Q: It’s nearly the end of the year. If I haven’t done
anything on the Central Provident Fund or Supplementary Retirement
Scheme (SRS) front, are there any tips on what I should do?
Central Provident Fund is a key area of your finances that should not
be neglected. Topping up the various accounts will boost your
retirement funds and give you some tax relief. CPF is an effective
instrument to reap the benefits of compounding over the long run, says
DBS Bank head of financial planning literacy Lorna Tan.
Interest rates on the various CPF accounts have not changed, even though interest rates in general have been rising.
The CPF Board said last week that “the Government is watching the
interest rate environment closely to ensure that the CPF interest rate
pegs remain relevant in the prevailing operating environment while
taking into consideration the longer-term outlook”.
Tip 1: Top up your CPF accounts
Below 55 years of age: top up CPF Special Account (SA)
Top up your retirement funds by contributing to the SA. The limit is
the current Full Retirement Sum (FRS) less the sum of SA and the amount
withdrawn from SA for investment.
Assume you have $80,000 in the SA comprising $40,000 cash and $40,000
in unit trusts. As the FRS is $192,000 this year, this means that you
can top up your SA by $112,000 ($192,000 minus $80,000).
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Above 55 years of age and topping up of Retirement Account (RA)
Your RA is created when you hit 55. The top-up limit is the Enhanced Retirement Sum ($288,000 this year) less RA savings.
As an illustration, under the CPF Life Standard Plan, if you have the
Full Retirement Sum of $192,000 in your RA by 55, you will be able to
receive a monthly payout of between $1,470 and $1,570 from 65.
If you top up your RA to the current maximum of $288,000, you could
get the higher monthly payouts of an estimated $2,140 to $2,300 via CPF
Life when you reach 65.
Topping up of MediSave Account (MA)
You can top up your MA up to the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS), which is
$66,000 this year. CPF has just announced that the BHS will be $68,500
next year.
Tip 2: Enjoy tax relief on your topping-up sums
Topping-up your own CPF accounts
You get to enjoy tax relief of up to $8,000 (previously $7,000) per calendar year when you top up your SA, RA and/or MA.
Do note that there is no tax relief when you top-up your RA beyond
the Full Retirement Sum, said PhillipCapital financial services manager
Elijah Lee.
Topping-up of loved ones’ CPF accounts
There is an additional tax relief of up to $8,000 (previously $7,000)
when you top up your loved ones’ SA, RA and/or MA. Loved ones could be
parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, spouse and
siblings.
However, for a spouse or sibling, you will be eligible for the tax
relief only if his/her income in the previous year does not exceed
$4,000 or if the recipient is handicapped.
Tip 3: Timing of top-up
DBS’ Ms Tan suggests performing the top-ups at the start of the year to earn more interest.
As CPF interest is computed monthly, topping up your CPF accounts in
January rather than December could earn 20 per cent more interest over
10 years.
PhillipCapital’s Mr Lee noted that those whose income is variable may
wish to do a one-time top-up closer to the end of the year when they
have a better picture of their overall income for the year.