CPF Didn't Worked, will Compulsory Annuity Work?
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S'pore's retirement puzzle
By Elysa Chen
August 24, 2007
SINGAPOREANS don't think they'll have enough retirement money. Yet they want their retirement money sooner, despite knowing that they do not have enough to last till they die.
Another puzzle: They want to retire earlier, but won't mind if the retirement age was raised.
In an AXA Wealth Management survey of 11 developed nations, barely more than half of the 600 Singaporeans surveyed (52 per cent) felt that their retirement incomes were sufficient.
Yet Singaporeans want to retire early.
In the same survey, Singaporeans were ranked third for wanting to retire at 54 - one of the lowest ideal retirement ages among respondents from the 11 countries.
Most were in favour of raising the retirement age. Only 23 per cent of those still working and 13 per cent of retirees were against delaying the retirement age.
This is in sync with the findings of an earlier survey by The Straits Times which revealed that two-thirds of those polled wanted to work beyond the retirement age of 62.
The AXA survey also found that, among the 11 countries, Singapore has the greatest percentage of people planning to work in retirement. Is CPF retirement money then seen as pot of gold to reward themselves rather than a safety net?
Four out of five people polled in a recent Straits Times survey opposed delaying the draw-down age for the Minimum Sum.
Do Singaporeans feel so secure about their retirement finances that they have no qualms about early withdrawal of their CPF?
The AXA survey also showed that 6 out of 10 do not know where their retirement income will come from. If all of the above doesn't add up, does it mean that Singaporeans need help in doing their retirement sums?
These are some findings from the surveys:
WHO SHOULD LOOK AFTER YOUR RETIREMENT?
Myself. Singaporeans ranked first among developed countries with more than 90 per cent agreeing that individuals should provide for their own retirement income.
DID YOU RETIRE EARLY?
Yes. Nearly three quarters of Singaporean retirees retired before the normal retirement age of 62.
DO YOU PLAN TO WORK AFTER RETIREMENT?
Yes. Seven in 10 of those working plan to continue working after retirement. Over a third of retirees are working.
ARE YOU POSITIVE ABOUT RETIREMENT?
Yes. Singaporeans ranked third for the highest proportion of people positive about retirement.
WHEN DID YOU START PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT?
Working people begin preparing for retirement at 33, while those already retired started at 43.
DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR RETIREMENT?
No. Seven in 10 of those polled by The Straits Times did not think their CPF savings could see them through old age.
AXA survey: Polled 306 working people aged 25 and above and 305 retired people under 75 in Singapore. Other countries surveyed: Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, China, America, Canada, UK, Spain, Germany and France. -
If CPF did not worked, super annuity is just passing the buck back to the Citizens to cut a bad deal with the insurance companies holding all the Ace Cards up their sleeves.
The CPF has been soaked dry by the artificially inflated price of public housing and health care services provided by the Government, and whatever balance left in the CPF is now to be made available for the use of Insurance Companies in exchange for longer term handouts by instalments through the remaining years of our lives.
Singaporeans are seen as the golden cow to be constantly milked at every stage of our lives.
For the annuity to work, it should have been started way back in 1954 when the CPF scheme - created by the Colonial Government - was being debated in Singapore as we were allowed Self-Government; and a choice was being decided between continuing with the CPF scheme or a National Insurance Scheme.
The Singapore Government needed cash after the State Treasury was emptied by the useless Lim Yew Hock Government, and the continuation of the CPF scheme made a huge monthly collected sum available to the Government.
For 50 over years, the Government became heavily addicted to the huge sum of easily collected and cheap CPF money, which supported all kinds of infrastructural developments.
Paying back the monies to the CPF account holders was easy for the Government, as it simply charges more for the use of all the government provided services and facilities. Public housing is a prime example.
This resulted in the Government with a bloated bank account, as the Citizens' CPF account is slowly being depleted. -
they cannot and shouldnt make annuity compulsory.
who are they to tell us how we should spend our cpf?
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ur siggy says...Originally posted by dragg:they cannot and shouldnt make annuity compulsory.
who are they to tell us how we should spend our cpf?
hope for the best, prepare for the worst.....best advice now
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A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush ma..... very simple principle.....
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I think the lower income group needs further consideration.
It is a good thing that retirement age is raised, as it provides our older generation with an OPTION to carry on working.
When you think about it, everybody hopes to retire early. Who wants to keep slogging your whole life? But its the lower income groups, who have never earned enough before they reach retirement, that might suffer more. They probably wont' exercise the option of retiring early when they realise their CPF isn't enough.
What happens to these old folks when the money runs out?
Sad to say, I've seen many old men and ladies between 70 and 80s on the streets at 2am in the morning, cutting cardboard boxes at the sidewalks. Otherwise, they'd be selling tissue paper at coffeeshops.
Is it time for the government to consider providing some kind of social security for the aged? -
CPF which was previously planned as a proposed solution to retirement, I deem not true today.... It's more like a danggling carrot which is forever hanging there just for display nowadays... The truth is nobody wants Singaporean to aim for early retirement.... Can you imagine what that would be to an aged country? Who would be driving the economy....
So the bottomline is, by hook or by crook... The rules of the play field would be amended over and over again... To suit this plan and make sure too many people don't reach where they suppose they'll be heading...
Never mind if the plans and policies don't work.. They'll be changed and revised over and over again anyway... So that you'll feel less of the cut and pain each time they do so... So that each time things happen, you'll just 'wait and see' because it's just 'minor changes' each time.... Till you eventually 'fall sick' and would be too weak in your pockets to even dream of leaving this country when the time comes....
By the way... In regards to the CLAIM that people would live up to a longer age in the future... I would personally say we'll be expecting more diseases to come in the future.... Longer life span? Yes... Probably if you're paying as much to keep yourself alive.... Till then, even your CPF might not help you much.... Be prepared to go pick the paper cardboards.... -
The CPF is a financial instituition. Everyone who works or has worked, has an account there. Many people got more money in CPF then in their private bank accounts!
Whether the govt used it or not is another issue. But that was indeed prudent. How do you fund all the developments? Building roads, HDB flats, schools, hospitals, ports, armed forces, etc.? The alternative is to borrow! But who would lend you money when you have no mountain, no Hilton, no oil and no water? All we had then were communists and samsengs. Using your own savings means you don't have loan-sharks to paint your front doors for free.
So what makes you think CPF didn't worked? And will compulsory annuity work? It will but the scheme needs to be modified. In fact, there is no need to get private insurers involved. Like I said before, the CPF itself is a financial instituition, much like a bank. The time has come for CPF to transform into an animal like Temasek Holdings or GIC. Instead of being a custodian, it should employ the world's best fund managers to invest in high-yield return for the benfits of CPF members. Also, CPF itself can be insurer offering annuities, not necessarily private insurance companies. But there are good reasons for private insurance companies to be involved. You see there is danger to put all monies in one biscuit tin!
For this to happen, CPF has to transform and maybe even split up. -
the annuity thingy lor.......make the young pay for the old now lor.Originally posted by Shotgun:I think the lower income group needs further consideration.
It is a good thing that retirement age is raised, as it provides our older generation with an OPTION to carry on working.
When you think about it, everybody hopes to retire early. Who wants to keep slogging your whole life? But its the lower income groups, who have never earned enough before they reach retirement, that might suffer more. They probably wont' exercise the option of retiring early when they realise their CPF isn't enough.
What happens to these old folks when the money runs out?
Sad to say, I've seen many old men and ladies between 70 and 80s on the streets at 2am in the morning, cutting cardboard boxes at the sidewalks. Otherwise, they'd be selling tissue paper at coffeeshops.
Is it time for the government to consider providing some kind of social security for the aged? -
might as well make singapore a total communist country.
You all work, dont get salary, govt keep them all for you. -
40 years of experience gives me a strange gut feeling that somehow the Majority would accept this implementation.Originally posted by dragg:they cannot and shouldnt make annuity compulsory.
who are they to tell us how we should spend our cpf?
Which policy was not implemented because of the majority oppose to it?
they say singapore, so efficient!
thanks to the most cooperative citizens in the entire whole wide world , past present future! your decisions affected the entire nation. thanks lor. -
I watch the report they planning to reward local who planned to delay withdraw their CPF to a later stage though.
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they will reward you but at the rate the govt is pissing ppl off, most still wouldnt live to see the money...
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Sad to say, I've seen many old men and ladies between 70 and 80s on the streets at 2am in the morning, cutting cardboard boxes at the sidewalks. Otherwise, they'd be selling tissue paper at coffeeshops.
yeah especially in the chinatown area and goodison area.
if we continue to let this govt dictatehwo we should spent our money, it wont be long before more ppl will be seen picking cardboxes and selling tissue papers.
singaporean like myself are really the stupidest ppl in among the developed world with no brains and guts to oppose the govt proposal. -
I watch the report they planning to reward local who planned to delay withdraw their CPF to a later stage though.
sound fishy? what does it meant for the lower income class ppl?
why do our govt always put 5 cents in your left pocket only to take 7 cents from your right pocket.it always puzzle me why so many lower income class ppl still support the PAP. -
It's not that Singaporean accept it, but there's nothing that can be done except to vent our frustration in forum or in coffeeshop. Anyway, our frustration will eventually be dismissed as whining by our highly paid ministers!Originally posted by LimSianTong:40 years of experience gives me a strange gut feeling that somehow the Majority would accept this implementation.
Which policy was not implemented because of the majority oppose to it?
they say singapore, so efficient!
thanks to the most cooperative citizens in the entire whole wide world , past present future! your decisions affected the entire nation. thanks lor.
Like it or not, even if the majority opposed to the policies, I will not be surprised if the gov just go ahead to implement it and ST citing overwhelming support by the Singaporean! -
http://www.petitiononline.com/annuity/petition.html
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better save your energy for something else... petition is the last effective thing in this world that will get our "dearest" ministers' notice... its sad but that's the hard truthOriginally posted by Doddy:http://www.petitiononline.com/annuity/petition.html -
Not trying is worse than attempting but failed. NATO is our worst enemy.Originally posted by Kouyou:better save your energy for something else... petition is the last effective thing in this world that will get our "dearest" ministers' notice... its sad but that's the hard truth
With full respect, I do not support your thinking for reason I mentioned above.
There was this country, where no one dare show any disapproval. In the end, no one ever showed disapproval. Rome was never built in a day.
Or I put it this way. A person keeps discouraging you not to dream of success as it is near impossible. He keeps saying all these negativities over and over whenever another guy tells him he has an idea to succeed. By listening to the negative sayer, indeed, he NEVER ever SUCCEEDED not that he ever FAILED but because he never ATTEMPTED.
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sorry maybe i expressed myself wrongly... i'm trying to say instead of wasting time on the petition which nobody batter a eyelid on, isn't looking for a better way to get attention will be better? sorry for any misunderstanding
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Don't waste ur effort.. Do you think that a self proclaim democratic nation ruled by **&^%#@ leaders wiull ever listen.
Then the nation will not be as efficient as it is today
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Next they will tell you that living older means you will need more money for healthcare, that's why they need to increase employee's medisave contributions.
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It look like 150000 local in other countries are probably going to give up their citizenship to get the full withdrawal of their CPF already.
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Hey man i am already considering that options .....Originally posted by will4:It look like 150000 local in other countries are probably going to give up their citizenship to get the full withdrawal of their CPF already. -
I believe many more are considering giving up their citizenship already in order to their CPF. The money in the CPF can buy a bungalow in Malaysia.Originally posted by justcooler:Hey man i am already considering that options .....