While everyone is immersed with
the subject of the possibility of the Singapore Government getting
Singaporean Aged to get into a compulsory 'Annuity Plan' - has anyone wondered
who will be the beneficiary of such an accumulation of monies
collected into this 'Annuity
Plan' ?
During the recent Tuesday night, CNA reported that towards the
foreseeable future, if all the Aged were to gather together in one
place, it will number about five times the
present Toa Payoh population, and as well as five times the
space of the present Toa Payoh
The present Toa Payoh occupy a space of 8 sq Km with a
population of 150,000 residents.
Five times the present population and size of Toa Payoh will be 40
sq Km and 750,000 aged persons.
Can this be possible as reported by Channelnews Asia ?
The TS article mentioned that Lim Boon Heng mentioned as an
illustration that if an 'Annuity
Scheme' payout of $500 per month will allow one to have
money over a longer period of an extra 20 years, compared to a CPF
payout of $700 per month for a lesser length of time.
Did Lim Boon Heng mention the amount that the Aged will have to pay
NOW, in order for the $500 to be payable per month in the future
?
If each Aged were to pay $40,000 now into an Annuity Scheme, the
estimated future number of 750,000 potential Aged will be making a
total contribution of $30,000,000,000.
With the Financial Institutions holding this amount
before
any Singapore Aged begin to collect the first $500 - some 10 to 20
years into the future, these Financial Institutions will make more
then 5x this amount through their Fund Managers.
Are the Financial Institutions being altruistic coming into this
Annuity Scheme ?
If one is to look at the Profit and Loss of any Financial
Institutions - be it banks, insurance companies, or fund managers -
they rarely suffer any major blows to their positions unless a
Nick Leeson were to appear
and pull the rug from under the feet of the Management.
Many US Banks were severely exposed to the Latin American
financial crash during the late 1980s, with billions in debt
being written off - yet not a single major US Banks collapsed,
while many recovered from their hefty billion dollar losses and
continue to make profits.
During the last few downturns in Singapore in 1987, 1997, and 2002
- the various financial institutions continued to make profits,
when every sector of the economy were negatively affected.
If the Government is seriously concerned with the well being of the
Singapore Aged, why take the last amount of CPF monies from the
Aged ?
Why will the Government not utilise all the amount of monies that
the Singapore Government had paid out over the years into an
Annuity Scheme for the Singaporean Aged - instead of uselessly pay
out to ''buy votes''
?
If the Government continue to payout to Singaporeans as in all the
various past cash payout schemes with fancy names:- SRS (in 2001),
ERS and NSS (in 2002), CPF Top Up (2001 + 2005), GST Credits
(2006)
- all would have amounted to just as much as - if not even more
than - the $30,000,000,000 collected from the expected 750,000
Singaporean Aged.
0.5 percent taken from the Annual Billion Dollar Profits reported
by GIC and Temasek Holdings will go a long way as ANNUITY premium
for all the Singaporean Aged; while another 0.5 percent for the
premium of a Medical Insurance Plan to cover any Singaporeans
requiring medical attention.
With the current generation of Aged being late in starting their
contribution to CPF, should it not be the responsibility of the
Singapore Government to at least assist the Aged who have given the
best years to Singapore Success ?
