18% of investors fear their savings are insufficient for retirement

And yet, a lot of investors think withdrawing 10% a year will not deplete their funds.

About 18% of investors in Singapore are concerned they are not saving enough ahead of retirement, revealed a study by Schroders.

The study found that non-retired investors in Singapore are taking a decent sum from their salary - 18% - to put into their savings, yet are still expressing fears on their funds in retirement. Non-retired baby boomers showed to be the least confident with their savings at 29%, a higher figure compared with millennials at 16%.

Despite these misgivings, investors in Singapore think they can withdraw 10.1% on average each year during retirement and not run out of money. A mismatch on how confident people are with their savings ahead of retiring and the amount they expect to draw upon once they have retired, said Sangita Chawla, head of retirement savings at Schroders.

Schroder’s calculations show that a 10.3% withdrawal rate could deplete a retiree’s savings in a decade.

Whilst Singapore has a mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme, it may not be sufficient for most individuals, especially if they have invested most of their CPF savings in their property, noted Chawla.

“It is imperative that people start saving consistently and sufficiently as early as possible when working and, before retiring, do some serious thinking about the level of income they can afford to sustain throughout their well-earned retirements,” said Chawla.