Sales Strategies Using Custom Inflation Rates in Goal and Scenario Planning
With the latest enhancement in the Edge Smart Advisory Platform, consultants can now assign custom inflation rates to individual goals, scenarios, and retirement planning components.
It opens up new sales conversations framed not just by product, but by needs, lifestyle shifts, and financial realities.
🎯 Why It Matters for Sales
By differentiating inflation across categories—like education, healthcare, and daily expenses—you:
Make the plan more credible and scenario-specific
Create a more urgent case for action (e.g., rising medical inflation)
Build confidence through data-backed logic, not just intuition
This allows consultants to guide clients with greater clarity, show how gaps can widen over time, and position solutions as necessary, not optional.
🔑 Common Inflation Rates You Might Use
But first, a quick recap: the higher the inflation rate applied, the larger the projected cost will grow over time. This naturally helps create a stronger sense of urgency around planning—reinforcing that these goals, scenarios, or retirement needs won’t remain at today’s prices.
Medical/Healthcare/Shield Plan: Able to apply 5%–10% (Singapore average: ~10%)
Source - Singapore premiums rise sharply as health costs bite harder | Insurance Asia
Nursing Home & Long Term Care Expenses - ^ Similar to Medical/Heathcare
Education: 2.8% (Higher for Overseas, example Australia at 6.5%)
Source - Average Education Inflation Rate in Singapore (2025) & Education Costs Pressure Australian Households As Inflation Concerns Loom – channelnews
General Retirement Expenses: 2.5%
🗣️ Sample Scripts & Talking Angles - Education Planning
Education planning continues to be one of the most frequently addressed goals in financial consultations—second only to retirement planning.
While Singapore’s education inflation has remained relatively moderate, incorporating data on overseas education inflation can add a fresh dimension to your conversation and helps illustrate the full financial spectrum and reinforces the importance of early, targeted planning.
Consultant (on the Lifestyle Planning tab, transitioning into goals planning): “By the way, are there any big life goals you're thinking of right now—like your child’s education?”
Client: “Hmm... now that you mention it, how much does education even cost these days?”
Consultant: “Great question. For local universities, the current cost is around $80,000, and for overseas studies, it’s easily $150,000 or more. If we project forward to when your child enters university—say when you’re around 53—local education costs could rise to about $135,000, and overseas options could go as high as $500,000, especially in places like Australia where education inflation averages 6.5% annually.”
Client: “Wow… that’s a lot.”
Consultant: “It is—Similar inflation concept to how we were able to enjoy chicken rice at $2.50 last time and now it's about $4 and in future $6.
Consultant (continued): “That’s why it’s important to put your money somewhere that grows faster than the education inflation rate of 2.8%—otherwise, it’s like trying to run uphill… your savings just have to work that much harder to keep up.”
Client: “Okay… so how much do I need to set aside then? And what would you recommend?”
The consultant can then proceed to use the built-in return rate calculator to estimate the monthly contribution required.
Based on the projected return and the time frame up to the goal age—for example, if the client is currently 35 and the goal is set at age 53—that would mean calculating the required monthly amount over a span of 18 years (53 minus 35).
🗣️ Sample Scripts & Talking Angles - Increasing Inflation for Retirement
One common challenge consultants face is that after selling an accumulation plan, clients may feel they’ve already “settled” their retirement needs—even if the projected payout at retirement is only around $300,000 to $400,000.
At the same time, mass media articles often throw around broad figures—like needing $1 million to retire—which can create a false sense of clarity. Clients might assume that simply hitting that number means they’re financially secure.
But in reality, retirement planning is highly personal. The amount one needs depends on their desired retirement lifestyle, target retirement age, and current age. These variables—especially when factoring in inflation—can significantly shift the actual required figure.
With 2.5% being the commonly accepted average inflation rate, consultants can illustrate retirement projections using both a 2.5% rate (to set a realistic expectation) and a 3% rate (to subtly introduce urgency).
Presenting both scenarios side by side can spark deeper conversation and highlight the importance of planning with a margin of safety.
When the financial planning conversation is already in motion, you can adjust your narrative based on what the client currently has in place.
👉 For clients with no existing retirement planning:
Consultant: “Anyway, [Client's Name], just a quick check-in on your retirement planning—right now, it looks like nothing’s been set up yet. Do you want to know what your ideal retirement amount might look like?”
👉 For clients with an existing investment plan:
Consultant: “Here’s a quick recap of your current retirement setup. You’ve got an investment policy in place, and based on projections, it should grow to about $400,000 by 65—let me show how it fits into your retirement planning.”
Consultant (next step in both cases):
“Alright, let me ask you two magic questions— First, at what age would you like to retire?
And second, how much do you want to have each month to live comfortably during retirement?”
Client: “Maybe around $3,000 a month when I’m 65?”
Consultant: Key into Planner - “Based on that, you’d need close to $2.7 million by 65 to support your ideal retirement lifestyle. That’s because the $3,000/month today—which adds up to $36,000 annually—would grow to about $77,000 a year when adjusted for inflation.”
Client (often): “Whoa… that much?”
Consultant: “Yes—and that’s assuming a conservative 2.5% inflation rate. But inflation is something we can’t control. For example, during the COVID period, it spiked to as high as 6%. Let’s see what happens if we adjust the inflation to just 3%.”
Consultant (after input): “Just that small change increases your target to nearly $3.3 million. We really are at the mercy of retirement planning! (laughs)”
Once this part of the conversation is complete, you can either begin mapping out their existing retirement plans using the Scenarios function—showing how long their current setup might sustain their desired retirement lifestyle—or, for clients who haven't started any planning yet, guide the conversation with empathy and reassurance.
Consultant: “Honestly, most people react the same way you just did—the numbers can feel overwhelming at first. But I always share that, it’s so much better to be surprised now than five years before retirement, when the time to take action is running out.
As both your friend and your advisor, I just want to help you get a head start. Anytime you’re ready or if questions come up, I’m just a message away.”
