From The Newsroom Team
The CPF minimum sum has been INCREASED yet again to “adjust for
inflation”. However, for some strange reasons, the Straits Times
chose to omit the key word - “increased” in its report:
“From next month onwards, Central Provident Fund (CPF) members
will see changes made to
their Minimum Sum (MS), Medisave Minimum Sum (MMS),
and Medisave Contribution Ceiling (MCC).
Starting July 1 this year, the CPF MS will be revised from $106,000 to
$117,000. This will apply to members who turn 55
from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.” (read article here)
The minimum
sum is the amount of money needed to to be set aside in the
Retirement account of Singaporeans after they reach 55 years of age
before they can withdraw their CPF in one lump
sum.
For example, if one has $118,000 in his/her CPF ordinary
account, he/she can withdraw $1,000 in cash while leaving the
minimum sum of $117,000 in the Retirement account.
In other
words, if you do not have this amount in your CPF by the time you
are 55, you will be at the complete mercy of the CPF Board to
“dispense” your own savings to you monthly till the day you
die.
To make it
worse, if you are unable to set aside your full Minimum Sum in
cash, your property, bought with your CPF savings, will be
automatically pledged for up to half of your Minimum Sum.
(details here)
How many Singaporeans can pledge this minimum sum to their
retirement account by 55 years of age? It will be a interesting
figure for us to find out.
The figures are computed based on the cost of living in
Singapore. What if one decides to retire in China, Thailand or
Malaysia? Can the sum be adjusted so as to free out more cash for
retirees to enjoy their twilight years elsewhere?
The government
has no business or right to withhold the savings of Singaporeans
from them. These monies are not sitting idly in the CPF. Are they
used by our Sovereign Wealth Funds in overseas investments, e.g. to
bail out distressed foreign banks?
It seems like most Singaporeans will never be able to withdraw
their CPF in one full sum unless they are filthy rich or they pack
up their bags and live Singapore for good.
What do
Singaporeans want to do after they retire from active
working life, that is IF they ever retire? Do
they want to depend on a few hundred dollars from their CPF savings
to survive or do they want to make use of it to enjoy life like
travelling around the world?
We vote for a government to care for us when we grow old and
infirm, not to “help” us plan for our retirement with our own
savings. Why can’t the government do more to help those elderly
with no CPF savings to depend on when they can afford to blow away
$4.6 billion dollars in less than a year?
Do we really need to invest our reserves in such risky
investments in order to generate returns year after year? Not all
developed countries in the world have SWFs like Singapore and they
are doing as well, if not better than us.
Are Singaporeans getting short changed by the government?
Do we really want
to work forever to contribute to Singapore’s GDP growth (so as to
justify the exorbitant pay of our ministers) till the day we
collapse and die? Is this the definition and meaning of life in
Singapore?
While the CPF minimum sum keeps increasing, the salary of the
ordinary Singapore worker has stagnated. How is it possible for us
to accure that sum of money in our CPF when our salaries forever
lags behind the high cost of living which has been increasing
relentlessly?
Does the government really understand the concerns and
aspirations of Singaporeans? Perhaps we should peg their salaries
to the median salary of the Singapore worker instead of the GDP
growth before they can understand the plight of the common man in
the streets.
http://wayangparty.com/?p=9997