You don’t have to wait until your 60s to enjoy more time for yourself. Semi-retirement offers a middle ground between full-time work and complete retirement, giving you flexibility, income security, and a chance to live life more on your terms.
The traditional idea of retirement is simple: work hard until your 60s, save as much as you can, and then stop working entirely. But for many, this “all or nothing” approach feels increasingly outdated. We’re living longer, healthier lives. At the same time, the idea of sacrificing your prime years to the grind just to enjoy life later may not appeal to everyone.
Semi-retirement offers an alternative. Instead of quitting work entirely, you simply scale back. You might go from a 50-hour work week to 20 hours, take on a role with less responsibility, or shift into project-based or freelance work. The key is that you’re still earning, but you’ve freed up more of your time to focus on personal goals, hobbies, family, or travel. By rethinking your retirement timeline, you can plan for a more efficient, less demanding journey towards financial independence and, eventually, freedom.
Why Semi-Retirement Makes Financial Sense
One of the biggest challenges of traditional early retirement—like the kind promoted by the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement—is the sheer amount of money you need to save. To retire decades before your peers, you often need to invest aggressively and cut expenses to the bone in your 20s and 30s.
Semi-retirement takes the pressure down several notches. By continuing to earn even a modest income, you don’t have to fully rely on your savings or passive income right away. This means:
- Your investments have more time to grow before you start drawing them down.
- You’re less vulnerable to market downturns early in retirement.
- You can maintain a more comfortable lifestyle without needing millions in the bank.
It also has a psychological benefit: you still have the purpose, structure, and social interaction that work can provide, but without the stress or hours of a traditional job.
Calculating Your Semi-Retirement Number
If you’re thinking about semi-retirement, the starting point is figuring out the gap between your expenses and your passive income. Here’s how you can do so:
- Work out your annual expenses.
Include essentials (housing, food, transport, insurance) plus discretionary spending (travel, hobbies, gifts). Be realistic—underestimating will only create stress later. - Calculate your total passive income.
This might include dividends, rental income, annuities, or other steady investment returns, and any other income source that doesn’t require your time and energy. Be conservative in your estimates; markets can be volatile. - Calculate the gap.
Your semi-retirement income goal is to fill that gap with income from part-time or freelance work.
For example, if your expenses are $50,000 a year and your investments generate $18,000, your income gap is $32,000. This could be covered by working 2–3 days a week, depending on your skill set and rates.
Let’s illustrate this in an example.
Meet David, 35. He has worked in marketing for a decade and earns about S$5,500/month (the median salary in Singapore in 2024). That makes S$4,400/month in take-home pay, after the 20% personal CPF deduction.
S$4,400 x 12 = S$52,800/year in take-home pay
Now he’s feeling burnt out and wants more time for his kids and personal projects, but he’s not ready to give up his income entirely. If he intends to semi-retire at 50, given that his current annual expenses is S$48,000/year, he would have a surplus of S$4,800/year for retirement.
Assuming the following:
- David invests S$1,000/month into Syfe portfolios
- Investment growth rate before semi-retirement: 8% p.a.
- During semi-retirement (age 50–65), his portfolio yields 6% in dividends annually for living expenses.
- Annual spending target during semi-retirement: S$24,000/year (≈S$2,000/month, modest lifestyle).
- CPF OA grows at 2.5% p.a. and is locked up until 55. David maxes out his Full Retirement Sum (FRS) but has no excess to be withdrawn at 55.
Here’s how he can calculate how much he will need to earn at each stage—35-50, 50-65, 65 and beyond.
Age 35-50
Monthly investment S$1,000 × 12 = S$12,000/year
Years to invest: 15
Growth rate: 8%
Total future value at age 50: S$325,800
Age 50–65, Semi-Retirement
At age 50, David converts his growth portfolio into a dividend portfolio.
Given the following:
- Portfolio value at 50 ≈ S$325,800
- 6% dividend yield = S$19,500/year
- Total annual expenses = S$24,000
Shortfall = S$19,500 – S$24,000 = -S$4,500/year
David’s dividends can cover part of his expenses, and the remainder can be supplemented by his freelance or part-time income.
65 and beyond, full retirement
At 65, David will start receiving monthly payouts from his CPF account. Assuming he maxed out his FRS (S$213,000 in 2025), he would receive around S$1,600–S$1,700 a month. His dividend portfolio can make up for that shortfall .
Monthly dividend income: S$19,500 / 12 = S$1,625
Total monthly income = S$1,600 + S$1,625 = S$3,225
David will have a little more than S$3,000 a month after retirement. However, do note that these numbers have not taken into account the inflation rate (average 2.4% in 2024), and David’s monthly expenses could be higher in 35 years’ time.
For a more detailed breakdown of how much David needs for a comfortable retirement, this article breaks down the numbers.
Finding the Right Work in Semi-Retirement
One of the biggest misconceptions about semi-retirement is that it means settling for “lesser” jobs. In reality, many people use it as an opportunity to explore work that’s more fulfilling or aligned with personal interests.
You could:
- Consult in your current industry at a higher hourly rate but with fewer hours.
- Teach, coach, or mentor in a subject you enjoy.
- Turn a hobby into an income source—photography, baking, writing, woodworking.
- Work seasonally—for example, helping with tax preparation or tourism during peak months.
The goal isn’t necessarily to maximise income, but to balance earnings with quality of life.
Planning Ahead for Semi-Retirement
Even though semi-retirement is more financially forgiving than full early retirement, it still requires preparation.
- Clear high-interest debt before cutting back your work hours. Debt repayments can quickly eat into a smaller income.
- Build a larger-than-normal emergency fund—ideally 12 months of expenses—because part-time work or freelance income can be less predictable.
- Keep investing during semi-retirement if you can. Even small contributions help maintain your wealth over the long term.
- Review your insurance coverage. Some benefits like health insurance may have been tied to your full-time job, so make sure you have adequate coverage before you transition.
How Syfe Can Help You on Your Journey to Semi-Retirement
If, like David, you’re aiming to semi-retire by 50, the key is to build an investment portfolio that can both grow your wealth and provide steady income. Syfe offers solutions designed for this:
- Income+ portfolios allow you to earn reliable passive income with a 5-6% dividend yield from a globally diversified mix of bonds and other income-producing assets. Perfect for covering living expenses during semi-retirement.
- REIT+ portfolios let you tap into Singapore’s real estate market for stable dividend yields. Historically averaging 5–6% p.a., to complement your CPF payouts and other investments.
- Core portfolios offer diversified exposure to global equities, bonds, and gold, aiming for 6–8% annual growth pre-retirement so that you can build long-term wealth.
Using the example above, investing S$1,000/month into Syfe Core portfolios from age 35 could grow to between S$279K and S$326K by age 50, assuming 6-8% in returns. And with Income+, a 5–6% yield would give you S$14K–S$19K/year in passive income, enough to cover more than half (and up to 80%) of a modest semi-retirement lifestyle. The rest can be supplemented by your CPF savings once you hit 55, alongside your freelance or part-time job.
From Semi-Retirement to Full Retirement
Semi-retirement acts as a trial phase for your eventual full retirement—you get to test whether your projected budget works in reality, and you can adjust before fully stepping away from work.
Many semi-retirees find that after 10–15 years of reduced work, their portfolios have grown enough and their lifestyles have adjusted enough, so that the transition to full retirement feels natural and financially secure.
The Bottom Line
For those who feel caught between wanting more free time now and needing security later, semi-retirement might be the sweet spot between the extremes of working full-time until 65 and aggressive early retirement.
Semi-retirement helps to bring your retirement dream forward. By continuing to earn a modest income, you gain flexibility, reduce financial stress, and still protect your long-term wealth. The key is to stay invested, even as you scale back your workload.
A well-structured portfolio that generates passive income can help fund your lifestyle now, while long-term growth investments continue compounding for your full retirement. By combining steady dividend streams with a disciplined investment strategy, you can enjoy the flexibility of semi-retirement today while ensuring your wealth lasts well into your later years.
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