By: PanzerGrenadier Welcome to Part 3 –the final part of the three-part series “Are You Ready for Retirement?”. If this is your first time reading this series, you may wish to read Part 1 and Part 2 first. Part 2 “Funding your Retirement” explored the CPF funding model as well as the personal funding model. The CPF model is the primary vehicle driving our retirement funding but it is a flawed model in some sense because its purpose of being a retirement account has been subverted by other social purposes of promoting home ownership that has resulted in the “asset rich, cash poor” syndrome that afflicts many of us who aspire to retire well and to live happily after 62 or 65. The future is not scary if we know the worst case scenario. I don’t know about you but for Panzer, NOT KNOWING what is the worst-case scenario in my future retirement funding IS SCARY to me. Part 3: Can I truly Retire It’s a simple question. Yes or no? The “brutal truth” that faces many of us is, “NO”. You and I would probably NEED to work until 62 or 65 not so much because MONEY is not enough but rather CASHFLOW is not enough. Why You and I (most likely) cannot retire at 55 The CPF funding model works only if you have amassed CPF monies way exceeding minimum sum (MS) of $120,000. Under existing rules, you can withdraw monies from your special and ordinary accounts if you have more than the MS. In addition, you can withdraw your medisave monies exceeding the medisave MS of $29,500. Read more... Are You Ready for Retirement Series Are You Ready for Retirement? [Part 2 of 3] Are You Ready for Retirement? [Part 1 of 3]