How much money would you be happy with on retirement?

[retirement]

How much money would you be happy with upon retirement? At what age do you plan to retire? What sort of retirement lifestyle do you want? Would you retire in Singapore? Would you go back to your home countries or spend the rest of your days in sunny South East Asia?

Not going back to UK, I dont want to grow old there! Im 25 but I feel the urge to plan my retirement and invest accordingly in god knows what. Retire at 60? or 65? or 70? Im confused and need some older guys advice.

[midcareer]

How much money would you be happy with upon retirement? At what age do you plan to retire? What sort of retirement lifestyle do you want? Would you retire in Singapore? Would you go back to your home countries or spend the rest of your days in sunny South East Asia?

Not going back to UK, I dont want to grow old there! Im 25 but I feel the urge to plan my retirement and invest accordingly in god knows what. Retire at 60? or 65? or 70? Im confused and need some older guys advice.

If youre young & british/EU national go to australia if you have one of the skills which are in demand or on the critical shortage list.  If you are too old to migrate think about another EU place perhaps like south of france, portugal,spain, italy or a quiet mediterranean town with warm weather and nice beaches

That said, if youre like many expats here who arrived as a single person and got married to a singaporean, you will be staying on here as part of a big family. Going home wont be an optiion once you have kids or if the in laws want to keep you here (which they always do for their financial benefit).

At your age I would move around the world and dont get too attached to this place. There are far better places than here which also have sun.

[agree to pp]

Explore other places!!!:) You are too young, don't settle with the red dot..

[Kubes.SG]

There was a saying that I recall that was:  "There are women you bed, and there are women you wed."

Singapore is like the "women you bed".   Get all your needs and urges meet while young and carefree, but you must look elsewhere for a long-term meaningful relationship.

[go for it]

Kubes is spot on there.  You are missing out on so much at your age.  I would personally go for Oz or New Zealand if I was young and single (I am neither). Make a 5 year plan and run with it.  By time youre 30 you will know roughly where you want to make a life.

UK is not such a bad place (not the best either i do agree) and when youre older like us, it does have a lot to offer but then again, its our homeland too so we feel drawn to return and rediscover it.

I spent my 20's in Singapore, malaysia, thailand etc and wished I had put that time to much better use than hanging around resorts, nightclubs & pubs.

One day you will realise that in Asia you are only a walking ATM machine to most people.

[Dr. Phil]

There is no figure which answers your question because of inflation and, if that does not take your savings, our banking and financial advisors will. 

To survive you need two things; youth and a steady income.
The income gives you access to other people's money and helps share the risk.
You will lose your youth, but you can prepare today to ensure a steady income when you retire but be careful, only Singapore has CPF and guarantees workers retirement; elsewhere you are more likely to be dispossessed during your working lifetime.
So, any pension scheme should be private.

I agree with other posters, go to Australia (or NZ).  

I think Australia has a good future and the economy can only get stronger.
It comprises a continent full of valuable minerals increasingly in demand and a lifestyle second to none.
The taxes are high, but you said you wanted to invest in the future and there is no better way of helping than to pay taxes and help build a strong infrastructure especially a professional free healthcare system.
I am sure Australia would be overwhelmed by older Expats if their immigration criteria were not so strict, so don't leave it too late, the sooner the better.
 
However, don't give up your European passport.  
We have many problems in Europe and a spendthrift, mischievous and faceless unelected EU bureaucracy which is pushing EU-national governments far to the right of centre; and the same idealistic policies, increasingly out-of-touch with reality could one day open Australia's borders resulting in the same irreversible chaos.  

[yeah......]

I have been here 2+ years and am now contemplating the move back to Aus. I'm going to miss the low taxes, but the exchange rate is killing me

I think singapore has a serious limit to how long you can spend here.

Don't waste too much time drinking here or visiting resorts, they are all the same. Countries are not.

But you're really young to be thinking like this, enjoy your youth! Grow young:)

[midcareer]

Indeed two or three years here for a young guy.

What a waste to spend your young years here in the land of sterile overpriced shopping malls which has a night life scene that consists mainly of china & filipino hookers/SPG's and fat old drunken expats, when you could be living it up in Manly or Bondi at the weekends going to all night long beach parties and gigs with a hip young crowd.

If I was 25 again and in your position, I would be making a beeline for Sydney, starting up my own business, driving a shiny black & chrome ute with huge wheels and living near the beach in the north suburbs somewhere.....ah the life !!

[Vulcanl]

OP,

"...How much money would you be happy with upon retirement?..."

Enough to maintain a lifestyle equivalent to the one I have now.  How much that would be exactly by the time you retire is unknowable

".... At what age do you plan to retire?..."

70

"... What sort of retirement lifestyle do you want?..."

I personally would still need to be challenged on a daily basis.  Whether that entails a job, volunteer work, some kind of enterprise, even a hobby perhaps....doesn't matter much to me.  I don't know at this point what that would be, but something will come along I am sure

"...Would you retire in Singapore?..."

Most likely not.  This is not a very friendly place for old people.

"...Would you go back to your home countries..."

Again, it is extremely difficult to answer this question.  If the trend of Western decline continues: HELL NO

"...or spend the rest of your days in sunny South East Asia?..."

Not a bad idea at all!!

"....Im 25 but I feel the urge to plan my retirement and invest accordingly in god knows what..."

I feel for you.  When I was 25 retirement planning was a fairly straightforward proposition.  We now live in very turbulent times where it is extremely difficult to discern the end game of the current shifts taking place. 

I no longer trust equities, bonds or any other kind of 'paper.'  Life has taught me thus far to be skeptical (especially of so-called 'experts').   

The best advice I could give you is this:  SIMPLIFY.  If you have any debt, pay it down as quickly as you can, and take no more on (at ALL).  After you have built up a 6-month expense cash reserve for emergencies,  invest only in real tangible assets that can be purchased at good value (I count education among these). 

As time goes by you will find that your tastes/desires/what you find important in life will change from what you perceive them to be now.  It is only at that time that you need to be worrying about your retirement plans.

[Dr. Phil]

.............
As time goes by you will find that your tastes/desires/what you find important in life will change from what you perceive them to be now.  It is only at that time that you need to be worrying about your retirement plans.

Very true, but this happens throughout our lives and is what makes getting older tolerable.
When we are 20 we have different desires than when we are 30 and so on.
We know for sure, whatever age, we need an income and the sooner we start, the less we contribute, over a shorter period, for a higher retirement income.

[Absolutely]

I couldn't agree with this more, unless you have thing for the local girls, get out. Seriously singapore is not where you want to spend your best years!!!:) See some of the world:)

Indeed two or three years here for a young guy.

What a waste to spend your young years here in the land of sterile overpriced shopping malls which has a night life scene that consists mainly of china & filipino hookers/SPG's and fat old drunken expats, when you could be living it up in Manly or Bondi at the weekends going to all night long beach parties and gigs with a hip young crowd.

If I was 25 again and in your position, I would be making a beeline for Sydney, starting up my own business, driving a shiny black & chrome ute with huge wheels and living near the beach in the north suburbs somewhere.....ah the life !!

[retirement]

Thanks guys, good pieces of advice here that will stay with me.

[take it on]

good luck kid:)

[you only live once]

Yes, good luck. Am in my 50s now, spent nearly two decades here. Lower taxes, material reasons. But in my 20s, I had a great time in Sydney and London, fearing nothing, unaware of my limitations, reaching for the sky, and having a good time while doing so. Things like impulsively arriving in Sydney with nothing but a backpack and someone's name, then finding my feet. Or in Europe, making up the numbers for a 7-day ski trip to St Anton, when I couldn't even ski! Learnt quickly, though. Looking back, those are the times when I felt most alive.

[Totally]

Couldn't agree more. I was my poorest in Melbourne, NYC and London, yet absolutely the 20's were the best years of my life.

Yes materially well off here, but not nearly as fun. SG is artificial fun. I met the real people elsewhere.

Go traveling -europe, america, australia -easy places to go, and more inspiring than what you see here. Asia good too, but ideally get to these more exp places whilst you're not locked down!!