The Straits Times on Sept. 20, 2014, ran a story on survey findings of typical retiree households in Singapore. You can read the entire page uploaded online as a PDF free-of-charge at www.gov.sg.

As usual, ST provided some quotable gems:

How the survey results yielded might actually be useless:

"The data is interesting as it is rare but it is insufficient for planning purposes." -- Ms Peh Kim Choo, director of the Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing under the Tsao foundation.

Rich people will be hit harder than poor people when they retire due to loss of a lot more income:

"It's largely because of the loss of income from work, which hits richer people far more as a proportion of their income than poorer people." -- Assistant Professor Walter Edgar Theseira, Nanyant Technological University.

But the best part in the whole article has to be this portion about how good the middle class is having it:

SHE'S 'RETIRING COMFORTABLY'

Retired teacher Lucy Tay (above), 65, lives with her 70-year-old husband in a flat in Jurong.

Together, they spend about $1,200 a month, mostly on food and utilities.

On her own, Madam Tay uses up about $2,000 a month on things like shopping or eating out, adding up to a combined expenditure of around $3,500 for the two of them.

Some of the money comes from her savings, she said, although the investments made when she was younger are also beginning to bear fruit.

“I bought endowment plans and shares,” she said. “The income is not fixed, so it’s hard to say how much I get every month.”

She also gets around $900 in monthly payouts from the Central Provident Fund. Her husband, a permanent resident, does not get these.

“One thing I can safely say is that I’m retiring comfortably,” Madam Tay said.

“I consider myself lucky,” she said. “If I want to go for a meal, I just go.”

However, some questions:

1. Firstly, Straits Times, do you even math? $1,200 + $2,000 = $3,500?

2. This article basically means that the retired husband is getting by on $600 a month, while his wife does $2,600?

3. Isn't getting by on $600 a month the real story?

Top photo via app.singapore.sg

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