LU JIA JUN
The turning-55 family checklist
Lu Jia Jun · last checked 24 October 2026
I made this for anyone turning 55 in Singapore and their grown-up kids. It's 17 things, and each one links to the page where you actually do it.
Everyone logs in with their own Singpass, so it's easier if you sit down and go through it together.
If you'd rather tick it off on paper, here's the PDF.
Two with a deadline
If you put your will's location or your funeral plans on My Legacy, save a copy before 4 January 2027. That's when they get deleted for good.
Still paying for a home with CPF after 55? You can keep some Ordinary Account savings back for it, but you have to apply in the six months before your 55th birthday. Whatever you keep back earns 2.5% instead of 4%.
CPF
On your 55th birthday CPF opens a Retirement Account and moves some of your savings into it. Log in after, see what moved, and check how much you can still withdraw.
Write down when each of you turns 65. That's the earliest CPF LIFE payouts can start, but only if you apply. If you haven't by 70, they start automatically.
Before you pick a CPF LIFE plan, try all three in CPF's payout estimator. You've got 30 days from your first policy letter if you want to switch.
Who gets what
Make a CPF nomination, or check the one you've got. A will can't pass on CPF savings, so the nomination is how you choose who gets them.
If the law's default split isn't what you want, write a will. Sign it in front of two witnesses, and pick witnesses who get nothing under it, or their gift is void.
Getting married cancels a CPF nomination, and usually a will too. Divorce doesn't, so an ex can stay your nominee until you change it. After a wedding, a divorce or a new baby, look at both again.
Check how your flat is held. Under joint tenancy it goes to the surviving owner when one of you dies, whatever the will says.
Go through each insurance policy and see who's nominated. Each policy goes by its own nomination, if it has one.
Keep one family file with the nominees, where the will is, and each policy and account. Leave out NRIC numbers, logins and PINs. SGFinDex can pull a lot of the accounts into one view to start from.
If one day you can't decide for yourself
Make a Lasting Power of Attorney while you still have mental capacity. Without one, your family has to go to court before they can act for you.
Do an Advance Care Plan as well. Your LPA donee can't decide on life-sustaining treatment, and the plan is where your family and doctors see what you'd want.
Born in 1979 or earlier and not on CareShield Life yet? Since 1 January 2026 you can only join if you've got no pre-existing disability, so it's worth deciding now.
Scams
From 55 you can switch on the CPF Withdrawal Lock. I'd turn it on unless you're about to withdraw. Unlocking takes 12 hours, so if anyone's rushing you to unlock it, that's a red flag.
Add one or two of your adult kids as CPF Trusted Contacts. They get copies of CPF's alerts, but they can't act for you.
Agree one rule as a family: no money moves because of a call or a message until it's been checked with ________. If in doubt, call the ScamShield helpline on 1799.
The longer version
It's all 31 items, with the detail and the source behind every line. Leave your email and I'll send you the link.
Stuck on one of these? WhatsApp me. It comes straight to me.
If you'd rather go through it with someone
Risk and financial planning with me starts with a financial audit. We go through what you already have, what's missing and the questions worth asking next. If you want advice after that, I'd do a full fact-find first, and only if you ask for one. There's no cost, and nothing changes unless you say so. I'm paid by commission or an ongoing fee if you buy anything through me, and I'll tell you that amount first, in dollars.
I do not represent CPF Board, IRAS or any government agency. General information only, not financial advice.
These rules are as at 24 October 2026, and they do change, so check the linked page before you act. The will and LPA lines are my plain-words summaries, not legal advice.
Lu Jia Jun, Financial Adviser Representative, Great Eastern Financial Advisers Private Limited (GEFA). RNF LJJ300837068.