SIX in 10 active Central Provident Fund (CPF) members now accumulate enough savings for their Basic Retirement Sum account when they turn 55. The number, first achieved in 2013, is likely to rise to seven in 10 for members turning 55 in 2020.
Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said that with higher wages and a higher labour-force participation rate, especially among older workers, CPF balances are expected to keep improving in the coming years.
He was replying to queries raised during the Committee of Supply debate on his ministry in Parliament on Monday.
Several enhancements were introduced last year to help CPF members to save more for their retirement. Examples are the higher CPF ceiling, improved ease of transfer of CPF savings to the account of one's spouse and the Enhanced Retirement Sum.
Mr Lim said that the enhanced savings are for retirement use, and that the government will not allow these savings to be used for overseas training courses, despite many calls for it.
Mr Lim noted that while CPF money can already be used to support basic tertiary education in local approved institutions, the government must also do more to safeguard CPF members' retirement adequacy - especially now that lifespans have improved.
"So we need to be careful about expanding the use of CPF for other purposes," he said.
The minister said MOM is working on improving three aspects of the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS): The first is the introduction of a self-assessment tool which members can use to determine whether CPFIS is suitable for them; the second is the lowering of the cap on sales charge to discourage financial intermediaries from proactively selling products to CPF members; the third is a review of the asset classes offered under CPFIS to gauge their suitability for growing retirement savings.
These changes will be announced later in the year. CPF members who prefer a simpler investment option can look forward to the CPF Lifetime Retirement Investment Scheme, the details of which MOM is working on, said Mr Lim.
The CPF Retirement Planning Service, which was piloted last year to help members make informed decisions about their CPF savings, will be available to all members turning age 54 this year.
At the one-on-one session, Customer Service Executives will use personalised information to help members understand what will happen to their CPF balances when they turn 55 and the options available to them.
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A Chasing Sunsets Fund – A Better Way to Plan Nice-to-Haves in Financial
Independence.
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One of the spending needs that many of you would consider as part of the
income needs for your financial independence (FI) or FIRE, is to have
enough mon...
5 weeks ago
if one does not choose either Basic or Standard and he dies before age 70, what will happen?
ReplyDeletethank you
Stay in RA and return to nominee(s)
DeleteI didn't join CPF Life
Deletetemperament,
ReplyDeleteNo contradictions - the 2 paragraphs are meant for 2 DIFFERENT group of retirees.
1) The first paragraph is for you and CW that were born BEFORE 1958.
You have the OPTION not to join CPF Life. But if you changed your mind, you and do so anytime from age 65 to 80.
2) The 2nd paragraph is for people like me who were born in or after 1958.
We HAVE TO join CPF Life at 55, but we can deicide which plan (Standard or Basic) at age 65.
We can choose to start the CPF Life payouts at age 65 or we can delay it up yo age 70. Each year we delay the payouts, the more we'll get in the monthly payouts. Age 70 is the MAX we can delay the CPF payouts to maximise our monthly payouts.
The trouble I see is most people are not used to making speculations in their lives. Now the decisions they make have to depend a lot on how honest we are with our health and family history, and how good we are forecasting our own deaths... Morbid right?
For a trader, its not a problem as everything is a bet. We are used to it ;)
For eg, whether Standard or Basic plan better, we can only know on our deathbeds.
We "win" if have chosen Standard plan and lived to 90 and beyond. Our descendants "lose" big time if have chosen Standard plan and die in our 70s.
Thanks for replying
ReplyDeleteBy 70; may be dementia liao. What is CPF arh?
ReplyDeletetemperament,
ReplyDeleteOne argument is that if CPF is a big part of our retirement plans, that means an extra $50 or $100 per month will be needed so Standard plan is the "default" as big daddy sees you as "not well off" what?
CPF is important, but we know we have done not bad in life if our CPF is less than 25% of our networth during retirement.
If CPF is 100%, then immediate needs are more paramount and where got time to think about descendants...