A CPF member has accused the CPF board of barring him from withdrawing the full amount from his Retirement Account before he hits the age of 93.
Writing to The Online Citizen, Zol claims that upon turning 65 years old this year, he was informed that he can “only receive S$482 monthly from June 2019 under the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme, and this payout would last about 28 years.”
By that time, he would be 93 years old.
Zol said that he wrote to the CPF Board to request for a 20-year payout so as to increase the amount of payout he would receive every month.
However, this request was turned down by the CPF Board.
The Board replied to Zol that doing so would “deplete your RA savings prematurely”.
This, because Zol did not have the cohort Full Retirement Sum of S$106,000 in his Retirement Account, and hence his monthly payout was pro-rated at S$482 per month across 28 years.
The Board said that interest components such as the Extra Interest and Additional Extra Interest will help “extend the duration of members’ payouts to ensure they do not outlive their retirement savings as much as possible”.
Zol is apparently furious that at the CPF Boards’ response due to the life expectancy at birth of Singaporeans.
According to the Singapore Stats Board, is on average 80.7 for men and 85.4 for women.
If they are 65 years old in 2017, they are expected to live for another 19.1 and 22.5 years respectively.
Said Zol:
“In light of my situation (ie. married with no children), it is totally illogical to suggest a payout term of 28 years. When my wife and I pass on, there is no one to receive my balance payout.”
He added:
“I am not asking the Government to feed me. Because in my case, even if I use up my CPF retirement sum by the time I am 85 years old, I still can sell my 5-room flat (if the value is not zero) to support myself without anyone’s help.”
(READ: LETTERS: Uncle Who Complained About CPF Would Receive Twice of His Retirement Sum)
