Building My Financial Independence Plan from First Principles

Note: Dividend tap refers to the portfolio average monthly dividend which is estimated from Snowball Analytics.

IWDA (Core): 50 shares @127.38 USD, approx S$8,285
IB01 (Defensive): 110 shares @118.10 USD, approx S$16,897
BTC (Alternatives): 0.03820534  BTC, approx S$4,990

Total deployed: S$30,333.5

Assumptions I use for planning

Before anything else, I define my working assumptions.
They are not fixed for life. They simply give me a clear frame to build around.

1. Monthly lifestyle anchors

• Basic FI at S$12,000

• Full FI at S$20,000

2. Spending context

• Singapore’s latest average household expenditure (2023, SingStat) is S$5,931

• Basic FI is roughly twice that

• Full FI is about three and a half times that

3. Income taps

• A future dividend stream of about S$5,000 a month in today's dollars.

• CPF LIFE starting around age 70 under the Enhanced Retirement Sum

4. Portfolio structure

Since I want to stop full time work around 48, I will need to fund my lifestyle until CPF LIFE begins. I call this period the bridge. To handle the bridge safely without giving up long term returns, I use a simple design:

• A 5 year safe bucket in SGD (HYSAs, SSBs etc) (Bridge Safe Bucket)

• The rest of the bridge invested in the usual global mix

• A long term draw rate of about 3.25 percent

• A 10 percent USD cushion applied to the long term drawdown pot, since much of my portfolio is in USD but my spending is in SGD

5. Retirement timing

• Stop full time work around 48

• Build a bridge to CPF LIFE

These assumptions keep the plan grounded in reality rather than guesswork.

Anchors, Not Absolutes

I anchor my FI thinking to two monthly numbers. Basic FI at twelve thousand a month and Full FI at twenty thousand a month. They are guides rather than rigid targets.

Basic FI is the level where life works smoothly. Bills, school fees, groceries, transport and healthcare are all covered. Work becomes optional rather than compulsory.

Full FI is the level where life opens up. A nicer home is possible. Better holidays fit comfortably. A car is within reach if I want one. The quality of life feels wider with less hesitation at each decision point.

Once I know the lifestyle I want to fund, the portfolio becomes a tool rather than the purpose. Everything I build supports one of these two anchors.

Two Phases Instead of One Giant Target

My FI plan has two very different stretches.

Phase 1: Age 48 to 70

The early retirement years before CPF LIFE begins.
My spending will come from dividends and a controlled draw from the portfolio.

Phase 2: Age 70 onward

CPF LIFE begins and becomes a strong SGD income floor.
Dividends continue.
The portfolio only tops up the remaining gap.

The Dividend Tap

My Singapore holdings already generate steady income. Over time I want this stream to settle around S$5,000 a month in today’s dollars. This is not a separate FI target. It is simply one of the taps that funds the same two FI anchors.

I treat this dividend stream as spendable income. I do not also include the capital that produces it inside the 3.25 percent drawdown pool. That keeps the income and the drawdown maths separate and avoids double counting. Therefore I need to set aside S$1,000,000, assuming 6% yield.

If this tap contributes five thousand a month, then the portfolio only needs to supply:

• Basic FI gap: S$7,000 a month

• Full FI gap: S$15,000 a month

This reduces the burden on the drawdown portfolio, especially in the earlier years.

A Bridge That Does Not Kill Returns

Retiring at 48 creates a long bridge before CPF LIFE starts.
But I do not try to park 22 years of spending in cash. That would destroy returns.

I use a simple two-layer bridge instead.

1. A safe bucket for 5 years (Bridge Cash Bucket)

This sits in SGD cash, T bills, SSBs and short duration bond funds.
This protects the first years of early retirement and prevents panic selling in a downturn.

2. The remaining bridge stays fully invested

This part behaves like the rest of the Atrahasis portfolio.
It grows ahead of inflation and refills the safe bucket when markets allow.

Each year I spend from the safe bucket.
If markets are calm, I trim invested assets to refill it.
If markets are rough, I stretch the safe bucket and delay refills.

The bridge stays shallow but resilient. It is not frozen for 22 years.

CPF LIFE at 70 for a Stronger Floor Later

If I set aside the Enhanced Retirement Sum at 55 and start CPF LIFE at 70, payouts should land around 4,000 to 4,300 SGD a month in today’s dollars.

From age 70 onward my stable SGD income becomes:

• CPF LIFE payouts

• Monthly dividends

Together that is roughly S$9,200 a month.

The portfolio only needs to top up:

• Basic FI: about S$2,800 a month

• Full FI: about S$10,800 a month

At a long term draw rate of about 3.25 percent, this works out to:

• Basic FI: about 1.03 million SGD (33,600 ÷ 0.0325)

• Full FI: about 3.99 million SGD (129,600 ÷ 0.0325)

Sizing the Long Term Pot with a Currency Cushion

Because a large part of my portfolio is in USD, I size the long term drawdown pot assuming a 10 percent USD drop at the wrong moment.

After applying this cushion and keeping a small SGD buffer, the long term pot I aim for is roughly:

• Basic FI: about 1.2 million SGD

• Full FI: about 4.3 million SGD

These are working ranges rather than rigid targets. They help me stay honest about currency and market risk.

Putting the Structure Together with Two Buckets

I think about the portfolio as two buckets. The dividend bucket D is the capital that supports the S$5,000 a month in SGD dividends. The drawdown bucket R is the rest of the Atrahasis portfolio that I am willing to sell down slowly.

I now assume that about S$1,000,000 sits in D. At a net yield of roughly 6 percent, that pays about S$60,000 a year, or S$5,000 a month, which is the dividend tap I am targeting. This capital is not counted inside the 3.25 percent drawdown pool R.

The drawdown bucket R then needs to cover the remaining gaps, both in the bridge years and after CPF LIFE starts. On my current assumptions, R needs roughly S$2.6 to S$2.8 million for Basic FI and S$7.4 to S$7.6 million for Full FI.

That means the total portfolio requirement, D plus R, is about S$3.6 to S$3.8 million for Basic FI and about S$8.4 to S$8.6 million for Full FI.

Basic FI path

Total portfolio needs of roughly 3.6 to 3.8 million SGD

Full FI path

Total portfolio needs of roughly 8.4 to 8.6 million SGD

These ranges shift slightly with markets and life choices, but the structure stays stable.

Where I Stand Today

With the current portfolio at about S$3.0 million including the Bridge Cash Bucket, I am roughly 80 percent of the way to the Basic FI total of 3.6 to 3.8 million and about 35 percent of the way to the Full FI total of 8.4 to 8.6 million. The dividend tap is about 76 percent built and the first layer of the Bridge Cash Bucket is forming. The structure is clear. From here the work is to finish the dividend bucket, complete the five year safe bucket, and let the global engine do its compounding in the background.