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Written Answer by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on Drawdown on CPF Monies for Those Not Re-employed at 62 Years Old

Notice Paper No. 261 Of 2014 For The Sitting On 08 Oct 2014 Question No. 237 For Written Answer

MP: Mr K Karthikeyan

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider allowing those whose employment are not extended beyond the age of 62 years to draw down their CPF monies till they find a job or reach 65 years old when they will then receive the Minimum Sum pay-out regularly.

Answer

  1. The current CPF draw-down age is 63 and it will rise to 65 by 20181. This is necessary to ensure that Singaporeans, who are living longer, are able to set aside enough in retirement savings to meet their needs in old age.
  2. The Government works closely with tripartite partners to enhance employment opportunities for older Singaporeans so that they can continue to work, earn an income, and save more for their retirement. We introduced re-employment legislation in 2012 to require employers to offer re-employment to eligible employees from age 62 to 65. We are seeing good results. Almost all (or 99%) of private sector local employees who turned 62 in the year ending June 2013 were offered re-employment. Of those, almost all (or 98%2) accepted the offer. For older Singaporeans who need assistance with finding a job, we have in place various schemes, subsidies and job assistance programmes, such as WorkPro, that are focused on helping them find good and meaningful jobs.
  3. We note however, that there may be some Singaporeans who are unable to work because of medical reasons and hence may need to draw on their retirement savings early. In such cases there are already mechanisms in place for them to apply for early withdrawal of their CPF savings on medical grounds.
  4. There are also various government assistance schemes to help unemployed and needy Singaporeans tide over difficult periods as well as to regain their financial independence. These include the ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance, which provides a combination of employment assistance, cash allowance, rental, utilities, as well as referrals to other agencies for further assistance, depending on the families’ needs.
1 The current CPF draw-down age of 63 applies to cohorts born in 1950 and 1951. This is increased to 64 for those born in 1952 and 1953, and 65 for those born from 1954 onwards.
2 Based on retiring employees who were offered re-employment.