CPF minimum is unfair and ridiculous

From: "truth"
Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:32:48 GMT
Local: Mon, Jun 1 2009 5:32 pm
Subject: CPF minimum is unfair and ridiculous

truth comment : no other country in the world forceably keep
a chunk of their citizen's saving except singapore. how on earth
singaporeans can tolerate such massive abuse by the pap leegime
is beyond me. if the pap leegime is afraid to take on the
responsibility of looking after its' old citizen, then it should give
up power and allow others who are more willing to look after
singaporeans take over.

INCREASE in CPF minimum sum: when will Singaporeans ever see their
hard-earned savings?
June 1, 2009 by admin

The CPF minimum sum has been INCREASED yet again to "adjust for inflation".
However, for some strange reasons, the Straits Times chose to omit the key
word - "increased" in its report:

"From next month onwards, Central Provident Fund (CPF) members will see
changes made to their Minimum Sum (MS), Medisave Minimum Sum (MMS), and
Medisave Contribution Ceiling (MCC).

Starting July 1 this year, the CPF MS will be revised from $106,000 to
$117,000. This will apply to members who turn 55 from July 1, 2009 to June
30, 2010." (read article here)

The minimum sum is the amount of money needed to to be set aside in the
Retirement account of Singaporeans after they reach 55 years of age before
they can withdraw their CPF in one lump sum.

For example, if one has $118,000 in his/her CPF ordinary account, he/she can
withdraw $1,000 in cash while leaving the minimum sum of $117,000 in the
Retirement account.

In other words, if you do not have this amount in your CPF by the time you
are 55, you will be at the complete mercy of the CPF Board to "dispense"
your own savings to you monthly till the day you die.

To make it worse, if you are unable to set aside your full Minimum Sum in
cash, your property, bought with your CPF savings, will be automatically
pledged for up to half of your Minimum Sum. (details here)

How many Singaporeans can pledge this minimum sum to their retirement
account by 55 years of age? It will be a interesting figure for us to find
out.

The figures are computed based on the cost of living in Singapore. What if
one decides to retire in China, Thailand or Malaysia? Can the sum be
adjusted so as to free out more cash for retirees to enjoy their twilight
years elsewhere?

The government has no business or right to withhold the savings of
Singaporeans from them. These monies are not sitting idly in the CPF. Are
they used by our Sovereign Wealth Funds in overseas investments, e.g. to
bail out distressed foreign banks?

It seems like most Singaporeans will never be able to withdraw their CPF in
one full sum unless they are filthy rich or they pack up their bags and live
Singapore for good.

What do Singaporeans want to do after they retire from active working life,
that is IF they ever retire? Do they want to depend on a few hundred dollars
from their CPF savings to survive or do they want to make use of it to enjoy
life like travelling around the world?

We vote for a government to care for us when we grow old and infirm, not to
"help" us plan for our retirement with our own savings. Why can't the
government do more to help those elderly with no CPF savings to depend on
when they can afford to blow away $4.6 billion dollars in less than a year?

Do we really need to invest our reserves in such risky investments in order
to generate returns year after year? Not all developed countries in the
world have SWFs like Singapore and they are doing as well, if not better
than us.

Are Singaporeans getting short changed by the government? Do we really want
to work forever to contribute to Singapore's GDP growth (so as to justify
the exorbitant pay of our ministers) till the day we collapse and die? Is
this the definition and meaning of life in Singapore?

While the CPF minimum sum keeps increasing, the salary of the ordinary
Singapore worker has stagnated. How is it possible for us to accure that sum
of money in our CPF when our salaries forever lags behind the high cost of
living which has been increasing relentlessly?

Does the government really understand the concerns and aspirations of
Singaporeans? Perhaps we should peg their salaries to the median salary of
the Singapore worker instead of the GDP growth before they can understand
the plight of the common man in the streets.