MR DARREN Thomson is a corporate boss in the insurance industry so it is hardly surprising that he has his retirement planning all sorted out.

Still, Mr Thomson, 44, the chief executive of Canadian insurer Manulife (Singapore), shows the way in how to cover all bases in retirement planning - even though his golden years are decades away.

The foundation of his planning lies in pensions he accrued while working in Britain and Hong Kong. You might think two pension plans would be enough, even for an industry insider.

But Mr Thomson, a Briton, is pleased to have started contributing to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) after he became a Singapore permanent resident (PR) in July. This will be the third leg in his compulsory savings retirement fund.

And there is more. To complement his pensions, he also plans to invest a six-figure sum in his company's new variable annuity plan, Secure Retirement Plus, to ensure he does not outlive his savings.

'The payouts from Secure Retirement Plus start at age 65. My British and Hong Kong pensions kick in at age 60 while the CPF payouts will start from age 65. That way, I have a staggered stream of income coming in and it is realised at different stages from different sources,' he says.

With more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, it is not surprising that his first assets were several endowment plans that he purchased when he became an adviser with an international insurer when he was 22.

He made his first foray into unit trust investing when his firm launched a retail fund. In the process, he learnt some painful lessons on the need to diversify.

Besides his pensions and an actively managed equities portfolio, Mr Thomson has also diversified into properties, owning landed properties in Hua Hin, Thailand. He has decided to retire in Asia.

'Asia is very much a home for me and I want to retire where people are friendly, the climate is warm and sunny, the food is excellent and money can go a lot further than in the United Kingdom.'

Mr Thomson came to Asia in October 2000 and joined Manulife Financial in Hong Kong in 2004. He became president and chief executive of Manulife (Singapore) in April last year.

He was instrumental in setting up Manulife Asset Management Singapore in June, which will be providing unit trusts and wealth management products to retail investors soon.

Q What are your money habits?

A I believe in achieving the right balance of saving, investing and spending.

Working hard to make my money and making my money work hard for me, I reward myself by spending it, though not excessively.

I spend money on travelling and on socialising with family and friends.

I save and invest about 20 per cent of my monthly income for future use and retirement. I also channel my year-end bonuses to long-term investments, after setting aside 12 months of emergency funds, which are placed in time deposits.

Surplus money is used for property investments.

Q What financial planning have you done for yourself?

A I invest for both the medium and long term, and adopt dollar-cost averaging as well as invest lump sums.

Besides my pensions and my CPF savings, I intend to invest a six-figure sum in a variable annuity plan, Secure Retirement Plus, which my firm just launched, to insure my longevity risk. The stream of income can fund my longest holiday - my retirement.

I started investing actively in unit trusts since coming to Asia about eight years ago. About 90 per cent of my unit trust portfolio is in Asia and the rest is in Britain and Europe.

I adopt an adventurous outlook on my equities portfolio as my retirement funds are already in safe instruments.

Besides, I have 15 to 20 years left if I wish to retire at between 60 and 65. Asia is that part of the world to ride the growth. So far, my equity portfolio has average annual returns of 30 per cent.

Q What about insurance planning?

A About 15 per cent of my income goes to pay for all the insurance plans, which include regular premium, term and whole life policies. My life is insured for eight times my annual income.

When I first started work in Britain, I bought 25-year regular premium endowment policies.

Over a five-year period, I bought five of those plans. The average returns are 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent annually and I expect a six-figure sum from them when they start to mature in 2010.

I need to re-visit my critical illness cover, as my younger brother had an unexpected heart attack this year.

The incident cemented the fact that a major illness can strike even at a younger age than you want to ever imagine and I want to protect myself adequately. My current critical illness level is at three times my annual income.

Last year, I bought a ManuFlexi investment-linked plan that is meant to provide for my son's educational needs in the future. He is four years old.

Q What's your investment philosophy?

A I believe in asset allocation and not to be too overweight in any given investment class diversification.

Some mantras I adhere to: Stay invested regardless of the market, be disciplined and rebalance your portfolio when need be.

When I was a young adviser in Britain in 1986, the insurance firm I was working for launched a British small companies unit trust. My branch manager asked me to put in as much as I could afford. In 10 months, my investment of £5,000 (S$15,300) doubled.

The following year, I invested in an international small companies fund, but I lost 60 per cent of what I invested because of the 1987 stock-market crash. Initially, I was very sad but I recouped my losses in four years.

The incident spurred me to take a greater interest in unit trusts. I took exams and became quite prolific in selling single premium unit linked insurance.

It taught me about diversification, dollar-cost averaging and staying invested as well as the risks associated with timing the market. I learnt not to be so keen to make fast returns from large investments.

Q What about property investments?

A I bought a 300-year-old, two-storey cottage sitting on 0.2ha of land in Britain in 1992 for £110,000. I sold it five years later when it was more than doubled to £240,000

I have some properties including land investments in Hua Hin, 2 1/2 hours from Bangkok.

One is a two-storey seafront villa with four-bedrooms that I use as a holiday home. I also have a landed property that is yielding a rental return of 7 per cent per annum and I'm developing another property. My brother and I also built a two-bedroom bungalow in Hua Hin for my grandmother who is 91.

I used to work in Bangkok in 2001 and visit Hua Hin on weekends. In 2005, my brother started a real estate business there.

Hua Hin is a good investment as neighbouring tourist resorts such as Pattaya and Phuket are becoming overpriced.

Q Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

A I have a younger brother and there were four of us in the family. My dad, being Scottish, was quite frugal and believed things don't come free. This meant that if I wanted a bicycle, I was expected to cut the grass or wash his car for six months to earn it.

Though money was never an issue, I started working part-time in the supermarket after school when I was 14.

My parents wanted me to learn the value of money and I needed to work hard for what I wanted.

Dad was the global head of special projects at IBM and mum was an accounts executive.

Q And your home now is...?

A I live in a rented house in East Coast. Now that I'm a permanent resident, I plan to buy a landed property in Singapore.

Q And your car is...?

A I drive a black Chrysler 300C.