2.5% is not enough compare to inflation rate. I'm not debating
that CPF is no good. It has its merits as a force savings for
retirement but do you understand why in the first place? That is
because the government don't give a damn about you when you're old.
It expects you to fend for yourself. That's why they force you to
save. But in doing so, they deplete the funds that you could have
otherwise use to make more money for retirements.
No everyone knows how to invest wisely and most are fools who loose
their money. However, the government should take into consideration
giving the people an option of how they should spend their money
since in the end, they don't care whether you have enough money or
not - you're on your own. Haven't you heard of Singaporeans who had
to declare bankrupt even though they have hundreds of thousands of
dollars in CPF? This is ridiculous. They person is dying and we are
insisting that they save for retirement??
And on France, you're friend is complaining because he/she pays a
heavy tax. I pay a heavy tax too but compared to the French
(although I had snobs), I must say they have a very good system for
the aged. Do you know that they only have to pay tax for the first
14 years of their working life? After that, their welfare is fully
taken care by the government and I mean FULLY (not Subsidize). Let
our government top this if they can.
Now take a moment to imagine this. You retire and gives up your
citizenship, you get maybe half a million SG dollars and you go to
Thailand and retire in a beach side house. You're half a million is
multiplied 23 times and you're house is now a 15000 sqft landed
that cost about $150k SG. That leaves you with about 8 million
thailand bhat. Another choose to remain in Singapore, he gets $450
a month until he dies, lives in a 3 room HDB and struggles to make
ends meet.
Do you still rest your case??
