Quora Answer: Can US Citizens Retire in Singapore?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Can US citizens retire in Singapore?” 

Singapore is not a place you can simply decide to retire to.  The government does not simply give out long-term visit passes.  This would work if the US citizen has worked or invested here, contributed to the economy, and then started the process to gain citizenship. 

Citizenship must be secured before retirement, otherwise it will be denied.  The reason is economic sense.  If someone is not invested enough to take up citizenship during their productive years, it would be a loss on the economy to grant them the privileges of healthcare when they retire because they would not be a net contributor to Medisave. 

Retiring here after the retirement age is still possible, but that would involve a substantial investment, such as setting up a family office, having significant funds parked here, or taking a major stake in a business with the intention of keeping it a going concern.  This would make that person a net contributor to the economy, and citizenship is a reasonable option. 

Unless one is a citizen, there is little economic benefit for the country to be a retirement village, because of the high cost of living would offset any gain from the fees paid to retirement villages.  Singapore is an international finance and business centre.  A Singaporean has the privilege of subsidised healthcare and education, among other benefits.  These benefits are not even extended to permanent residents, let along others.  That would make retirement unfeasible for the average American, unless they become Singapore citizens early.