Here’s how to build your retirement nest egg with ease

This post was created in partnership with DBS Bank. All views and opinions expressed in this article are Beansprout's objective and professional opinions.

What happened?

I’ve been thinking a lot more about my retirement recently. 

It’s not that I am planning to retire right away. But with inflation remaining persistent in recent months, the question of whether my savings would be sufficient for my retirement needs has come up repeatedly. 

And it seems like I’m not the only one thinking about how to prepare myself financially for my retirement. 

This was widely discussed after it was announced earlier this year that the CPF Special Account (SA) will be closed for those aged 55 and above from next year. 

Many in the Beansprout community have also asked if there is a way to invest for our retirement goals in a simple way. 

In particular, I’ve seen a fair amount of discussion amongst investors looking to generate passive income flows to afford our lifestyle needs at retirement. 

I recently came across the DBS Retirement digiPortfolio, which was recently launched to help consumers with their retirement planning. 

As a user of DBS digibank, I decided to check out this new feature and find out how it may be different from other investment solutions in the market. 

What is the DBS Retirement digiPortfolio?

The DBS Retirement digiPortfolio is an investment solution that enables you to invest through different life stages and achieve your retirement goals. 

The key features of DBS Retirement digiPortfolio include:

• Allocates your portfolio automatically based on your life stage
• Taps into expertise of DBS Investment Team 

• Leverages J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s track record of in offering retirement planning solutions

   

As I am turning 40 this year, I have made plans to retire at the age of 65. I plan to make an initial one-time investment of S$15,000 and a monthly top-up of S$500 into the Retirement Portfolio.

Based on the simulation, the Retirement digiPortfolio is projected to offer a portfolio value of S$407,632.79 when I retire at the age of 65. 

This illustration is based on investment rates of returns of 4% to 6% per annum. However, do note that these are long term projections and over the short term, actual returns (or even losses) will vary according to your choice of portfolio, investment horizon, and market conditions. 

If you would prefer to start small, the Retirement digiPortfolio allows you to start from as little as S$1,000. With a one-time investment of S$1,000 and monthly top-ups of S$500 per month,  the Retirement digiPortfolio is projected to offer a portfolio value of S$346,210.67 when I retire at the age of 65. 

You might be wondering what does the Retirement digiPortfolio invest in to generate the targeted returns. Let’s dive deeper to find out more. 

How does the DBS Retirement digiPortfolio work?

#1 – Allocate your portfolio based on your life stage

The distinctive feature of the Retirement digiPortfolio is that the portfolio allocation will shift based on your timeline to retirement. 

Also called the ‘glidepath’ strategy, the Retirement digiPortfolio will gradually transition your portfolio between life stages till you reach retirement.

In the early stages, your portfolio is geared towards growth assets such as equities to help you accumulate your wealth over the years to retirement. 

As you have a longer time horizon to retirement, you will have the runway to ride out short term market volatility and capture the long term growth potential of the markets. 

As retirement approaches, the Retirement digiPortfolio will shift to more stable assets like fixed income funds, building a more conservative and stable portfolio to ease into your retirement years.

For example, the portfolio may allocate 65% of capital to equities with a focus on capital appreciation for an investor aged 30 early on in their career. 

The allocation to equities would by then have been gradually adjusted to 15% for an investor aged 65 who is near retirement, with the bulk of the capital invested in fixed income to align with the focus on stability. 

GLIDEPATH ILLUSTRATION

#2 – Tap into expertise of the DBS Investment Team

The DBS Investment Team, which has extensive experience managing bespoke portfolios, will apply their experience and skill to constructing and managing your investments. 

One of the factors that the team will consider in managing the portfolio is the current market conditions. On a periodic basis, your holdings will be adjusted to respond to economic trends and market movements, in line with the bank’s current investment views. 

If needed, the portfolios will be reconstituted and rebalanced and you will be notified via email when this happens. 

This will allow your portfolio to be positioned to capture the latest market opportunities, without the hassle of adjusting the portfolio by yourself. 

#3 – Leverages J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s track record in offering retirement planning solutions

The Retirement digiPortfolio was developed with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, one of the largest asset managers globally with over US$2.9 trillion in assets under management. 

Led by its award-winning and well-resourced Multi-Asset Investment team, J.P. Morgan Asset Management has over half a century of experience managing retirement assets on behalf of our clients, in the US, UK and Asia.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has brought its retirement capabilities to the solution, and is actively involved across various aspects of the Retirement digiPortfolio, including fund selection, asset allocation, as well as portfolio rebalancing.   

For example, a mix of J.P. Morgan Asset Management funds are used in the Retirement digiPortfolio to provide diversification. 

The equity funds include funds with exposure to the US, Europe, Asia excluding Japan, as well as Japan. This will allow your retirement portfolio to gain access to long-term growth across these key markets. 

The bond funds include funds with exposure to global corporate bonds, global government bonds, as well as emerging market debt. This will allow your retirement portfolio to tap into opportunities across these fixed income assets. 

These funds have a management fee ranging from 0.4% to 1.5% per annum, and the illustration above based on investment rates of returns of 4% to 6% per annum has taken into consideration these fund management fees. 

Equity funds

Bond funds

What are the advantages of the DBS Retirement digiPortfolio?

#1 – Simple way to meet your retirement goals 

From the investment process of the Retirement digiPortfolio we shared earlier, you might have learnt that your investments will be managed by a dedicated team of professional portfolio managers at DBS and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. 

Compared to investing on your own, your money will be managed by investment professionals who will help you adjust your portfolios to reflect market developments as well as your transition between life stages. 

This will save you time and energy compared to if you were doing it yourself, especially since the decision on asset allocation can be a time-consuming and difficult one. 

#2 - No lock-in period or penalties

With the Retirement digiPortfolio, you can start from S$1,000 with no lock-in or withdrawal penalties. 

This means you can start easily and withdraw anytime without any charges whenever you need access to your funds.

What are the fees relating to the DBS Retirement digiPortfolio?

There is a flat portfolio management fee of 0.75% p.a. This portfolio management fee covers all transaction costs, including the purchase of the funds. There will be no separate sales charge involved. 

There are no sales fees, transaction fees, and withdrawal fees for the Retirement digiPortfolio. 

The flat portfolio management fee will hence cover any costs of buying and selling the funds, which can add up especially if you were to switch between funds regularly as you adjust your portfolio through different life stages. 

How is DBS Retirement digiPortfolio different from robo-advisors?

#1 – Asset allocation based on life stage rather than risk tolerance 

You might be wondering how does the Retirement digiPortfolio differ from robo-advisors in the market. 

The key difference lies in that the Retirement digiPortfolio is the only solution that adjusts your portfolio allocation based on your own timeline to retirement. 

This sets it apart from most robo-advisor solutions which offer an investment portfolio customised to your risk profile and financial goals.

For example, if you were to use an existing robo-advisor solution, you would indicate your risk profile based on how much losses you might be willing to stomach. A portfolio would be suggested to you based on your indicated risk profile. 

However, this would not be adjusted automatically based on your life stage. For example, if you are 10 years closer to your retirement, you would have to manually input a lower risk profile to have a more conservative portfolio allocated to you. 

On the other hand, the Retirement digiPortfolio would automatically adjust your portfolio allocation based on your life stage, reducing the need for you to make this adjustment by yourself.  

#2 – The DBS investment team plays an active role in asset allocation 

Apart from helping to shift your portfolio based on your life stage, the DBS investment team will also adjust your portfolio to respond to economic trends and market movements, in line with the bank’s current investment views.

This more hands-on approach is also different from most robo-advisors, which take a more passive approach towards asset allocation. 

What would Beansprout do?

We’re excited to see another product to help us plan for our retirement needs. 

The DBS Retirement digiPortfolio offers a unique feature that adjusts your portfolio allocation based on your own timeline to retirement. 

This makes it a simple and hassle-free way for us to shift our portfolios towards more stable assets as we get closer to our golden years. 

In a way, we can see it as having a customised financial planner who will help us with a review periodically. 

If you would like to tap on the expertise of the DBS Investment Team to shape your portfolio, the additional benefit is that your portfolio will be adjusted to reflect the latest investment views. 

To find out more about the Retirement digiPortfolio, you can access it through your DBS digibank mobile app.

To help you get started, you can get management fee rebates on up to 6 months of recurring top up transactions (capped at S$125) when you set up recurring top up today. T&Cs apply. 

You can also learn more about how you can build the 4 money habits of save, protect, grow and retire to take your from your first paycheck to retirement with expert tips from DBS and POSB here. 

Disclaimer

All investments come with risks and you can lose money on your investment. The Retirement digiPortfolio consists of funds which may be subject to market fluctuations and other risks. Any past performance, projection, forecast or simulation of results is not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance of any investment. 

 This article is written in collaboration with DBS Bank Ltd, Company Registration. No.: 196800306E ("DBS”), an Exempt Financial Adviser as defined in the Financial Advisers Act and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and is for general information only and should not be relied upon as financial advice. This publication may not be reproduced, or communicated to any other person without prior written permission.

The information and opinions contained in this article has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but DBS makes no representation or warranty as to its adequacy, completeness, accuracy or timeliness for any particular purpose.

This article does not constitute or form part of any offer, recommendation, invitation or solicitation to subscribe to or to enter into any transaction. It does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. Before entering into any transaction involving any product mentioned in this publication, where applicable, you should seek advice from a financial adviser regarding its suitability for your own objectives and circumstances. If you choose not to do so, you should make an independent assessment and do your own due diligence on the product. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The information herein is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation.

This advertisement has not been reviewed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Neither J.P. Morgan Asset Management nor its affiliates makes any representation or warranty as to its adequacy, completeness, accuracy or timeliness for any particular purpose and accordingly, takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the contents of this publication nor accepts any liability for any statement or misstatement made in this publication.

All investments come with risks and you can lose money on your investment. Invest only if you understand and can monitor your investment. Diversify your investments and avoid investing a large portion of your money in a single product issuer. The value of the units in the funds and the income accruing to the units, if any, may rise or fall. Before investing, you should read the prospectus and Product Highlights Sheet for the funds in the Retirement digiPortfolio, which may be obtained from the digiPortfolio tab in DBS digibank.