SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Wednesday (Jan 15) that around 850,000 lower-income senior Singaporean citizens will be receiving between $200 and $300 in February as part of the Assurance Package Seniors’ Bonus announced during the rollout of the national Budget in 2024.
“This cash benefit will be given to seniors residing in Singapore who do not own more than one property, living in properties with Annual Value (AV) of up to $31,000, and with Assessable Income (AI) (based on Year of Assessment 2023, i.e., income earned in 2022) not exceeding $34,000,” MOF said in a press release. More information concerning seniors’ eligibility criteria may be found here.
These cash payouts will be available as early as Feb 5 through PayNow-NRIC. Seniors may also receive payouts via their accounts at DBS/POSB, OCBC, or UOB from Feb 13 onward, though they must submit their bank account information at the govbenefits website by Jan 27. More details on the different modes of receiving the payouts may be found here.
Additionally, every Singapore citizen from the age of 20 and younger, as well as those from the age of 55 and older, will receive $150 Assurance Package MediSave top-ups in their CPF accounts.
“About 2 million Singaporeans residing in Singapore will benefit from this top-up, regardless of the AV of their homes or their AI. These payments will be automatically credited to citizens’ CPF accounts from 11 February 2025,” the ministry said.
The Government announced at the Budget rollout last year that there would be a $1.9 billion enhancement to the Assurance Package. This is meant to help ease cost-of-living pressures for Singaporean households as well as provide additional support for lower to middle-income families.
Along with added support for lower-income Singaporean seniors through extra cash payouts, it also includes MediSave top-ups for Singaporeans aged 20 years and younger and 55 years and older this year.
Not only will this help with offsetting healthcare costs, it will also build up medical savings for old age.
The AP also guarantees eligible Singaporean senior citizens an AP Seniors’ Bonus totalling between $600 and $900 to be disbursed over three years. As for AP MediSave top-ups, Singaporeans who are 20 years old and younger, as well as those who are 55 years old and older, will receive a total of $450 over three years from 2023 to 2025.
Singaporeans eligible to receive these benefits will be informed via SMS after the benefits are credited next month. Those who do not have a Singpass-registered mobile number or who do not receive an SMS will be sent a letter at their address on their Singapore National Registration Identity Card (NRIC).
MediSave residents who are 16 years old and below will receive a letter to inform them that the top-up has been credited to their child’s CPF account.
“To safeguard against scams, the SMS notification sent from ‘gov.sg‘ will only inform citizens of their benefit(s). Citizens will not be asked to reply to the SMS, click any links, or provide any information to the sender.
No messages regarding the payments will be sent through WhatsApp or other mobile messaging platforms,” MOF added.
For questions regarding eligibility and other concerns, Singaporeans may check the govbenefits website (govbenefits.gov.sg) or call 1800-2222-88. /TISG
Read also: SG Budget 2024: Lawrence Wong announces S$1.9B to enhance Assurance Package