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Can withdraw at least $5,000 upon reaching age of 55

Employment practices
  • Lianhe Zaobao (27 March 2013) : Can withdraw at least $5,000 upon reaching age of 55
  • Lianhe Zaobao (21 March 2013) : At a loss over withdrawal of CPF
Can withdraw at least $5,000 upon reaching age of 55
- Lianhe Zaobao, 27 March 2013
  1. We refer to Mr Li Zhixing’s forum letter published in Zaobao on 21 Mar 2013 on raising the withdrawal amount from $5,000 to $10,000 for members who do not have sufficient CPF savings to meet the CPF Minimum Sum (MS) and Medisave Minimum Sum (MMS).
  2. We would like to reassure Mr Li and all members that their CPF savings, including balances that are not withdrawn at age 55, belong to them. These savings will be streamed out in monthly instalments from his CPF when he reaches his draw-down age. Members who turn 55 from 1 Jan 2013 onwards may still withdraw $5,000 from their CPF savings even if they do not meet the CPF MS and MMS.
  3. Singaporeans are living longer, and therefore it is important that their CPF savings are adequate to last them through their retirement years. Mr Li’s suggestion to increase the withdrawal amount to more than $5,000 will mean lower CPF balances and lower monthly payouts in retirement. Lowering future payouts is not advisable as members would find it more difficult to work and earn an income after they reach 65. For those who prefer more cash today, it would be better that they continue working to earn an income rather than deplete their retirement savings. The Government provides much assistance in helping older workers remain employed.
  4. To help older workers to continue working, the Government has introduced various measures such as the re-employment legislation and the Special Employment Credit scheme. More recently, the Government has also introduced WorkPro - a programme to make workplaces more age-friendly. We hope these measures will encourage and enable older workers to work for as long as they are able to, to build up a nest egg for retirement.
  5. We thank Mr Li for his feedback.
At a loss over withdrawal of CPF
- Lianhe Zaobao, 21 March 2013

I am about 55 years old, and I am approaching the age where I will be eligible to withdraw money from my Provident Fund. Having worked most of my life for more than 30 years, I look forward to receive this hard-earned money.

After going on the internet to read the website of the Central Provident Fund Board, I found that CPF had divided each member's monies into 3 main accounts, and though I am appreciative of this, there are areas of improvement much to be desired.

When a member reaches the age of 55, CPF requires the retirement accounts to maintain $144,600, The Medisave account requires a Minimum Sum of $38,500, and should there be insufficient funds in any of the accounts, members can only receive $5,000 from the general account. Is such a provision a little too harsh? For a person of low-income, how can he achieve so many deposits?

Why do the authorities want to impose so many restrictions? Rules can be changed. As such, I look forward to CPF Board and Ministry of Manpower to review this requirement, and if its possible to increase payouts from $5,000 to $10,000? $5,000 is really too low an amount.