As part of its annual Retirement Planning campaign which launches today, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board is organising an inaugural Digital Festival on 4 and 5 December 2021. With the theme of “Ready for Life”, the Festival features an exciting line-up of webinars and online workshops to inspire CPF members to find their purpose in life and re-imagine retirement so that they will be motivated to plan ahead for their golden years with CPF.
Singapore residents can expect to live longer as compared to a decade ago. Therefore, it is necessary to plan ahead and think about how we can continue to live active and meaningful years. Beyond finances, a good retirement plan starts with discovering what we enjoy doing and find fulfilling, and taking care of our social, physical and mental well-being.
The “Ready for Life” Digital Festival will kick-off with an Open Forum followed by a series of webinars and online workshops organised in collaboration with Public, Private and People sector partners that touch on both the financial and non-financial aspects of retirement planning. Highlights of the Festival include:
a) Opening Forum on what makes a purposeful retirement and the key components of a good retirement plan. Hosted by Mark van Cuylenburg (aka The Flying Dutchman), the Forum features:
- Mr Augustin Lee, CEO, CPF Board
- Professor Paulin Tay Straughan, Professor of Sociology, Singapore Management University and Director, Centre for Research on Successful Ageing
- Mr Christopher Tan, CEO, Providend
- Mr Eng Soon Khai, Deputy CEO (Policy and Corporate Development), CPF Board.
b) “Making a Difference” panel discussion hosted by cross-media personality, Danny Yeo. Volunteers from RSVP Singapore, Active Health and the National Parks Board will share their personal journeys and what it takes to contribute back to society in various ways.
c) “Phoenix Parkour” online workshop, this introductory session by Move Academy caters to people who are looking to renew their agility and flexibility and is suitable for all fitness levels and ages.
d) Repair Kopitiam online workshop conducted by Repair Kopitiam where participants can learn how to stretch the shelf life of common household items and be part of the movement to work towards a more sustainable future for Singapore.
e) “How to Grow Your Own Edible Greens” workshop where a gardening expert from National Parks Board will share proper plant care tips.
f) CPF Talks on Maximising your Money, Taking Charge of your Healthcare Costs, and Legacy Planning and CPF Nomination.
The full programme line-up can be found in Annex A. CPF members can find out more and sign-up for the Festival for free at cpf.gov.sg/cpfReadyforLife.
CPF Board’s Group Director of Communications Ms Irene Kang said, “Life does not stop at retirement. If you know your purpose in life, you will find it easier to plan for it. Through the Digital Festival, we want to inspire members to start thinking about their life purpose during their golden years and be motivated to secure a lifelong stream of income with their CPF to support it. For example, they can take advantage of CPF’s high interest rates by saving early and regularly, and exercise prudent use of CPF by realising its impact on their retirement.”
The Digital Festival is part of the CPF Board’s annual retirement planning campaign, which runs from 11 November 2021 to 6 February 2022. Under the tagline “Every purpose needs a plan. What’s yours?”, the campaign features four real-life retirees leading purposeful lives to inspire and motivate members to start planning for their own retirement with CPF. Details of the profiles are in Annex B.
Apart from the Digital Festival, another new feature of the campaign this year is the quiz and planner on the campaign microsite, cpf.gov.sg/BeReady, which is designed to help members discover their life purpose and plan for an income to support their desired retirement lifestyle. By answering a few simple quiz questions, CPF members will get suggestions on the kind of purposeful retirement they can lead, as well as a customised guide and tips on how they can plan for it financially, starting with their CPF. To offer further food for thought, there is also a “Our Community” section in the microsite with stories and insights from experts and CPF members from different walks of life.