PRIVACY POLICY

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

CPF savings grew almost $200K in 3 years!

I don't know if you would agree with me but I think the CPF Board has improved by leaps and bounds when it comes to communicating with CPF members.

I especially like the graphics they have produced to make things easier to understand.

Important or interesting information is clear at a glance when graphics are used well.






While waiting for the updated pie chart to be ready (see past pie charts: here), I will share this bar graph:


It is so easy to see how my CPF savings grew almost $200K in 3 years from end-2014 to end-2017!

The total amount was slightly more than $600K at the end of 2014.

By the end of 2017, it was almost $800K!





The CPF is about the government helping us to help ourselves.

For most of us, this is as close to State welfare as we can ever get in Singapore.

The government offers help.

Let us not foolishly reject it.


For those of us who play the MMORPG "Neverwinter" and have explored Sharandar, this should sound familiar.

Bad AK! Bad AK!






The growth of my CPF savings is really stunning when we remind ourselves that a big chunk of that growth is made up of contributions from the government.

Interest received in 2015:
$20,106.27

Interest received in 2016:
$21,641.52


How much was the interest income for my CPF savings in 2017?







See related post:

Helping to fund my retirement.

My CPF money forms a cornerstone in my retirement funding strategy.

Risk free and volatility free, it helps to give me peace of mind.

14 comments:

  1. Hi AK,

    the 200k growth includes your own capital as well right?

    I read about your posts on CPF top ups but my concern is that it is always a shifting goalpost. The retirement sum increases by 5k a year and this year its already 171k. On top of that, the retirement age can get pushed beyond 65 in years to come. These are the concerns.

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  2. AK works harder than the CEO of CPFB. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi jj,

    Definitely, it includes my own contributions, mandatory and voluntary.

    To be clearer, I included more numbers in the blog. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Laurence,

    Please share your thoughts with CPFB. ;p

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reader says...

    My current SA grew by 222% since end 2014 and by 131% since end 2016.

    Cuz of interests, top ups and transfer from oa.

    🤑

    Thanks for speaking to yourself! Working hard towards FRS. 🙏🏼

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for insights on your blogs. I have been trying to fast track my CPF savings.
    I am a new citizen & became PR 8 years back.
    My SA will be touching 6 figures this year & i have healthy sums in MA & OA.
    I am 41 now hoping to get to >500k by the time i reach 55.
    I have been topping up my SA for last 3years but still cannot get myself to move too much of my OA to SA.

    Hoping to cast the net wide enough to catch the moving goalposts comfortably

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  7. In response to the concern of shifting of goalposts, I think this is much less of a worry once you have a substantial amount in your CPF. Think of it as your goalkeeper also grow fatter from the interest contributions earned year on year hahaha =)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Normal contribution and VC is similar like subscribing to right issue... you get enlarge base and 'min risk' of default.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi GP,

    Welcome to Singapore!

    Gambatte! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi S4ARD88,

    I so very much agree with you and this is also something I have blogged about from time to time.

    http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.sg/2015/01/a-lot-of-money-in-my-cpf-sa-is-from.html

    I have also said that the goalposts have to shift because inflation and longevity risks shift.

    As long as the changes are reasonable, I have no problem accepting them. :)

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  11. Hi RayNg,

    I think I know what you are trying to say but the analogy isn't really appropriate. :p

    ReplyDelete
  12. Simeon Kong says...
    That’s the idea! It’s trying best to keep up with inflation and avoid “reality bite“ when having not enough after retirement. The chicken rice is not going to be 3 dollars in 30 years time..... know the mechanism why it’s planned that way and get ready for retirement planning.

    Kenji Tay says...
    Actually, once yr sa hit frs.. You dun even need to worry about the goal post shifting, as the interest will cover the increment plus extras...
    Do it one time, and you dun have to worry about it for the remaining of your working years. :)

    Jane Feulvarch says...
    Yes, have been VC to SA for 2 years now. The other end of the tunnel is still far away, but thanks AK for showing me the right track :)

    Ah Hock says...
    Everyone circumstances are different. Some will love the goal post to be shifted so they can voluntarily contribute more to SA.

    ReplyDelete
  13. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/paynow-cpf-lump-sum-withdrawal-vivian-balakrishnan-10002932

    Central Provident Fund (CPF), will start using PayNow, which was launched in 2017 to allow for easy and immediate fund transfers, said Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 1).

    ... the agency will allow eligible CPF members over 55 years old to receive their lump sum withdrawal using PayNow in March this year. This, he added, will enable the funds to be transferred within the same day rather than the current turnaround time of five working days.

    CPF said the service will be available from Mar 26.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wei Yi said...
    Agree with AK on this.

    CPF is intended to help us grow our retirement nest egg.

    Increasing the minimum sum is just factoring the increase in life expectancy and cost of living going forward. The truth is in the numbers, however to some, numbers are unsexy and boring so they choose to believe in falsehoods and conspiracy theories rather than facts in the numbers.

    For example previous minimum sums were based on assumption that life expectancy will be 75-80 years.

    With the increased life expectancy, the additional years of payout needs to be financed by a higher minimum sum.




    AK said...
    I am always willing to accept changes if they are reasonable and changes to the CPF system have been reasonable and also necessary.

    People who keep complaining that the CPF system is taking away their hard earned money are myopic.

    The CPF is Singapore's own brand of welfare for our people and we really should be taking full advantage of it.

    Happy Birthday, Singapore! :D

    ReplyDelete