The Central Provident Fund (CPF) is a comprehensive social security savings plan which has provided many working Singaporeans with a sense of security and confidence in their old age.

Our CPF savings would play an important part in our overall financial plan. We need to take a more active role in managing the money in our CPF in order to ensure financial security during old age.  Whether you have enough CPF savings for retirement depends on how you manage your CPF savings now, and your desired lifestyle during retirement.

Generally, CPF savings are enough for our basic retirement needs.  If we had contributed regularly to our CPF from the time we started work, we should upon retirement have: 

• enough cash for a life annuity to provide a regular monthly retirement
• income of 20% - 40% of our last take-home pay
• reserved MediSave for healthcare needs
• fully paid for a property that commensurates with our income

If you desire to maintain a lifestyle that is close to what you were enjoying before retirement, your CPF savings may fall short of your needs. You may need to supplement your CPF with personal savings.

For more information on the CPF accounts and schemes, please visit the CPF website.   There are useful information on how to plan for your retirement, housing and healthcare needs.