‘buy’ every month, you’ll eventually forget.
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Lag your lifestyle. Give new money 12 months to cool off before you spend it.
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Buy broad, hold forever. His ETF portfolio is 15 years old and he still hasn’t sold a unit.
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Keep two years of cash. Markets crash; school fees don’t wait.
Can anyone copy this?
Probably—minus the fat consulting bonuses. Ben’s edge wasn’t picking Tesla at $30; it was squeezing every tax break Singapore offered and letting compound interest do the heavy lifting. Replace his numbers with yours, keep the principles, and the math eventually works.
“I never chased ‘alpha,’” he shrugged. “I chased time. Turns out they cost the same.”
Final thoughts
Early retirement stories often focus on exotic side hustles or day‑trading wizardry. Ben’s path was painfully ordinary: big chunks into CPF, boring index funds, steady REIT income, and tight control over lifestyle creep. The result? A life where school runs replace red‑eye flights and weekday lunches happen with his kids instead of clients.
That’s the real strategy most of us miss—not a secret stock tip, but the discipline to let boring money machines run long enough to do their thing.
If you’re willing to be “boring” for a decade or two, you might just buy back the rest of your life, too.
