Raising a child in Singapore can be a costly affair.

Among the many costs involved (child delivery, childcare, living expenses, and more), the biggest ticket item of all is their university education.

Helping to fund this final stage of their education journey, before they become a (real) adult, is one of the last big financial commitments we make as parents.

Singapore is a competitive place. Every edge you can give your child increases their likelihood of succeeding in the future.

Setting up an education fund for your children means that when it’s time for them to enter university, the money is there if they need it.

One popular way to fund an education is a child education endowment plan.

Today, we’ll take a look at what it is and how to weigh it against your other options.

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How much should you be setting aside each month for your child’s university education? For most families the honest answer is a few hundred dollars, but yours depends on your child’s age and the path you have in mind. The calculator below pins down your figure. The rest of the page gives you the 2026 costs and inflation rates to enter, and what to do about the result.

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Singapore has constantly been ranked as one of the cities with the highest cost of living in the world.

Some wonder if these rankings mean much when a $4 hawker meal still exists. The pressure shows up elsewhere. Housing, cars, education, and healthcare all cost far more here than in most developed countries.

Much of this comes down to geography. Singapore has little land and almost no natural resources, so we depend on other countries for food, energy, and water, and prices here move with the world’s.

Here are 12 statistics on the cost of living in Singapore, based on the latest official data. We update this page as new figures are released.

(Although we can’t control the cost of living, we can take charge by focusing on better ways to manage our finances.)

Note: All prices quoted are in Singapore dollars (SGD).

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How much do you actually need to live in Singapore each month?

Less than you might think, or far more, depending on how you live here. A local taking the MRT and eating at hawker centres, and an expat renting a condo with a car in the driveway, pay very different amounts to live in the same country.

So instead of one average figure, we tabulated both.

SmartWealth’s 2026 tabulation puts the average monthly cost of living in Singapore at $1,900 to $3,200 for a single adult on a typical local lifestyle, and $8,000 to $12,000 on an expat-style lifestyle.

Note: all figures are in Singapore dollars, and we refresh the page as new numbers come out.

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Education has always been in high demand in Singapore, driven by parents eager to see their children excel in top schools, regardless of their grade level.

Securing a spot in these prestigious schools isn’t easy, often requiring excellent grades. To help their children succeed, many parents turn to private tuition and enrichment classes.

As a result, education costs have climbed significantly over the years.

University education, often the final hurdle for many students, is the most expensive of all and demands effective money management strategies to fund.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the cost of pursuing a university degree in Singapore and what the average expenses entail.

Note: All prices are quoted in Singapore dollars (SGD). 

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If you have seen the movie, Crazy Rich Asians, you might have wondered if these crazy rich Asians really do exist in Singapore.

If you are an average Singaporean like me, it might seem like a wild idea that there are some Singaporeans who are rich enough to throw bridal parties overseas for their entire bridal party, or to fill Chijmes with bouquets of flowers and style it with calming waters for the wedding runway.

Most rich people in Singapore are rather conservative with flaunting their wealth so the average Singaporean would hardly hear any whispers of such tales. However, it is not just a fable that Kevin Kwon created. Singapore is home to crazy rich people.

In this article, you will find some interesting snippets of the top 10 richest people in Singapore, and some clue as to how they made their fortune.

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Do you know how to efficiently allocate your monthly salary? 

This is perhaps one of the most underrated best practices to improve your personal finances. However, most Singaporeans go for years or even decades without knowing how to, causing potential financial problems along the way. 

On the surface, having money coming in every month and having expenses that do not go over it seems like a good enough “financial plan”. Unfortunately, gone are the days when simply “living below your means” is enough. 

Careful use of every dollar that comes in ensures that money will always be well-spent. 

And that’s why sticking to a budgeting rule, such as the 50/30/20 rule, is so critical.

Read on to find out why!

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Why is Singapore so expensive? In short, land is scarce, almost everything is imported, and the government deliberately makes owning a car costly. Add a 9% GST, property prices that keep climbing, and healthcare and education costs rising faster than inflation, and you get a country that regularly ranks among the priciest in the world.

But there’s a part the global rankings miss: how expensive Singapore feels depends heavily on whether you live like a local or an expat.

In this article, we’ll break down the nine real reasons behind Singapore’s high cost of living, who actually feels them, and what you can do about it.

(While the high cost of living is beyond our control, we can and should find ways to make better use of our money.)

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When planning your finances, the inflation rate matters more than almost any other number.

It tells you whether your investment strategies are outpacing rising prices, and it determines how much your retirement or your children’s university education will really cost by the time you get there.

But how much has the cost of living actually increased over the years? What is the inflation rate in Singapore right now, and what has it averaged over the long run?

Let’s start with where things stand right now, then zoom out to the long-run picture.

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Recently in Singapore, there has been growing concern about rising medical costs.

In particular, discussions surrounding various types of insurance plans, including MediShield Life and its supplement, the Integrated Shield Plan, as well as fees charged by public and private doctors, are intensifying.

While many changes have been made to curb rising healthcare costs, they currently seem to be inadequate.

More changes are expected in the future, but for now, we’ll focus on the cost of healthcare and the average (and past) medical inflation rates in Singapore.

So, read on! 

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