PROPERTY WEALTH PLANNING
Retirement Decision Planner: sell, hold or sell later
Compare selling your HDB flat now, holding it, or selling later — with spendable cash, restricted CPF and property equity kept apart. A draft educational projection, not advice.
Beta — educational estimates; some tax and HDB rules are still being verified
For illustration purposes only. Figures are hypothetical estimates based on the assumptions you enter and are not a quote, valuation, forecast or recommendation. Always verify with HDB, CPF Board and IRAS and speak to a licensed professional before deciding.
Compare three paths for your HDB flat — sell now, hold, or sell later — year by year. Cash you can spend, CPF you cannot, and property equity are kept apart. The starting numbers are an example (a 66-year-old owner of an older 4-room flat); replace every one with your own.
Educational projection only. It is not CPF, IRAS, HDB or MAS assessment, a valuation, or financial, tax or legal advice, and nothing here is a guarantee. Rates of return, inflation and prices are your assumptions, not forecasts.
Your figures stay in this browser tab. They are not put in the web address, not saved, and not sent to a server or CRM. ← Back to the Property Journey
Three paths, side by side
For illustration purposes only. Figures are hypothetical estimates based on the assumptions you enter and are not a quote, valuation, forecast or recommendation. Always verify with HDB, CPF Board and IRAS and speak to a licensed professional before deciding.
Rules and assumptions behind this planner
Each item shows where it came from, the date it was checked, and whether a person still has to verify it. Source text is kept in English.
CPF interest rates
Read on an official page
OA 2.5% p.a.; SA/MA/RA 4% p.a. Extra 1% on the first $60,000 combined balances (55+: extra 2% on the first $30,000 and 1% on the next $30,000); OA counts up to $20,000 for the extra interest.
Extra interest is not modelled; balances earn base rates only (conservative).
Retirement Sums 2026
Read on an official page
BRS $110,200; FRS $220,400; ERS $440,800. BRS and FRS depend on the year the member turns 55.
The planner asks you to type the sum that applies to you and only offers the 2026 figures as defaults.
CPF refund on sale
Read on an official page
The CPF used for housing (principal) plus the interest it would have earned must be refunded to the member’s own CPF account.
Refund cap at market-value sale
Read on an official page
The refund is limited to the selling price less the outstanding housing loan; any shortfall need not be topped up in cash for a sale at market value. A sale below market value needs a cash top-up.
Selling costs vs the refund cap
Needs human verification
The pages list only the outstanding loan as a deduction before the refund. The planner therefore does NOT reduce the refund for agent fees or legal costs.
Confirm with the conveyancing solicitor how costs are ordered in the settlement.
Where the refund goes
Read on an official page
Below 55: Ordinary Account. At 55 and above: first to the Retirement Account up to the required retirement sum, balance to the Ordinary Account. A property pledge, if any, must also be refunded.
A pre-2013 exception exists for some members who were 55+ and set aside the FRS before 1 Jan 2013; it is not modelled.
Rate used for accrued interest
Needs human verification
Modelled as OA 2.5% p.a. compounded yearly. The fetched pages say only “the interest you would have earned”.
Use the CPF Board “Property refund statement” for your actual figure and type it into the planner.
Age-55 property pledge
Needs human verification
Remaining lease must cover the youngest owner to age 95 to keep the property pledged for the Basic Retirement Sum route; withdrawals above the retirement sum are only allowed if the pledge is satisfied.
Any $5,000 minimum-withdrawal figure was not confirmed and is not used.
Lease and CPF usage
Read on an official page
CPF usage is pro-rated when the lease does not cover the youngest buyer to age 95; pro-rating applies where at least 20 years of lease remain.
The planner only flags the 20-year and age-95 points; it does not compute buyer financing.
Rental expenses: 15% deemed option
Read on an official page
Individuals may claim deemed expenses of 15% of gross rental instead of actual expenses (interest excluded). Deductible mortgage interest can be claimed on top. Property tax is not claimed separately under the 15% option. One method applies across all residential properties for the year.
Rental losses, reliefs and the interest apportionment for CPF-funded loans are not modelled.
Property tax: non-owner-occupied
Read on an official page
12% on the first $30,000 of annual value; 20% next $15,000; 28% next $15,000; 36% above $60,000.
Bands to $60,000 read on the annex; the 36% rate above $60,000 matches the stated 12%–36% range. Most HDB annual values fall in the 12% band. IRAS rebates are not modelled.
Property tax: owner-occupied
Read on an official page
0% to $12,000; 4% to $40,000; 6% to $50,000; 10% to $75,000; 14% to $85,000; 20% to $100,000; 26% to $140,000; 32% above.
IRAS has announced a one-off 2026 rebate for owner-occupied homes; rebates are not modelled, so 2026 tax is slightly overstated (conservative).
Resident income tax bands
Read on an official page
0% first $20,000; 2% to $30,000; 3.5% to $40,000; 7% to $80,000; 11.5% to $120,000; 15% to $160,000; 18% to $200,000; 19% to $240,000; 19.5% to $280,000; 20% to $320,000; 22% to $500,000; 23% to $1,000,000; 24% above.
Every band matches the IRAS schedule, including the published tax on each lower bound. Personal reliefs and one-off YA rebates are not modelled, so tax is overstated for most retirees (conservative). You may override with your own marginal rate.
Seller's Stamp Duty
Read on an official page
For residential property acquired on or after 4 Jul 2025: 16% / 12% / 8% / 4% if sold within 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 years; none after 4 years. An HDB flat can only be sold after its Minimum Occupation Period (at least 5 years), so SSD is not modelled for HDB sales.
Confirm the MOP and acquisition date for flats bought under special schemes.
Tax on property sale
Needs human verification
Not modelled. Gains from a sale are generally not taxed unless IRAS regards the activity as a trade; no sale tax is applied.
HDB whole-flat rental eligibility
Needs human verification
Singapore Citizen owners only; Minimum Occupation Period generally 5 years; Prime and Plus flats are not allowed to be rented out whole even after the 10-year MOP. Non-Malaysian non-citizen tenant quota 8% per neighbourhood / 11% per block.
Citizen-owner and MOP conditions are confirmed on the HDB owner page; the Plus/Prime exclusion and quota percentages are from the estate-agent guide only. Confirm on My HDBPage before relying.
HDB Lease Buyback Scheme
Needs human verification
Not modelled. Sale proceeds top up the Retirement Account to the age-adjusted FRS (single owner) or BRS (two or more owners); LBS bonus up to $30,000 / $15,000 / $7,500 by flat type; up to $100,000 cash may be kept.
Shown as an alternative to discuss, not as a fourth strategy.
HDB concessionary loan rate
Needs human verification
Pegged to the prevailing CPF interest rate. The planner’s default of 2.6% is a user-editable assumption.
MAS TDSR / MSR
Needs human verification
TDSR 55% of gross monthly income; MSR 30% (HDB flats and ECs within MOP). The engine models no new borrowing, so these are context only.
Lease decay and price path
Planning assumption, not a rule
No statutory formula. Price growth and the extra drag as the lease shortens are user assumptions. The value is forced to zero when the lease runs out.
Investment return, inflation, discount rate
Planning assumption, not a rule
User assumptions. Not forecasts or guarantees.
What this planner does not do
- Not modelled: CPF LIFE payouts as a calculation (enter them as other income), HDB Lease Buyback, SERS, ABSD/BSD on a replacement purchase, rental losses, income-tax reliefs, GST on fees, stamp duty on sale, and the pre-2013 CPF refund exception.
- Not decided for you: whether you may rent out your flat, whether a property pledge applies, how a solicitor orders settlement costs, and what CPF Board will actually require. Confirm each with the agency.