More Singapore residents met CPF Required Retirement Sum when they turned 55 in 2024

Straits Times

a day ago

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The retirement sum is used to join CPF Life, which provides members with monthly payouts for life starting any time from age 65 to 70.
SINGAPORE – Singaporeans are putting funds aside to beef up their retirement safety nets, noted the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board's 2024 annual report.
It found that more members who turned 55 in 2024 had set aside their Required Retirement Sum than in 2023.
Meanwhile, retirement payouts crept above $4 billion in 2024, while the amount of excess savings withdrawn by those 55 and above rose but remained below the 2022 high.
There were 39,000 active members who turned 55 in 2024. Around 70 per cent of this cohort set aside the Required Retirement Sum, up from 67.6 per cent in 2023.
These members either had the Full Retirement Sum (FRS) in CPF savings, or had at least the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) and owned a property.
Mr Bryan Chan, solutions lead at advisory firm Providend, said the data is encouraging as it shows the proportion has been increasing consistently from 63.6 per cent in 2020 to 70.5 per cent in 2024.
Mr Alfred Chia, chief executive of advisory firm SingCapital, said that fewer than half of CPF members met the FRS a decade ago, so these numbers have shown a lot of improvement.
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The retirement sum is used to join CPF Life, which provides members with monthly payouts for life starting any time from age 65 to 70.
The report also noted that $4.4 billion was disbursed to CPF members as retirement payouts, up 29.4 per cent from $3.4 billion in 2023.
This worked out to a simple average of about $624 a month for each of the 588,000 members eligible for payouts, up from $552 in 2023 and $532 in 2022.
Mr Chan noted that the CPF system is designed to cater to the basic needs of households in the second expenditure quintile. This refers to the group of households with the second-lowest spending in the population.
He added that while CPF payouts provide a solid foundation for retirement, CPF savings could be supplemented with other streams of income for a complete retirement provision.
Some CPF members might have topped up only to the BRS because they owned a property, so their payouts will be lower, but they have a roof over their heads, Mr Chan said, adding that there are other forms of financial assistance for those in tougher financial positions.
Medical expenses are either subsidised or covered by schemes such as MediShield Life and MediFund. The Government has also provided help with general living expenses, such as through ComCare and CDC vouchers.
While it aims to help Singaporeans and permanent residents build up their retirement nest eggs, the CPF system is flexible enough so that those aged 55 and above can make withdrawals for immediate cash needs.
Members who have met their cohort's FRS can withdraw excess savings in their Ordinary Account (OA), while those who cannot set aside the FRS, or the BRS with a property, can still withdraw up to $5,000.
The first group can make as many withdrawals as they like so there is no need to take out all the money at one go.
There was $8.4 billion in such withdrawals in 2024, up 3.7 per cent from the $8.1 billion taken out in 2023, but below the high of $8.8 billion in 2022.
Mr Chan said such withdrawals should not pose too much concern since these members have already set aside the required amount for retirement, and especially as they remain below 2022's record level.
While the CPF is primarily for retirement, it is also designed to serve people's housing and healthcare needs.
Members used $25.8 billion from their OA for homes in 2024, up 0.8 per cent from $25.6 billion in 2023.
SingCapital's Mr Chia said CPF savings are for retirement, so members should consider using less of this money for their homes.
Interest rates have come down, and home owners can borrow at fixed rates of as low as 2.2 per cent, he noted.
A home buyer taking a housing loan at 2.2 per cent, while leaving savings in the OA to earn 2.5 per cent interest, has a 0.3 percentage point gain.
And those CPF savings compound over time, Mr Chia added, noting: 'When people draw their CPF in and out, they lose the compounding effect.'
There were 4.2 million CPF members as at Dec 31, 2024, with total balances of $609.5 billion.
They earned $22.4 billion in interest on their savings, up 6.7 per cent from $21 billion in 2023.