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Manage your CPF for retirement income

  • Legacy
  • 3 years ago
  • Lena Soh-Ng

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CPF Made Simple
Finally, we get to enjoy the fruits of our working years.
We can do the things that we didn’t have time for such as pursuing a passion, traveling (when borders open again), learning new things or making new friends with like-minded people.
But to truly enjoy our retirement, we need to make sure that we’re financially stable.
To ensure that we’re reaping the best value from our funds, there are a few things we need to take care of. But managing your CPF accounts can be complicated!
So, we’ve made it a little easier for you by creating a simple checklist for your retirement savings.
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1. Maximise the interest earned on balances from the different CPF accounts

There are four:

Those aged 55 and above will earn 6% on the first $30,000 of combined balances (with minimum of $20,000 in the OA ). The next $30,000 of the combined balances earns 5%, At a minimum, the interest in the OA is 2.5% which is higher than putting into fixed deposit which earns only 0.6% on average. Interest rates are reviewed quarterly.
If you’re not in need of the balance in the Ordinary Account it makes sense to transfer the amount and top up your Retirement Account tp at least $60,000 due of the attractive interest rate of 4%. From there, one option is to work out the annuity that you wish to receive each year by joining the CPF Life Scheme,
2. Choose CPF LIFE plans to suit your needs 
CPF LIFE plans
CPF LIFE plans
For each year you delay your payout, the CPF LIFE payout increases by 7%.
Your CPF LIFE monthly payouts will first be paid from your CPF LIFE premium. When your CPF LIFE premium is depleted, you will continue to receive the monthly payouts from the interest that you and other CPF LIFE members have accumulated, no matter how long you live.

Learn more about the CPF LIFE Scheme.

3. Find a Scheme that Works for You

Matched Retirement Scheme
If you’ve yet to meet the current Basic Retirement Sum, you can save more with this scheme. Between 2021 and 2025, if you top up your CPF Retirement Account via the Retirement Sum Top-Up Scheme (RSTU), the government will match it dollar-for-dollar up to $600 a year. Check your eligibility here.

Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)
If you haven’t already done this, save for retirement with the SRS because all contributions are eligible for tax relief. The investment returns are accumulated tax-free (except for Singapore dividends) and only 50% of the withdrawals from the SRS are taxable at retirement. Learn more about the SRS here.

4. Top up your SA and gain tax relief
When you or your children make a cash top-up, to your RA, there’s the benefit of the annual tax relief of up to $7,000. In doing so, you’ll start to earn the higher RA interest rate.

It takes just a little bit of time to work all this out, and the staff on the CPF hotline are patient and helpful. Call 1800-2271188 from Mondays to Fridays 8.00am to 5.30pm for assistance.

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Lena Soh-Ng

Lena Soh-Ng

Having spent most of her work life in PR, Media and Communications, Lena finds that there’s indeed a circle to life as she goes in a full loop back to Media, at SilverStreak. Whether writing, social media posting or researching, there’s always something fascinating to learn…these are her special Silver moments.

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