Commentary: How super-aged Singapore should think about financial security

With much of their wealth tied up in housing and CPF savings, ageing households need to consider whether they have sufficient financial buffers to weather unexpected shocks, say Duke-NUS’ Daniel Mahadzir and NUS’ Stanley Sia.

An elderly woman with her caregiver. (File photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)

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SINGAPORE: Earlier this year, Singapore released data on household wealth for the first time, providing a more complete picture than household income data alone.

Though real incomes have grown in the last decade, a significant portion of household wealth is held in housing and Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, especially among lower- and middle-income households. Those two relatively constrained asset pools account for about 90 per cent of total wealth in lower-wealth households, and around 80 per cent to 85 per cent even for a middle household.

If wealth is tied in illiquid assets, an illness or unexpected caregiving duty may expose a financial vulnerability – from immediate medical costs to long-term health expenses and income loss.

The new data tells us how much wealth Singapore households have and also raises an important question: How much financial resilience does that wealth actually provide when longevity can be a double-edged sword?

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An elderly caregiver pushing a senior in a wheelchair up a ramp. (File photo: Calvin Oh)

THE STRESS OF FINANCIAL PRECARITY

Life expectancy at birth in Singapore has risen to about 84 years, among the highest in the world, yet Singaporeans still spend roughly a decade of those years living in ill health. Those who reach age 65, which will be the retirement age from Jan 1, 2029 , can expect to live another 21.6 years on average.

To be clear, most households in Singapore are not in immediate poverty or destitution, given high home ownership and mandatory savings. At the same time, a growing share of families report feeling financially stretched.

That stretched feeling does not necessarily amount to financial precarity. But worries about whether they can absorb an unexpected financial shock can still weigh heavily on ageing households.

Financial precarity for ageing Singaporeans often has three features:

First, incomes fall faster than expenses, especially if switching to part-time work or when illness curtails work altogether.

Second, essential costs such as healthcare, caregiving and utilities take up a rising share of the household budget, leaving little room for savings.

Third, there is limited liquid wealth outside the home and CPF, so households have few levers to pull when things go wrong.

Financial precarity has been shown to be associated with chronic stress, delayed care-seeking and poorer mental health. Households that constantly worry about making ends meet are more likely to postpone seeing a doctor, skip follow-ups or default on medication.

INSURANCE COVERAGE AND AFFORDABILITY

Insurance should, in theory, be a key tool to reduce this precarity. Singapore has consciously built a layered system to include MediShield Life as universal basic hospital coverage, CPF LIFE for retirement income, CareShield Life for long-term care, and a mix of voluntary schemes and private products.

The reality on the ground is more nuanced, with difficult trade-offs in coverage and affordability for older Singaporeans.

Premiums rise with age – be it nationalised schemes or commercial plans. Premiums are actuarially determined, with each age group paying for its own expected claims, so seniors pay more because they are more likely to be hospitalised and incur larger bills.

More individuals over 65 years old receive MediShield Life payouts each year compared to the rest of the population, and claims and payouts for seniors have grown much faster than for younger age groups.

Rising premiums become difficult to sustain once people stop full-time work. For MediShield Life, the government subsidises a significant portion of seniors’ premiums and provides MediSave top-ups for Pioneer and Merdeka Generation cohorts to keep basic cover affordable.

Private plans can become a financial pressure point. These include Integrated Shield Plans (IP) which offer coverage on top of MediShield Life, add-on IP riders, or even standalone critical illness and long-term care policies.

In a September parliamentary reply, the Ministry of Health said the number of private insurance downgrades and discontinuations had increased while premiums continue to rise: For IPs, there were 128,200 in 2025, up from 99,000 in 2023. For IP riders , the number more than doubled to 181,800 over the same period. MOH said it does not track the reasons for giving up insurance plans, which could include affordability concerns or right-sizing coverage to needs and circumstances.

The trade-off is that seniors who feel financially stretched may choose to spend less on insurance, and the coverage they give up could potentially leave them more exposed to out-of-pocket costs from a major health shock.

To its credit, the government has been adjusting policy, bolstering retirement savings and healthcare buffers. CPF contribution rates for workers aged 55 to 65 were raised in 2026 (and are scheduled to increase again on Jan 1, 2027), with a one-off CPF top-up for older Singaporeans with lower balances and expansion of subsidies for long term care.

CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MONEY

Singaporeans need support that is not only generous enough, but also simple and predictable for ordinary families to plan confidently around it.

A single, clear view of support across various national schemes or targeted programmes, current or projected forward, would let families understand what they can expect and when, and plan with greater certainty.

Still, financial resilience in old age is part policy support and part personal preparation. This means understanding one’s current financial standing better and what buffers one has or can build.

What does the whole balance sheet look like? Many Singaporeans know their monthly salary, but far fewer have a clear sense of their net wealth and how it might evolve over time. Taking the time to list assets and liabilities, and to understand what current CPF and MediSave balances translate into at age 65, 75 and 85, can turn vague anxiety into concrete numbers that can be acted on.

How much of this can be drawn on when actually needed? Buffers should be treated as something to be built deliberately rather than left to chance. This includes prioritising small, regular top-ups to MediSave or retirement balances when schemes match those contributions.

Housing does not need to be treated as either untouchable or something to cash out at the first opportunity. The value of a home lies also in the social ties and support networks in the community that become important in old age.

Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)

Options like rightsizing to a smaller or different type of flat nearby, or using the Lease Buyback Scheme can release some equity while keeping family and familiar support networks near. Seniors should also plan ahead as to how any proceeds could be structured to support them steadily over decades, rather than spent as a single lump sum early on.

Who else does the plan depend on? In Singapore culture, having conversations about ageing and money with families may feel taboo. But parents, siblings or adult children should discuss who can provide what kind of care, what resources exist, and personal wishes. This can help prevent making difficult financial and caregiving decisions in a rush or under duress.

Longer lives are often celebrated, but for households with thin financial buffers, each extra year can feel like a financial tightrope. The real test of our success as an ageing society will be whether families can look to their 70s and 80s with a sense of security and dignity.

Muhammad Daniel Azlan bin Mahadzir is Global Health Innovation Lead at SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute. Stanley Sia is a 2025 cohort of Distinguished Senior Fellow at National University of Singapore.

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杜克-新加坡国立大学的丹尼尔·马哈兹尔和新加坡国立大学的斯坦利·西亚表示，由于老年家庭的大部分财富都投入在住房和公积金储蓄中，他们需要考虑自己是否有足够的财务缓冲来应对意外冲击。

一位老妇人和她的护理人员。（资料照片：CNA/Calvin Oh）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：今年早些时候，新加坡首次公布了家庭财富数据，提供了比仅凭家庭收入数据更全面的信息。

尽管过去十年实际收入有所增长，但家庭财富的很大一部分仍然以住房和公积金（CPF）储蓄的形式存在，尤其是在中低收入家庭中。这两个相对受限的资产池约占低收入家庭总财富的90%，即使在中等收入家庭中，这一比例也约为80%至85%。

如果财富集中在流动性较差的资产上，那么疾病或意外的照护责任可能会暴露财务脆弱性——从直接的医疗费用到长期的健康支出和收入损失。

新数据告诉我们新加坡家庭拥有多少财富，同时也提出了一个重要问题：长寿是一把双刃剑，那么这些财富究竟能提供多少财务保障？

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一位年长的护理人员推着坐在轮椅上的老人走上坡道。（资料照片：Calvin Oh）

经济困境带来的压力

新加坡的预期寿命已上升至约84岁，位居世界前列，但新加坡人仍有大约十年时间处于病痛之中。从2029年1月1日起，新加坡将65岁定为退休年龄。届时，65岁的人平均还能再活21.6年。

需要明确的是，鉴于新加坡较高的房屋拥有率和强制储蓄制度，大多数家庭并不处于赤贫或一无所有的状态。与此同时，越来越多的家庭表示感到经济拮据。

这种经济压力并不一定意味着财务不稳定。但对于能否承受意外的经济冲击，老年家庭仍然会感到担忧。

新加坡老年人面临的经济困境通常有三个特点：

首先，收入下降的速度比支出下降的速度快，尤其是在转为兼职工作或因病完全停止工作的情况下。

其次，医疗保健、护理和水电费等基本开支在家庭预算中所占比例越来越大，几乎没有剩余的储蓄空间。

第三，除了房屋和公积金之外，家庭的流动财富有限，因此当出现问题时，家庭可以采取的措施很少。

经济困境已被证实与慢性压力、延迟就医和心理健康状况下降有关。长期为收支平衡担忧的家庭更有可能推迟就医、错过复诊或拖欠药物。

保险范围和可负担性

理论上，保险应该是减少这种不稳定性的重要工具。新加坡有意识地构建了一个多层次的保险体系，其中包括全民基本住院保险“终身健保计划”（MediShield Life）、退休收入保障“公积金终身入息计划”（CPF LIFE）、长期护理保障“终身护保计划”（CareShield Life），以及一系列自愿参保计划和私人保险产品。

实际情况更为复杂，对于新加坡老年人来说，医疗保障和负担能力之间需要做出艰难的权衡。

无论是国家医疗保险计划还是商业保险计划，保费都会随着年龄的增长而上涨。保费由精算师确定，每个年龄组都需为各自的预期赔付支付费用，因此老年人支付的保费更高，因为他们住院的可能性更大，医疗费用也更高。

每年领取终身健保金的 65 岁以上人群数量远超其他人群，而且老年人的索赔和赔付增长速度也远超年轻人群体。

一旦人们停止全职工作，不断上涨的保费就难以负担。对于终身健保计划（MediShield Life），政府会补贴老年人的大部分保费，并为建国一代和独立一代提供保健储蓄（MediSave）充值，以确保基本保障价格合理。

私人保险计划可能会成为财务压力点。这些计划包括综合健保计划（IP），它在终身健保计划的基础上提供额外保障，还有附加的综合健保计划附加险，甚至独立的重大疾病保险和长期护理保险。

卫生部在9月份的国会答复中表示，私人保险降级和终止的数量有所增加，而保费却持续上涨：2025年，综合医疗保险（IP）的保单数量从2023年的99,000份增加到128,200份；同期，附加综合医疗保险（IP）的保单数量更是翻了一番多，达到181,800份。卫生部表示，他们并不追踪放弃保险计划的原因，这些原因可能包括经济负担能力问题，或者为了更好地满足自身需求和实际情况而调整保险范围。

权衡之下，经济拮据的老年人可能会选择减少保险支出，而他们放弃的保险可能会让他们在遭遇重大健康冲击时承担更多自付费用。

值得称赞的是，政府一直在调整政策，加强退休储蓄和医疗保健保障。55至65岁劳动者的公积金缴款率已于2026年上调（并计划于2027年1月1日再次上调），同时还为公积金余额较低的老年新加坡人提供一次性公积金补足，并扩大了长期护理补贴。

关于金钱的对话

新加坡人需要的援助不仅要足够慷慨，还要简单明了、可预测，以便普通家庭能够自信地围绕这些援助进行规划。

如果能清晰地了解当前或未来计划中各项国家计划或专项方案所提供的支持，就能让家庭了解他们可以期待什么以及何时获得支持，从而更有把握地进行规划。

然而，老年时期的财务韧性一部分取决于政策支持，一部分取决于个人准备。这意味着要更好地了解自己当前的财务状况，以及自己拥有或可以建立哪些缓冲资金。

完整的资产负债表是什么样的？许多新加坡人知道自己的月薪，但很少有人清楚自己的净资产以及它随时间推移的变化趋势。花时间列出资产和负债，并了解目前的公积金和保健储蓄账户余额在65岁、75岁和85岁时分别相当于多少，可以将模糊的焦虑转化为可以采取行动的具体数字。

实际需要时，这些资金能动用多少？缓冲资金应该被视为有意识地建立起来的，而不是听天由命。这包括优先考虑定期小额补充保健储蓄或退休金账户，前提是相关计划提供相应的缴款匹配。

住房不应被视为不可触碰的物品，也不应被视为一有机会就必须抛售的东西。房屋的价值还体现在社会关系和社区支持网络上，这些在老年时期尤为重要。

新加坡建屋发展局（HDB）组屋。（资料照片：CNA/Calvin Oh）

诸如搬到附近面积较小或户型不同的公寓，或者利用租赁回购计划等方案，既能释放部分房屋净值，又能与家人和熟悉的亲友保持联系。老年人还应提前规划如何合理安排所得款项，以便在未来几十年内持续获得经济支持，而不是在早期一次性花光。

这项计划还取决于谁？在新加坡文化中，与家人谈论衰老和金钱可能被视为禁忌。但父母、兄弟姐妹或成年子女应该讨论谁能提供何种照护、有哪些资源可用以及个人意愿。这有助于避免在仓促或压力下做出艰难的财务和照护决定。

人们常常为长寿而欢欣鼓舞，但对于经济拮据的家庭来说，每多活一年都如同走钢丝一般。衡量我们老龄化社会是否成功的真正标准，在于家庭能否在七八十岁时依然拥有安全感和尊严。

穆罕默德·丹尼尔·阿兹兰·本·马哈兹尔是新加坡保健集团-杜克-新加坡国立大学全球健康研究所的全球健康创新负责人。斯坦利·西亚是新加坡国立大学2025届杰出高级研究员。

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