March 28, 2010 by admin
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Written by Our Correspondent
The PAP government has come up with a most ingenious way to stop
Singaporeans from selling their HDB flats to make a quick buck: by
tying a person’s CPF to the purchase and sale of a HDB flat.
Right now, flat sellers are able to obtain profits made from the
sale in cash so long they have repaid their CPF loans, but if the
PAP were to get their way, this may mean that all the profits must
be returned to the CPF board.
During a speech made at a forum organized by REACH, the PAP’s
“feedback” unit, Prime Minister Lee revealed that the government is
concerned that “home-owners selling HDB flats to pay off debts,
only then to ask their MP for help in getting a rental unit.”
“When we help people to own a home, it’s really for you for
life……When you’re not so old, and you’ve bought the house, and now
you see that the pot of gold is down there and you ignore the
‘please don’t break the glass sign’ and you break the glass and
take the money out straightaway, then what happens to you? Or more
importantly, your children and your dependents? Where do they
go?,” he said.
He added that’s a key reason why the government wants to
strengthen the CPF route in the buying and selling of flats
“Like what we’ve been doing with the Additional Housing
Grant – that grant we give you into your CPF, you can use it to buy
a house….If you sell the house, the money goes back into the CPF.
So if you’re buying another house, you can use that for another
house. If you’re not buying another house, the money is there for
your old age,” he was quoted as saying in Channel News
Asia.
In the past, Singaporeans are able to withdraw their CPF
savings in one lump sum when they reach the age of 55.
In 2003, the Minimum Sum scheme was introduced which stipulates
that Singaporeans must keep a minimum sum (MS) of money in
their CPF accounts. From July 1 2009, the CPF MS was revised
from $106,000 to $117,000.
Now all Singaporeans are ”automatically” included in the
CPF Life scheme if they turn 55 from 2013 and have at least
$40,000 balance in their CPF Retirement Account or their CPF
savings increase to $60,000 by the time they reach 65 years of
age.
The CPF Life is an extension of the MS scheme to provide
“lifelong” income for Singapore elderly in their retirement. It has
four different schemes which provide varying amount of monthly
payouts to Singaporeans till they reach 85 years of age.
It is not known exactly to this very day how the CPF monies of
Singaporeans are being used by the PAP.
If the PAP gets its way (which is likely to be the case) and
enforces a rule stipulating that the profits made from the sale of
HDB flats are channelled back to CPF, many Singaporeans will never
be able to see their CPF monies in the lifetime.
Related articles:
>> Singaporeans with
$60,000 in CPF account automatically included in CPF
Life
