CPF minimum sum

If we allow CPF to be fully withdrawn at age 55, there is a risk that many people will take out their savings and lose it on bad investments or in setting up a business.

How can we manage this risk?

The government decided three decades ago to require people to set aside a minimum sum for their retirement. But this minimum sum has been raised to an excessive high sum.


Would it be acceptable if the minimum sum is reduced to, say $60,000? I remembered that the minimum sum was $30,000 when it started in the late 1980s.

We also have many complicated rules on the sale of a property. The proceeds have to be returned to CPF and used to set aside the minimum sum before the balance can be withdrawn.

There is no need to have this complicated rule because the CPF savings that went into the special account could not be used to buy a property. It should be sufficient to cover the minimum sum needed for retirement.

Would a reduced CPF minimum sum, to be withdrawn in installments, be a suitable compromise between the need for an income during retirement and the access to the balance of the CPF moneys at age 55?

I wonder!