Right-size, and keep more of what your home is worth.

It depends on what you will need each month from 65. CPF LIFE pays a monthly income for life, and the larger your Retirement Account, the higher the payout; the CPF LIFE Estimator on cpf.gov.sg shows your own figure. If you are short, right-sizing can help: the Silver Housing Bonus asks for a net increase in your Retirement Account, which can come from the CPF refund on your sale. We run the housing numbers; CPF Board or a licensed adviser can advise on retirement income.

A Retirement Account is created. Your Special Account closes, and its savings move in first, then your Ordinary Account savings, up to your Full Retirement Sum. You can withdraw $5,000 from 55 in any case, plus savings above the Full Retirement Sum, or above the Basic Retirement Sum if you own a home whose lease lasts you to 95. Monthly CPF LIFE payouts start from 65.

Both are new HDB flats on short leases, open from 55, and both earn the largest Silver Housing Bonus. A Community Care Apartment adds care services and a compulsory monthly service package; a 2-room Flexi is a standard compact flat with no package. Neither can be sold on the open market: both are returned to HDB. Choose by how much support you expect to need over the next 10 to 20 years.

No. The 15-month wait-out period was removed on 28 Jul 2026. Private property owners and former private property owners can now buy a non-subsidised HDB resale flat of any size, at any age, with no waiting period — provided they do not take an HDB housing loan. The separate 30-month wait-out for subsidised flats still applies, and you must still dispose of your private property within six months of completing the flat purchase.

The scheme was enhanced from 1 Dec 2025. You qualify by committing to a net increase in your CPF Retirement Account after right-sizing and joining CPF LIFE — and that increase can often be funded from your CPF housing refunds, so a fresh cash top-up is no longer necessarily required. A larger bonus applies if you move to a 2-room or smaller flat, including a Community Care Apartment.

They are alternatives, not a package. The Lease Buyback Scheme suits households who want to stay in their current flat and neighbourhood; you sell the tail-end of the lease and keep living there. Right-sizing suits households who want more liquid cash, a lower running cost, and a smaller home they still fully own. Lease Buyback requires all owners to be 65 and above; the Silver Housing Bonus route starts at 55.

Usually not the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant or the Family Grant — those are for first-timers. The Proximity Housing Grant is different: it is open to second-timers, has no income ceiling, and applies when you buy a resale flat to live with or near your children. It can only be claimed once in your lifetime.

Only if your next flat is a subsidised one — a BTO, a Sale of Balance Flats unit, or a new EC. If you buy on the open resale market, no levy is payable at all. Where a levy does apply, the amount is fixed by the type of your first subsidised flat, not the one you’re buying, and it is reduced for short-lease 2-room Flexi flats.

Less than most people expect. Your outstanding loan is repaid first, then the CPF you used plus accrued interest returns to your CPF account. If you are 55 or above and pledged the property, that refund may first go to your Retirement Account, toward the Full Retirement Sum before any cash is released to you. Selling costs and, in some cases, Seller’s Stamp Duty and a resale levy come off as well. We model this figure for you before you commit to anything.

It depends on what you are moving between, and the sequence must be planned before you exercise any Option to Purchase. Selling one HDB flat to buy another, you must dispose of the existing flat, so it is normally sequenced sell-then-buy — and as a citizen buying your only flat, there is no ABSD to bridge. Moving out of a private home, you can complete the new purchase first, but you must dispose of the private property within six months; if you still own it when you buy, Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty is payable upfront and, for those who qualify — married Singapore Citizen couples, and single Singapore Citizens aged 55 and above right-sizing to a lower-value home — reclaimed when the first property is sold within that window.

Your loan-to-value limit drops sharply if the loan runs past your 65th birthday, which for a borrower in their late fifties or sixties usually means a shorter tenure and a larger cash or CPF contribution. Your borrowing is also capped by the Mortgage Servicing Ratio for HDB purchases and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio overall, both stress-tested at a rate well above current market rates.

It is a senior-friendly flat bundled with care services under a compulsory Basic Service Package. From the October 2026 sales exercise onwards the minimum age is 55 (previously 65), and the monthly service fees are being reduced substantially. Anyone who obtained an HFE letter while under 55 needs to re-apply.

Yes, and it is worth discussing openly. Every route that converts housing value into retirement income reduces what passes on. A smaller flat that you own outright still passes to your beneficiaries; a short-lease flat or a Community Care Apartment can only be returned to HDB. We set this out plainly so the family can decide together rather than discover it later.