Growing up in Singapore, a city notoriously known for its attempt at achieving No. 1 status in almost every possible ranking, it has always got me thinking – How could we retire while still grappling with increasingly higher costs of living.

However, in order to be successful in retirement, we would have to earn a minimum gross salary of $6,000 in order to maximise our CPF contributions and its corresponding ROI. As an ordinary employee, it all begins from your first pay cheque (and the 1st contribution of your pay to your respective CPF accounts).

So, what do these accounts do? What are they all about? Simply put, they are government initiatives for retirement planning.