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Reader says...
Thanks for sharing your CPF details but those are for 2017.
I looked for your 2018 numbers but without success.
Could you show me the link?
I am a new believer and it is all thanks to your blog!
AK says...
I thought I shared but I can't find the blog.
Aiyoh, if AK cannot navigate ASSI, no one can. :p
So, here are the numbers:
If you are comparing the numbers with those from 2017 (here), please note that I did a voluntary contribution in January 2018, maxing the annual CPF contribution limit.
This is why the OA has crossed the half million dollars mark.
I intend to continue making voluntary contributions yearly till I turn 55 as I build a bigger position in dollar terms in an investment grade sovereign bond, our country's very own.
I will have the option to withdraw some, most or all of the money in my OA when I turn 55 since my SA has already exceeded the prevailing Full Retirement Sum (FRS).
And I expect the SA to exceed the FRS year after year if the SA continues to earn a minimum interest of 4% a year while the FRS grows at 3% a year.
In such a case, although I probably won't do it, I would also have the option of withdrawing money from the SA when I turn 55.
Of course, when I turn 55, there will be a newly created RA where the FRS will be housed and CPF Life will start paying me a monthly income for life when I turn 65.
CPF Life will automatically start paying out when we reach age 70 if we do not wish for payouts to start earlier.
Here are the links to the two other blogs on my CPF in 2018 which I could find:
1. CPF savings grew almost $200K!
2. CPF interest earned (end 2017).
If AK can do it, so can you!
Bloggy Award
26 comments:
Hi AK Gor Gor
I am grateful to be able to read your post about cpf and your way of doing have certainly inspire me. I don't want to be 班门弄斧, but I am proud to say that I have also accumulated a substantial amount of OA and SA in my cpf. I am currently 28 and my BTO with my fiance will only be readied by 2020.
Just want to ask, I have read somewhere in your post(or someone else posted in your blog) that you intend to pay off HDB with cash instead of CPF. I am a strong believer like you as I don't want to incur any interest own to CPF. However, my fiance strongly objected to the idea of me paying off with cash and insist that we use CPF since "it's money that we don't see now.."
Now the question is, will it be possible to make arrangement such that one partner pay using CPF and the other use cash? how will the interest be incurred?
Hi Unknown,
Gong xi gong xi on your CPF savings!
Alamak. Sounds like you have a domestic disagreement. I scared.
However, I am going to stick my neck out and say you should talk to you wife to be again.
It simply does not make sense to pay the home loan with your CPF money unless the interest rate on the home loan is higher than the CPF-OA interest.
I disagree with your wife because CPF is money you do see now but you just don't get to suka suka use it for anything you want now. ;p
Of course, for some, they don't have a choice.
For those who do have a choice, it is a shame to squander it.
As for the question at the end of your comment, I don't have any experience in this and you should give CPFB a call.
Let me know what they say. :)
Jimmy Ng says...
i guess, you're the only Singaporean i know that will have almost S$1m combined in CPF by end of this year.
Rare that we can make government work that hard for us......
Jack James says...
These numbers are sickening . 🤣🤣🤣🤣
S$820,755 . Love it ! Love it !
What’s the secret again ? 😅
Dolce Goh says...
Compound interest need time to perform its magic. Hence, for people who started in their 40s or 50s, it may be better to invest instead.
AK says...
Not true. For most people, as we age, it is for our sanity that a bigger percentage of our portfolio should be in more conservative investments like investment grade bonds. For most ordinary Singaporeans, the CPF is the best option there is. ;)
For compound interest to be truly magical in dollar terms, it is not just time that is required but also a bigger base. So, for people starting later, top up their CPF savings more aggressively to catch up. It can be done. I know readers who have done it. ;)
Anyway, it is best not to be overly dependent on the CPF.
Think of it as an important cornerstone in retirement funding.
Don't think of it as the be all and end all, if we are capable of more. :)
Siew Mun Kwan says...
I started at age 49.
I find the return are acceptable, totally passive for the simple me.
Peace of mind is priceless to me.
hi AK,
That is a substantial sum in any measurement for a singaporean.
I do however have a question, i know you are more laid back now and prefer to have a piece of mind, nonetheless, it is still quite a number of years before you reach 55 or 65 for CPF withdraw, given your investment track record, why did you still top up CPF account when even if it gives you 2.5~4% return, why don't you do it yourself when the time horizon is still long?
Peter Somtam says...
Hi AK, thank for sharing and need to take note if a person have excess S.A. after reaching 55 and beyond.
He or she according CPF must used up the S.A. acc to before the OA.
Cannot keep the excess SA and withdraw from OA.
AK says...
Yes. That is correct. :)
Hi Bruce,
I treat my CPF savings as the risk free, volatility free investment bond component of my portfolio.
As I really do not have any exposure to this class of bond other than the CPF, I make voluntary contributions yearly in order to at least maintain its weight in my investment portfolio even as I grow older.
See:
Why have bonds in our portfolio and which ones?
Hi AK shI fu, don't mind my noob question but given SA gives 4% while PA gives 2.5% why don't you transfer the money from OA to SA to get more interest.
AK so rich, so good, so jelly. Lol
If you put up your details at the infamous 上海人民公园相亲角, millions of Gold Diggers (ermm.....I mean Prospectors) will be calling you up before the glue on your notice-board dries.
Lol.
Hi CCC,
Not allowed because my SA has already hit and exceeded the FRS.
Read this blog to learn more:
4 ways to beef up our CPF.
Hi Laurence,
Eeeeks.
I am going to get nightmares. :(
-.-"
Hi Ak.. asking a simple question.. I have $0 in my OA and 20K in SA.. Do you know the maximum amount I can contribute to my CPF account per year?
Hi Simp,
Voluntary + Mandatory contributions cannot exceed the CPF Annual Limit.
You want to read this blog:
http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.com/2018/02/when-not-to-do-voluntary-contribution.html
very impressive CPF nos. Shifu AK.
Your OA no is very high. May i know is it because you sold off a property and the funds are being flow back to OA acc?
Hi Unknown,
CPF-OA?
Read this:
How did AK amass so much money in his CPF-OA?
Hi AK, t
To grow the OA no that you have, we will need to invest in a property. We need to sell it to earn a profit and money goes back to OA. I will need to wait for another GFC.
Hi AK,
I thought once SA hit FRS then we cannot put money inside already? How come you still can put in voluntary contribution ah? And we cannot withdraw any monies and the interest that it earns that were voluntarily put in? (don't remember where i read this but i always thought this was the rule)
Hi unluckid,
Hehe...
The secret is in this blog:
My CPF SA savings 10 years from now.
;)
Hi IM,
Nope. You don't have to invest in properties to grow your OA.
Remember, what I have in my OA is mostly a refund of the money I used to buy my first home (plus accrued interest).
You might want to read this:
How did AK amass so much in his OA?
Hi AK,
I read your article. It is a good strategy to sell your first property and money and ainterest flow back to OA and use it as a war chest.
Hi IM,
I am also reminded that the OA isn't just a war chest but also an investment grade bond which pays a reasonably good coupon. ;)
Of course, I am not saying that this is the right way.
Just sharing my way. :)
Hi AK,
Thank you for sharing so freely. As like many others, I feel inspired and in awe. I hope to get some advice if possible.
I recently emptied by OA to purchase a flat (on hindsight not such a great move). Since then OA has been accumulating till it's about 10k now. I plan to sell in 5-6 years time (depending on market). Should I already start to transfer all my OA to SA? Will there be any repercussions upon selling my BTO in 5 years time?
I am sorry if some of these questions look abit directionless. Never been good with numbers, learning the hard way now.
Thank you!!
Hi Unkown,
5 to 6 years from now, if you are not at least 55 years old or if you would be 55 but do not have the FRS in your CPF, you would have to pay back the accrued interest on the CPF money you used to purchase this flat.
I don't give advice but I will talk to myself.
If I had a mortgage now, it would not be a good idea to transfer all the money in my OA to my SA because if things do go terribly wrong, the OA money would go some way to pay the monthly mortgage.
I would keep enough in my OA for 12 to 24 months of mortgage payment (or any number of months that I think I might need to find work with the same pay) before transferring any balance to the SA.
Saving more in the SA is a long term plan to help fund our retirement but we should not do it without first considering our circumstances and what might go wrong.
You might want to read this:
Topping up our CPF savings can wait for some.
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