CPF LIFE is Singapore’s national annuity: in exchange for the savings in your Retirement Account, it pays you a monthly income for as long as you live, starting at age 65. You choose one of three plans — Standard, Basic, or Escalating. The short version: Standard gives level payouts with a moderate bequest, Basic pays a bit less but leaves a larger bequest, and Escalating starts lower but rises 2% every year to keep pace with rising prices. None is “best” for everyone — it depends on how much income you want early on and how much you care about leaving money behind.
🏦 What CPF LIFE actually is
Think of CPF LIFE as insurance against running out of money. You can’t outlive it — the payouts keep coming even if you reach 95 or 100. The size of your monthly income depends mainly on how much you set aside in your Retirement Account at 65. For the cohort turning 55 in 2026, the reference points are the Basic Retirement Sum of $110,200, the Full Retirement Sum of $220,400, and the Enhanced Retirement Sum of $440,800. More set aside means a bigger lifelong payout.
One useful lever: you don’t have to start at 65. If you defer, your payouts grow by roughly 7% for each year you wait, up to age 70. Deferring is essentially a guaranteed boost — worth considering if you’re still working or have other income in your late sixties.
📊 The three plans side by side
All three are funded from the same Retirement Account, but they manage your money differently, which changes your monthly cheque and what’s left for your loved ones.
- Standard Plan — level monthly payouts that stay roughly the same for life. Most of your savings go into the LIFE pool, so payouts are higher than Basic but your bequest is moderate.
- Basic Plan — lower monthly payouts, because more of your money stays in your Retirement Account earning interest for longer. The trade-off is a larger bequest for your beneficiaries.
- Escalating Plan — payouts start about 20% lower than Standard, then rise 2% every year. Early on you get less; later in life you get more, which helps your income keep up with the rising cost of living.
🎁 How bequest works
Bequest is what’s left for your beneficiaries when you pass away. Under CPF LIFE it’s your unused premium plus any remaining Retirement Account savings, minus the payouts you’ve already received. Because the Basic Plan keeps more of your money sitting in the Retirement Account earning interest, it generally leaves the largest bequest. Standard leaves a moderate amount, and Escalating depends on timing.
It’s worth being honest about the trade-off: a larger bequest usually means a smaller monthly income for you while you’re alive. If your goal is maximum income in retirement, optimising for bequest works against that.
🧮 A worked example to picture the choice
Imagine two retirees, Mei and Raj, who both set aside the Full Retirement Sum of $220,400 at 55, and start CPF LIFE at 65.
- Mei picks the Standard Plan. Her payout is level — the same amount every month, year after year. She likes the predictability and spends roughly the same in her seventies as in her sixties.
- Raj picks the Escalating Plan. His first cheque is about 20% smaller than Mei’s. But because it grows 2% a year, by his late seventies and eighties his monthly income overtakes hers, cushioning him against years of rising prices.
Notice the figures above are the sums set aside, not the payouts themselves — actual monthly amounts depend on your exact balance, plan, and start age. Rather than trust a generic number, plug your own balance into the CPF LIFE Payout Estimator to see what each plan would pay you.
🧭 Which plan suits you
There’s no universally right answer, but some patterns help:
- Standard suits you if you want straightforward, steady income and don’t want to think too hard about it — a sensible default for most people.
- Basic suits you if leaving a larger bequest matters more than maximising your own monthly income, perhaps because you have other retirement income.
- Escalating suits you if you’re worried about inflation eroding your spending power over a long retirement, and you can comfortably accept lower payouts in the early years.
Whatever you lean towards, the decision is much easier once you can see real numbers next to your own savings and target start age.
👉 See your own numbers
The plans only make sense when you compare them against your actual Retirement Account balance. Use the CPF LIFE Payout Estimator to compare Standard, Basic, and Escalating side by side, then check how your savings are tracking towards the retirement sums with the Retirement Projection tool before you commit to a plan.