ageisano

From an immersive exhibition about Singapore’s national reserves to some very personal questions about inflation, financial resilience and growing older.

I’ve always known that Singapore is rather good at managing its money. Our sovereign wealth funds are internationally recognised, and GIC is often mentioned in discussions about long-term investing.

But knowing of something and understanding how it actually works are two different things.

So when I heard about The Secret Vault , an immersive exhibition celebrating GIC’s 45th anniversary, I was intrigued. I had a vague understanding of what GIC does, but I wanted to know more about the thinking behind it, particularly why Singapore’s founding leaders considered it necessary to establish such an institution.

I also appreciate how Singapore continues to make financial education accessible to the public. And when learning comes in the form of interactive experiences rather than lengthy financial reports, all the better!

What I hadn’t expected was to leave the exhibition thinking quite so much about my own retirement.

More specifically, what will my money actually buy me when I turn 65?

A Small Nation with a Long-Term Vision

For readers unfamiliar with Singapore, we are a small island nation in Southeast Asia, with few natural resources and a history of having to make the most of what we have.

Our economic success didn’t happen by accident.

GIC was established as a professional investment manager, separate from the central bank’s traditional responsibilities.

It became the world’s first non-commodity sovereign wealth fund, an important distinction because Singapore’s reserves were not built on oil or other natural-resource wealth.

The underlying philosophy was straightforward: protect and grow the nation’s financial resources so future generations can benefit.

I find that foresight particularly admirable.

Our founding leaders weren’t just thinking about the immediate needs of a young nation. They were thinking decades ahead, knowing that economic crises would inevitably come, even if nobody could predict when or how.

It reminded me of something I’ve increasingly come to appreciate in midlife: decisions made years earlier often reveal their true value much later.

The Global Inflation Hypermart: When Prices Won’t Wait!

Of the exhibition’s interactive experiences, the Global Inflation Hypermart particularly resonated with me.

Visitors were given a shopping list and invited to scan everyday items — soda, cereal, eggs, fish and even sweat shorts — before checking out to discover how inflation affects their prices over time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t complete the exercise. Bummer! But one poster caught my attention: a can of soda costing S$1.11 in 1981 versus an illustrative S$10.16 by 2050.

That’s quite a price increase for a fizzy drink!

Of course, the 2050 figure isn’t a prediction, but an illustration of how inflation compounds over time.

And therein lies the message. Inflation isn’t just about economic forecasts or central bank policies. It’s what we experience at the supermarket checkout, when paying our utility bills or booking our next flight. Lately, those little increases don’t feel quite so little anymore.

What concerns me is how much of this is beyond our control. From geopolitical conflicts disrupting energy supplies and trade routes to extreme weather affecting agricultural production, events thousands of kilometres away can eventually find their way into our household budgets.

Not every disruption leads to lasting inflation, of course, but the Hypermart brought home a simple reality:

The same amount of money may not buy us the same standard of living in the future.

While the exhibition takes us to 2050, my own financial planning horizon is considerably closer — six years, to be precise.

Hopefully, I’ll still be around in 2050, and able to afford that can of soda! 😉

The Weather Room: I’ve Lived Through a Few Storms Myself

Another memorable experience was the Weather Room, where visitors physically experience simulations of major global economic upheavals. There was even a rather convincing gust of cold wind!

Having lived through a few financial storms myself, I found this particularly thought-provoking.

The Asian Financial Crisis, the dot-com bust, the 2008 Lehman collapse and COVID-19 — each brought its own disruptions, often with consequences few could have anticipated.

Today, we face a different mix of geopolitical tensions, climate-related challenges and economic uncertainty. The circumstances change, but the unpredictability remains.

Uncertainty isn’t new. It simply takes different forms.

What struck me was how Singapore’s reserves have been managed with a long-term perspective, through periods of both prosperity and turbulence, rather than reacting to every passing storm.

It’s a philosophy that resonates with me, particularly as I think about my own financial future.

After all, we cannot control the economic weather, but we can prepare ourselves to weather it better.

Turning 65: My Own Financial Weather Forecast

Which brings me to a personal milestone: turning 65 in approximately six years.

That’s when I expect to begin receiving CPF LIFE payouts, Singapore’s lifelong retirement income scheme. By then, I also hope to have moved into my smaller public housing flat, marking another chapter in how I live and spend.

I certainly don’t intend to spend my retirement sitting at home counting pennies! But I do want to ensure my future income can support the lifestyle I hope to maintain, particularly with inflation already making itself felt in my grocery bills and airfares.

I’m now working through different retirement scenarios, including how inflation might affect my living expenses.

Consider something costing $100 today:

• At 3% annual inflation, it would cost approximately $119 in six years.
• At 5% annual inflation, that same purchase would cost approximately $134.

Neither sounds particularly alarming until you consider the cumulative impact over another 20 or 30 years.

One area I’m reassessing is health insurance, particularly as premiums rise with age.

There was a time when I assumed private hospital coverage was the way to go. But caring for my dad and navigating Singapore’s public healthcare system gave me a different perspective — and a much greater appreciation of the care available.

I’m now seriously considering downgrading my coverage to keep premiums manageable over the long term. Not simply to save money, but to ensure that I’m not paying for something I may no longer consider essential at the expense of other things that matter to me, like travelling and enjoying new experiences.

Perhaps that’s what retirement planning increasingly means to me: not just crunching numbers, but reassessing priorities, making informed choices and retaining the flexibility to live life on my own terms.

Can We Borrow a Page from GIC’s Playbook?

Another part of the exhibition, The Steward’s Gardens, explores the patience, planning and risk awareness required to nurture long-term investment potential.

I rather liked the garden analogy.

Anyone who has tried growing anything knows that you cannot force a plant to flourish overnight. You need suitable conditions, patience and a willingness to accept that not everything will go according to plan.

Investing isn’t so different.

Now, I certainly don’t have GIC’s resources, professional investment teams or extraordinarily long investment horizon.

My own portfolio is decidedly more modest!

But I believe there are principles worth borrowing.

Think Beyond the Next Market Cycle

With the recent volatility in equity markets, this lesson feels particularly relevant to me.

As a small retail investor, I try to focus on companies with sound fundamentals rather than getting swept up in daily market noise. Easier said than done, of course! I’m only human and still very much a student of investing. 😉

The Globe exhibit, illustrating how GIC diversifies its investments across asset classes, sectors and geographical markets, also brought me back to the Ray Dalio Market Principles online programme I completed.

Diversification, risk management and long-term thinking were among the key lessons. I’m still distilling that knowledge and figuring out how best to apply it to my modest investment portfolio.

While diversification doesn’t eliminate risk or guarantee returns, it can reduce our dependence on any single investment or market. And as I move closer to retirement, I’m increasingly mindful of balancing income generation, capital preservation and some potential for growth.

The exhibition offered a timely reminder that short-term market turbulence doesn’t necessarily undermine a sound long-term strategy.

For me, the challenge is knowing when to act and when to sit tight. Sometimes, doing nothing is a decision too.

After all, inflation doesn’t retire just because we do! 😉

Financial Resilience Is Also About Knowing What Matters

While the exhibition focuses on managing national reserves, it got me thinking about the broader meaning of financial security as we age.

We spend much of our working lives accumulating money, building assets and preparing for retirement.

But there comes a point when the conversation needs to shift from accumulation to how we actually want to live.

I have become more intentional about this in my 50s.

I still enjoy travelling, discovering new places, learning new skills and spending time with people who matter to me.

These experiences aren’t necessarily extravagant, but they are important to my quality of life.

And having spent much of my career working, I also appreciate the freedom to decide how I spend my time.

To me, financial resilience isn’t about having the largest possible retirement portfolio.

It is about having sufficient resources, flexibility and peace of mind to live meaningfully without constantly worrying about money.

There is also an interesting parallel with active aging.

We invest in our health today because we hope to enjoy better physical and mental well-being in later life.

Financial planning works on a similar principle.

Both require us to think beyond immediate gratification, make informed choices and accept that the benefits may only become apparent years later.

But I also believe there needs to be balance.

There is little point in being so focused on protecting our future that we forget to enjoy the present.

A healthy retirement portfolio is important. So is having a life worth retiring to.

The Real Secret Isn’t in the Vault

I left The Secret Vault with a deeper appreciation of the foresight behind Singapore’s financial reserves and the determination of our founding leaders to safeguard the country’s future.

For a small nation that started with relatively few resources, investing for future generations was both bold and pragmatic. I also appreciated how the exhibition made complex financial concepts accessible and engaging.

But my most valuable takeaway was personal.

At 59, retirement planning is becoming less theoretical and more immediate. I cannot predict what inflation, financial markets or the wider world will look like when I turn 65.

What I can do is stay informed, explore different possibilities and make adjustments while I still have the flexibility to do so.

Perhaps that is what long-term thinking is really about — not predicting the future with certainty, but preparing ourselves to navigate it with greater confidence.

Because ultimately, the purpose of financial resilience isn’t simply to protect our money. It is to protect our freedom to live well.

And that, to me, is a rather worthwhile investment.

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Have you considered how inflation might affect your retirement lifestyle? Or are you, like me, still working through the possibilities? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For readers in Singapore: The Secret Vault runs from 10 October to 1 November 2026 at New Bahru. Admission details are available on the official exhibition website.

This article reflects my personal observations and learning journey. It is not financial advice.