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In a recent blog on the CPF, to those who would like to see my CPF numbers, I appealed for patience.
I was waiting for the pie (chart).
Well, the pie is fresh out of the (CPF) oven!
Lacking mandatory contributions, I have been maxing out the CPF Annual Contribution Limit by doing only voluntary contributions since I retired from active employment 4 years ago.
I was 45 years old that year.
So, at the ripe old age of 49, what do I have to show for my efforts?
I know some can't wait to eat their CPF pie.
Don't believe me?
Remember the "Return our CPF" rally in Hong Lim Park?
Well, we must remember that some things cannot be rushed.
Some things just need time.
While we wait, the CPF pie is becoming more delicious over time.
Don't believe me?
See my CPF pie from last year and compare it to the CPF pie from the year before.
The answer is in the pie.
Is growing our CPF savings worth the effort?
Definitely!
Like depositing coins in a piggy bank when we were kids, every contribution to our CPF savings, big or small, adds up.
If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
Ensuring that we achieve retirement funding adequacy is surely worth doing.
So, we should do it well!
Now, we see the pie.
One day, we will get to eat it too.
Want to have our pie and eat it too?
Want our dreams to come true?
With a bit of help, our dreams can come true!
The CPF is here to help us with our retirement funding adequacy.
The CPF helps us as we help ourselves.
Be prudent.
Be pragmatic.
Be patient.
Prudence, pragmatism and patience will be rewarded in due time.
After all, a good pie needs time to prepare and to bake to perfection.
A good pie is surely worth waiting for.
Delicious!
If AK can do it, so can you!
Related posts:
1. Have your pie and eat it too.
2. CPF interest earned in 2019.
3. CPF can be our best friend.
4. This guy has $800K in his CPF.
Bloggy Award
42 comments:
Hi AK,
A forgotten pie might prove to be a great surprise in the years to come.
Ben
Hi Ben,
Especially if it is a Nian(2) Gao(1) pie.
"In the Spring and Autumn Period (722–481 BC) of ancient China, the whole country was divided into different small kingdoms and people suffered from the chaos of war.
"At that time, Suzhou was the capital of the Wu Kingdom. Strong walls were built to protect Wu from attacks, and the king held a banquet to celebrate their completion.
"All of the people ceased to worry about the war, except for the Prime Minister Wu Zixu (伍子胥). He told his entourages: "War should not be viewed lightly. The strong wall is a good protection indeed, but if the enemy state besieges our kingdom, the wall is also a hard barrier to ourselves. In case things really go badly, remember to dig a hole under the wall."
"Many years later, after Wu Zixu passed away, and his words came true. Many people starved to death during the seige. The soldiers did what Wu Zixu told them before and found that the wall under the earth was built with special bricks made from glutinous rice flour. This food saved many people from starvation. These bricks were the supposedly original niangao."
Source:
Nian Gao -Chinese New Year Cake.
Couldn't resist it since it is the Chinese New Year. ;p
Hi Ak, 恭喜发财. i like your pie. May i ask how did you grow OA to more than S$500k. You sold your property and let is compound? Can share please. Thanks
Hi Investminds,
Thank you very much.
I like my pie too. ;)
The answer you seek is in this blog:
How did AK amass so much money in his CPF-OA?
恭喜发财! :D
Hi Ak, thanks for sharing your blog. You have profited from your property sale. Very impressive from 300k plus in 2015 plus to more than 500k plus by end 2019. I have two queries:
1. Did you pay Cash or use OA funds to pay for your current property loan? I noticed your OA acc grows very exponentially. i was thinking Either you have fully paid your property or paying cash for your loan?
2. Did you top up your OA on a yearly basis?
Hi AK,
This pie can be considered a buffer to prepare for the rainy days. However, this is likely to be applicable for people who has hit the FRS by the time he/she reach the age of 55. Any excess fund beyond the FRS sum (varies from various individuals due to reaching the age of 55 at different point of time).
Having said the above, you retired at the tender "young" age of 45. At this age, CPF will not be handy for you as you need to depend on the generated dividends from the investment portfolio to last you at least at the age of 55. I believe that you have made provision for the generated dividend to last you for the rest of your lifetime. Having the said investment portfolio will enable one to have the option to do the things he/she like to do at the present moment. I believe that "Neverwinte" is one such thing as per your perspective.
Ben
Hi Investminds,
1. Suffice to say that I did not use my CPF-OA savings to buy my current home.
See:
Use CPF savings or cash to pay for our home?
2. I do voluntary contributions every year.
See:
Voluntary contributions to CPF in January 2020.
and
The AK passive income strategy after making $1 million.
Hi Ben,
I consider my CPF savings to be the ultimate safety net in my retirement funding strategy.
If all else fails, I would still have my CPF savings.
At least I would not be old and destitute if things should go terribly wrong with my investments in the stock market.
I like to think that I have every possible scenario covered.
See:
Holistic approach to a secure financial future.
Crossing fingers. ;)
Hihi AK,
Just saw your post after so long.
Looks like your compounding tree growing well, though I think it will never grow to your portfolio size haha.
I also WIP, but only hit FRS with my SA alone in 15 years.
Azrael
AK, last year I used cash to pay for IHP premiums for 7 family members, I didn't use my Medisave to pay the IHP premiums. My thought is to keep Medisave untouched squeezing more interest. The insurer lady that handled my request thought I am crazy. ;-p
Hi Azrael,
I published this blog less than 24 hours ago.
Not a long wait at all. ;)
It doesn't look like my CPF savings can ever grow to equal the value of my investments in the stock market but that is not its purpose, of course. :)
Risk free and volatility free, my CPF savings give me peace of mind.
Sometimes, the CPF might outperform too. ;p
See:
Update on my CPF-SA which outperformed in 2015.
You are young and promising.
I never had that kind of earning power you have now.
If AK can do it, you can do better! :D
Hi Siew Mun,
I thought of doing that too and if I am not so lazy, I might. ;)
I am sure that just by doing whatever I am doing to my CPF savings, many think I am crazy already. :p
Hi AK & Siew Mun,
Based on the open source, it appears that the only way is to pay the premium by cash, is through top-up of Medisave account by cash.
Ben
Hi Ben,
Whatever works. ;)
congrats AK! I believe you will cross the 1M mark in the next pie ;)
Hi Invest Sg,
Thank you very much but it might not happen in the next pie.
Would probably be close to a million though. :)
Hi AK,
It's just a number. The most important thing is the desired lifestyle you are having at the present moment.
Ben
Hi Ben,
Yes, people must not be jelly nor buay song.
Don't say AK jin xia lan and kiam pah. ;p
See:
Jin jelly or jin buay song my CPF?
Hi AK,
Congrats AK for your CPF harvest!
Can you advise if you are using CPF OA and SA account to fast track your CPF account?
If yes, what would be a reasonable portion of the portfolio to be used for investing in SG stocks or REITS for working adults?
Thank you, Sir
Hi AK,
I think your peak is much higher than I have, plus you hustle leh haha.
Cannot compare.
So long I mean I haven't saw your post for quite some time le haha.
Azrael
AK,
I have benefited from your sharing and transferred my OA to SA.
Overall, I have about the same amount as yours.
Hi Kenneth,
I consider my CPF savings to be the ultimate safety net in retirement funding adequacy.
The CPF is a risk free and volatility free instrument which pays us a minimum of 2.5% interest per annum.
The stock market is not free of risk and it is definitely not volatility free.
If we believe that we should have some investment grade bond in our investment portfolio, unless we are very rich, the CPF is all we need.
See:
CPF is all we need unless we are very rich.
Having said this, I have also blogged about the CPF-OA as a war chest before.
I will consider deploying funds from my CPF-OA into good income producing stocks in a severe stock market crash.
See:
A great crash is coming and I am ready.
Hi Azrael,
Long time no see ASSI?
Lots of catching up to do then. ;p
Cannot compare?
Don't compare better. ;p
Hi KA,
Thank you for sharing.
I am glad.
Gong xi gong xi. :D
Hi AK,
Haha ya, seems like you still come back to write haha.
Don't compare but still must remember peer benchmarking, just like how you compare companies for stock investing.
No need be top, but at least be slightly above average/median.
Azrael
Hi Azrael,
Like someone told me, I just need to learn how to break and blog so as not to burn out. ;p
A longer break sometimes, a shorter break sometimes and I will still be blogging. :)
There is definitely no need to be the top in anything. ;)
See:
Journey to financial freedom is not a race.
Hi AK
I just joined the club too. I hope my pie will look like Hawaiian pizza. Colorful with all kinds of fruits to be eaten.
Nice and interesting nian gou story . I hope they make a tv drama on it.
YKK
Hi YKK,
Aloha and welcome to the club! ;)
The story is a good one that reminds us to consider potential calamities during good times.
居安思危.
This Chinese proverb says it so well. :)
See also:
If we want peace, be prepared for war!
Hi AK,
Enjoy reading your post.
Myself is 40 working and I just sold my condo.
With this My CPF total is almost 550K (over FRS in SA)
I invested most of OA and SA in UT.
Have another property which now mostly cover by my monthly CPF contribution.
My target is to have income interest from OA that can cover by monthly mortgage
What you think above? I consider to have some time-off from my full time job, and maybe explore other interest (business etc..) … maybe have midlife crisis :)
Hi Paul,
Sounds like you are in a good place right now.
Gong xi gong xi. :D
Having some time off from work is a good thing.
I always say it is important not to be married to our job and to have other interests in life.
Also, knowing when we have enough wealth so that we can free ourselves from working for money is a good idea too. :)
See:
Financial freedom and not enough time.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/retirement-savings-may-best-real-estate-returns-in-singapore
Hi Ok,
"In property-crazed Singapore, owning real estate isn't always the high-yielding investment you might think.
"The rate of return for private apartments in the city-state has slipped since 2011, when measures to cool the market were introduced by the government.
"In fact, some units now have a lower yield than Singapore's national pension plan, the the Central Provident Fund (CPF), which has a minimum fixed rate of return of 2.5 per cent, research from property analytics start-up UrbanZoom shows."
Indeed, CPF members could be better off leaving their CPF savings untouched.
Read also:
This condo investment has also been a drag.
and
This condo investment has been a drag.
Hi AK,
I am new to your blog and has benefitted much from reading. May I know the wisdom behind keeping majority of CPF fund in OA? I transferred mu OA bal to SA thinking of the higher interest as I wasn't planning any future property purchase.
JO
Hi KJ/JO,
Welcome to ASSI. :)
As for your question, the answer has nothing to do with wisdom and everything to do with CPF rules.
Once our CPF-SA has hit the prevailing FRS, we are not allowed to do OA to SA transfers nor are we allowed to do Top Ups.
You might want to read this blog:
Sensible to do CPF OA to SA transfer?
I did OA to SA transfers donkey years ago.
Things have turned out pretty nicely. :)
Reference:
How to upsize 100K to 225K?
Thank you AK
I also transferred OA to SA to meet the FRS limit since last year. As I am not working, you mentioned I can make voluntary CPF contribution of $37740 a year which I did last month. Is there anything I can do to further optimise CPF scheme?
Am I still entitled to top up $7k to SA or repay OA plus accrued interest used to pay housing loan?
Thank you AK
I also transferred OA to SA to meet the FRS limit since last year. As I am not working, you mentioned I can make voluntary CPF contribution of $37740 a year which I did last month. Is there anything I can do to further optimise CPF scheme?
Am I still entitled to top up $7k to SA or repay OA plus accrued interest used to pay housing loan?
Hi KJ,
If you have met the FRS in your CPF-SA, no, you cannot do top ups to your SA.
See this blog:
4 ways to beef up our CPF savings.
You can certainly do voluntary refunds to your OA.
See this blog:
Stop accrued interest we owe CPF from growing.
Hey AK,just wondering if you are able to top up your SA still and if there is a ceiling for this? from what i know, the FRS is at 181000 and the CPF is roughly 270000 so just wondering if this is the max you can have in your SA
Hi Newjoiner,
For those of us under 55 years of age, we can top up our CPF SA to the prevailing Full Retirement Sum.
Top Ups are also eligible for tax relief for the first $7,000 annually.
I hope this has not changed.
Give CPF Board a call to be sure.
Hey AK,
Possible to check what app you are using for your piechart for your CPF representation?
Hi Ak,
Possible to check what App you are using for your CPF representation?
Curious Reader
Hi Newjoiner,
The pie chart is available once you log into your CPF account.
You will also receive a hard copy sometime in January each year if you did not opt out.
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