CPF Withdrawal Age to be Raised? = CPF No More Monie?
-
9 Nov 05
The New Paper
by Clarence Chang
Raise CPF withdrawal age?
That's one of the issues NTUC Chief wants to raise for discussion among S'poreans.
It may sound radical, but it's an idea the labour movement feels Singaporeans should think about to stay employed longer and later.
What if you can't touch your CPF savings, built up throughout your working life, when you hit 55?
What if you need to wait until you're 60, or even 65?
Will you keep working, at lower pay and with fewer perks, to feed yourself and your loved ones?
Is that reason enough, incentive enough, to hang on to your job?
Too painful? Unpopular? Drastic? Perhaps, but still worth chewing on, union leaders feel. With a fast-ageing population and a shrinking workforce, they argue, ponder this for your own sake and the country's. Their source of inspiration - the Land of the Rising Sun.
JAPAN COPING BETTER
An equally-greying Japan, like Singapore, said NTUC Secretary-General Lim Boon Heng, has been coping "better" because they've been able to do three things.
First, make it compulsory for employers to re-hire workers aged above 60 - although "not necessarily in the same job or at the same pay".
Second, once an elderly worker reaches a certain age, allow his employer to take away specific allowances or job perks to cut the cost of keeping him on the payroll.
Third, and maybe the most eyebrow-raising of all, raise the age at which workers can draw on their pensions (or in Singaporeans' case, their CPF) - so they'll have little choice but to continue working to support themselves.
In Singapore, the current CPF withdrawal age is 55, which means you can start taking out your money on your 55th birthday, to invest or to live on.
In Japan, this age has gone up from 60 to 63, and soon it will be 65. "We should be studying what the Japanese are doing and adapt what we think suits our needs." Mr Lim told reporters after meeting some 900 unionists over two days.
"I get the sense from the delegates at this conference that they want to see some concrete targets set for the nation." As it stands, he added, the labour movement is just "surfacing this for discussion". The current reality, for sure, isn't encouraging. Only half of all Singapore workers aged 55 to 59 are now employed. When they reach 60 to 64 years old, only one-third are still working.
So as we grow older, we also grow more sedate - which means more retirees, a smaller workforce and a strained economy. (Japan, on the other hand, boasts a 72 per cent employment rate for workers aged 50 to 64.)
Government and union leaders have long decried what they consider the premature retirement of local workers - especially those who call it a day even before hitting the "official retirement age" of 62, just to live off their CPF savings.
IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
That's why Mr Lim Swee Say, the man set to succeed to Mr Lim Boon Heng as labour chief "sometime next year", says getting jobs for 50- and 60-year-olds and keeping them there must be the NTUC's immediate priorities. "Non of this will be easy," he admitted.
"We cannot expect an overnight change. There's no such thing as a big bang approach." Yet perservere we must, he added, calling on employers and the Government to be "willing partners" and "early adopters".
The New Paper understands that Minister of State for Manpower Gan Kim Yong who also chairs the Tripartite Committee on Older Workers, will lead a delegation to Japan for three days next week for more in-depth study of the Japanese system.
This bright spark, in fact, was first lit when Mr Lim Swee Say himself paid a five-day visit to Tokyo last month. That was when the minister saw up close how Japanese powerhouses like Canon and Toyota turned their ageing workers into business success stories through wage reform, without eroding profits.
To put it simply: However old they are, keep them, train them, pay them based on performance, nd watch their productivity and the company's bottomline grow.
But will workers here bite, especially since anecdoctally, many nearing 55 often can't wait to get their hands on a lifetime of CPF dough? Perhaps surprisingly, one 50-year-old says: Go for it. Mr Michael Koh, hwo runs a cleaning company, told The New Paper: "Right now, my CPF account generates more interest than what I can get from a bank anyway. And with the Minimum Sum, it's not as if I can just withdraw it all and invest in property." For him, waiting not five, but perhaps another 10 years, isn't as scary as it sounds. Mr Koh's plan? Keep earning a monthly pay, rely on personal savings, and if desperate, cash out on insurance policies.
[email protected] -
With all the boasts that our national reserves are more than adequate, you really wonder what the ultimate aim of throwing the suggestion of raising age limits for CPF withdrawals really is.
In the case of the integrated resort, they lobbied about the idea for a while, responded to feedback and concerns from the public, and ultimately proceeded with the idea. They were simply getting us used to the notion earlier so it wouldn't be a cruel shock for locals.
Yesterday, the govt announced that they will continue to broaden the sale and lease of state-owned land to potential developers.
Another sign of bad times? -
dont compare pension to cpf.
-
The government just wants to hang on to your cpf monies for a longer period of time so that they can earn more interest from it. And they might be hoping that there will be a significant number that will die without any family/dependents and did not nominate anyone so that they can keep the money permanently.
-
sound very nice hor???? just one very diff point here..... do u know how much japan are protecting their job for their own people?? it's very very hard to get a work permit there...... in sg...u go ask how many % of the uncle and auntie that is unemployed.... ask them why they not working lor... they will tell u they CANT find a job...even a cleaner job is not easy to here for OLD ppl nowadays....
-
Aiya.. dumb!
OI!!! Raise it to 100 years old lah!!!!
KNN!! -
knn. they will do anything and everything to hold back our cpf money. invest, invest and invest. make so much money for what? only they know.
it seems that MIW's main worry is about having to pay for its citizens. -
Wah....great idea!
Raise CPF age..make us work until we die. Don't have to worry that old Singaporeans don't have enough money in CPF for retirement. In the meantime, got more money for Temasek Holdings to invest. What's the next step?
Make Singaporeans work longer and hope they die quicker when they can no longer work... -
FCUK LAH!
100 year old!!! GO AHEAD!!!!!
Then no need to TKSS anymore!!!!!! -
I have to repeat again.
This raising of CPF withdrawal age and encouraging seniors to work till their death is a fucking great policy!
Look at China. Do you know why it is always behind singapore? Because its seniors retire at 50 years old with pension paid till their death. Their seniors can only do tai ji qi gong in the morning and perhaps take care of their 1 single grandchildren in the afternoon. How entertaining can that be compared to the mind-stimulating acts of working? -
Let's not get confused between one meaning over an implied meaning.
Raising CPF withdrawal age does not = Singaporeans have to work till they are older.
That is speculation.
What we can be sure, is that our govt probably needs more reserves.
One can do well and still retire on fixed deposits and various investments while waiting for the age limit for CPF withdrawal to arrive. -
Cindyfeh......
WHO THE HELL IN SINGAPORE HIRES OLD MEN AND WOMEN!!!!!!!!!
Wait till you grow old and cannot find work then come here and KPKB.
Or, just SIS. -
how many falls into this category?Originally posted by BillyBong:Let's not get confused between one meaning over an implied meaning.
Raising CPF withdrawal age does not = Singaporeans have to work till they are older.
That is speculation.
What we can be sure, is that our govt probably needs more reserves.
One can do well and still retire on fixed deposits and various investments while waiting for the age limit for CPF withdrawal to arrive.
and do you expect our economy for the next 20 years to be positive? -
ciindyfeh is just being sarcastic.Originally posted by ShutterBug:Cindyfeh......
WHO THE HELL IN SINGAPORE HIRES OLD MEN AND WOMEN!!!!!!!!!
Wait till you grow old and cannot find work then come here and KPKB.
Or, just SIS.
-
This may sound like a sweeping statement but money is everywhere...you just have to know the the means to obtain it. It can come in the form of equities, long-term bonds, insurance policies (somewhat dubious i admit) or personal property investments.Originally posted by dragg:how many falls into this category?
and do you expect our economy for the next 20 years to be positive?
Even if an economy is in a slump, there are always avenues to earn money. -
i agree but how many knows it and can afford to invest.Originally posted by BillyBong:This may sound like a sweeping statement but money is everywhere...you just have to know the the means to obtain it. It can come in the form of equities, long-term bonds, insurance policies (somewhat dubious i admit) or personal property investments.
Even if an economy is in a slump, there are always avenues to earn money.
if it is as simple and as straightforward as it is, singaporeans wouldnt have lost so much in cpf investments. -
They better not raise withdrawal age.
We will be too old to enjoy our hardearned money.
Also don't think we can live so long cos it is so common to get cancer now.
At 55, we are old enough to know how to manage our own money! -
enjoy?
the money is meant for sustaining your life, not to enjoy. -
Come on people, the cpf is not meant for us to use or enjoy. It's a gimmick for a cheap loan used for investment into Suzhou and other gahment investments.
It's to ensure that the citizens don't owe the gahment $$ for housing. It's to make sure you are not a burden to the gahment when u get old. It's to ensure that the ppl who manage it have enough for their pay.
Where is our cpf? It's paper mani only. -
x2Originally posted by Archirodon:Come on people, the cpf is not meant for us to use or enjoy. It's a gimmick for a cheap loan used for investment into Suzhou and other gahment investments.
It's to ensure that the citizens don't owe the gahment $$ for housing. It's to make sure you are not a burden to the gahment when u get old. It's to ensure that the ppl who manage it have enough for their pay.
Where is our cpf? It's paper mani only, u can't see or use it at all. -
hannor hannor money is everywhere lah... got see those old uncle and auntie know where to look for it what.. that is why they look into the rubbish bin for cans lor...i even know of one smarter one... she just look for money at bus stop... those that ppl drop on the floor one....Originally posted by BillyBong:This may sound like a sweeping statement but money is everywhere...you just have to know the the means to obtain it. It can come in the form of equities, long-term bonds, insurance policies (somewhat dubious i admit) or personal property investments.
Even if an economy is in a slump, there are always avenues to earn money.
so ya lor..sweeping statement ar... money is everywhere hor.. 
-
money is really everywhere.... but everywhere it is beyond our reach.Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):hannor hannor money is everywhere lah... got see those old uncle and auntie know where to look for it what.. that is why they look into the rubbish bin for cans lor...i even know of one smarter one... she just look for money at bus stop... those that ppl drop on the floor one....
so ya lor..sweeping statement ar... money is everywhere hor.. -
oh no! looks like they're going to raise the CPF withdrawal age to force us to keep working until ...... (hope not until we drop dead!)Originally posted by Peppermint:9 Nov 05
The New Paper
by Clarence Chang
Raise CPF withdrawal age?
That's one of the issues NTUC Chief wants to raise for discussion among S'poreans.
................
Third, and maybe the most eyebrow-raising of all, raise the age at which workers can draw on their pensions (or in Singaporeans' case, their CPF) - so they'll have little choice but to continue working to support themselves.
anyway, can they find jobs for those senior citizens? they can't even find jobs for our graduates! -
if and when they raised the withdrawal age, lets organize the SGforum annual BBQ *outside/inside CPF building.
*delete where applicable -
You mean like selling your backside in Rochore Road?Originally posted by BillyBong:Even if an economy is in a slump, there are always avenues to earn money.