u/Fluid_rmx

Been reading a lot of solid advice here, so hoping to get a reality check on our situation.

Profile:

• M42 (PR) / F41 (Singaporean)
• 1 child (13), from previous marriage living with us (my wife has custody). Not planning more kids
• Household income ~20k/month (both in sales / sales-adjacent roles, so not 100% stable - I’ve already gone through a layoff 2 years ago)

Current situation:

• Living in a 4-room BTO HDB (~12 years old), fully owned by my wife (she is paying the loan via CPF, still 18 years left)
• No ownership stake on my side currently

Plan we’re considering:

• Sell the HDB
• Rent for ~6 months in between
• Buy a ~3BR condo (~$1.3M range - looking at Hillview, YCK, Khatib, Yishun, Canberra, possibly along new MRT lines like Upper Serangoon; but pretty open about areas)

Financing:

• Loan mostly covered via CPF OA
• Estimated ~$1,000/month cash top-up (split between us) - may increase after ~3 years
• We have enough savings to cover expenses + loan for ~2–3 years if both of us lose income

Main objective (important):
This is not a lifestyle upgrade.
The goal is long-term retirement positioning:

• Hold condo for ~15-20 years
• Then sell and significantly downgrade
• Also allows me to build ~25% ownership stake vs. none today

Timeline:

• Likely executing this in ~12+ months

Questions / sanity check:

• Does this strategy make sense purely as a retirement play?
• Are we underestimating risks (income volatility, opportunity cost, property market)?
• Anything obvious we’re missing?

Appreciate any perspectives - especially from those who’ve made (or decided against) a similar move.