Retirement: BE SAFE! / Be RESTed

 These days, I start to think a lot. And so I shall write more often. Maybe, freedom from career-job and office politics have made life less emotional draining and less mentally stressful.

But now, let’s talk about my retirement…

 

I often hear people saying before you retire, you need to be healthy and wealthy. Also, the maxim of “Health is first wealth” definitely rings true to retirees’ ear. No point having a lot of money but always in poor health and immobile. Or being very healthy, but always struggle to make ends meet.

A year has passed since I entered into retirement! And in the midst of the COVID pandemic! Through this period, I learnt another truth; especially in old age that besides having good health with reasonable wealth is SAFETY or RISK.

 

HEALTH  <- SAFETY/RISK ->  WEALTH

 

Let me share some of my situations for the past 1 year:

WEALTH Safety

Growing wealth using CPF 1M65 ($1M@65 years old)

You bought some stocks in the stock market, and COVID-19 struck. Argh! All your stocks turned red, some never to recover, especially those with poor fundamental because you risk venture into them. Thankfully, my stock holding are of strong fundamental, with the exception of a hospitality REIT and aviation stock (not SIA but SATS).

If you are younger, then time is on your side and you will recover from the risk taken. For senior like me, I learn that every risk taken has a strong repercussion. For one, there is no longer any income. We rely on what we have saved before retirement and not to squander all away with risky assets. However, for Senior Singaporeans, we actually have a money safety net which I only recently discovered. That is the Central Provident Fund (CPF). For those who are above 55 years old and have set aside their Full Retirement Sum, their CPF account is now actually a saving account giving a minimum 2.5% interest. So, I started to top up my CPF to achieve $1million. That will give me a yearly interest of $25,000 or >$2,000 a month. A nice sum of free money for retirement! What a nice safety net. For Singaporeans in their 40’s, this is the best method to prepare for retirement. And it is quite easily achievable. The earlier you start, the easier it is to achieve $1million dollar in CPF. This is widely discussed in the internet if you want to lean more.

My other Wealth Safety net is a through Insurance Policies. Through the years, I bought insurances from my brother and sister-in-law whenever they approach me. Now that I have retired, I have cashed out a few of these policies and they become my wealth safety net. A few weeks ago, I started to look through all the insurance policies that I have and was shocked to discovered that I have more than what my 10 fingers can count. No wonder, I was always grumbling about paying premiums for my insurance policies all these years! It is like having a “suffer then, enjoy now“ kind of feeling right now. J

HEALTH Safety

Work life actually drain off all your energy daily. It is difficult to find time to exercise and stay fit and healthy. Retirees like me are often in the park or beaches exercising – walking, jogging, cycling, and even practicing yoga or tai-chi.

Jogging is the best time of my day. Initially I was a bit ambitious and jogged about 9km for 5 times a week. Then I signed up for the Straits Times 175km run in October 2020 and completed the distance in less than 4 weeks (average about 50km per week). 

2 important safety rules I learn about jogging:

Injuries – Running must be balanced with rest. Overstrain will actually tear the muscles and instead of improving, the body breaks down. After the Straits Times 175Km Run, I suffered fatigue and injuries and has to take a long rest.

Accident – In July 2021, I have a fall while jogging, after tripped by kicking on the roots of a tree. The skin of my hands and knees were torn and bleeding. I had to stop jogging for more than 1 month for the wound to heal.

These days, I pay a lot of attention to safety while jogging.

 

 

Another aspect of retirement is about REST.

Rejuvenate – Enjoying & doing what I like

Exercise – building up fitness & power

Safety – from injury, accident & eating safe

Time – Use Time wisely, otherwise people will use your Time.

   Time to pray, reflect, read, write, learn & serve.

 

I will write about various aspect of REST in the future. I will continue keep this blog alive and interactive if you have anything to share or comments.

 

Agape & God Bless!