The majority of Singaporeans won’t even have S$60,000 in their CPF, says activist Ngerng Yi Ling

Singaporean activist Roy Ngerng Yi Ling analysed the CPF pay-outs and shared his observations via a Facebook post in his profile on Thursday (Feb 21).

He said that based on his findings Singaporeans would not even have S$60,000 in their CPF for their pay-outs.

The Taiwan-based activist and blogger took the information on CPF being released by the Government and did some computations on his own.

He started by comparing the median CPF retirement pay-outs of 2011 (S$260) and 2014 (S$394) to the ‘average’ pay-out of 2018 which was S$355 according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.

Ngerng noted that the median is lower than the average, meaning that the median of 2018 was even lower than the stated amount. “In other words, over the last five years, the retirement payouts of Singaporeans have remained stagnant, or actually even fallen,” wrote Ngerng.

However, the Government is saying that Singaporeans who have S$60,000 in their CPF at 55 years old will receive a monthly pay-out between S$540 to S$570 starting at the age of 65.

At the current average of S$355 plus the decreasing trend, the future is bleak, and Ngerng added, “this means that the majority of Singaporeans would not even have S$60,000 inside their CPF.”

Ms. Teo has also revealed during a recent Parliament meeting that 74% of Singaporeans received pay-outs of less than S$500 which further confirmed Ngerng’s computation.

“Singaporeans also pay for the most expensive public housing in the world, using their CPF funds,” added Ngerng.

He proceeded with a what-if scenario and wrote, “Based on the contribution rates, and if Singaporeans were to earn a 6% interest rate, as per the average earnings on pension funds globally, almost all Singaporeans would be millionaires by the time they retire, due to the compound interest.” If only this were the case for a majority of Singaporeans who are living on poverty retirement pay-outs.

To make things clearer, Ngerng said, “What Singaporeans do not know is that your CPF fund which is supposed to be for retirement has actually become a housing fund. And now that you know that your flat value will decline, it means you are throwing money into a depreciating asset.”

Should the CPF be returned, plus interest, Singaporeans would be able to receive sufficient pay-outs, have free healthcare and comfortably retire.

Read the full post below:

Singaporean opposition politician Lim Tean has also shared Ngerng’s post with the following caption: Brilliant Analysis By Roy Ngerng! Read this brilliant analysis by Roy Ngerng which details how Singaporeans are getting less payout from CPF today than in 2015! Anyone who tells us that the CPF is not a failed and broken system certainly does not depend on the CPF for his retirement!