My parents say don't be stupid to top up my CPF-SA.

Update (31 Dec 16):

A reader told me:


"If I had done this, I would have hit the minimum sum too."

Actions today, results at 55:

A lot of money in my CPF-SA.
-----------------

I do not know how best to help the reader here. 

Reader says...

Read one of your post and it says that u often tell youngsters to voluntary contribute to their CPF-SA so that it will reach the minimum sum.

I mention this to my parents, and they said that I am stupid, as withdrawal of CPF $$ is controlled by the government and we will not know when will the government raise the age to withdraw or the minimum amount. 

They still sarcastically said that putting in the bank to earn the meagre interest rate is even better as we can withdraw as and when we like.

seek your advise

pardon my bad english :)

AK says...

It could be difficult to convince anyone who is suspicious of the system. :)

I will say that the CPF-SA is meant to help us with retirement adequacy. 

So, it is not money that is meant to be close at hand, available for withdrawal whenever we might need it. 

The money is locked up till we are 55. 







What is required for the MS will be put into the RA and the excess is available for withdrawal. 

Of course, there must be excess for this option to be available.

If we beef up our CPF-SA in our younger years, we are giving the funds a lot more time to compound and grow more quickly. 

I think the magic of compound interest is easy enough to understand. 






The magic needs time and if the base is bigger, the growth in absolute dollar terms will be more substantial.

Like I said, the problem your parents have is a lack of trust in the system. 

I don't know how to make your parents trust the system. 

Unfortunately, as with certain things in life, only time will tell.

I do know friends and also family members who are deeply suspicious of the system. 

Some are actually extremely negative about the CPF, to put it mildly.

This is a problem that has to be addressed but I suspect it will not be easily solved.


Similar post:
Investing in the stock market makes you a gambler.

Related posts:
1. "Return our CPF" protest in Hong Lim Park.
2. Balancing risks, returns, facts and fallacies.
3. An(other) open letter to the Prime Minister.

Tea with EY: Make CPF a part of your child's savings plan?

EY sent me an email and said:

"I called CPF this morning to enquire on the CPF contribution for my children. I have been mooting this idea for some months already and finally decided that I'll take action soon."

In relation to this, EY has decided to share another thought provoking guest blog here:

If you have children, what would you expect their New Year resolutions to be?

Being quite a laissez faire parent, I have never nudged my children to set any New Year resolutions. 

Two weeks ago, I decided it was about time to have them commit to some goals for 2015. Among them were a few financial goals/habits.

Below are the financial resolutions my teenage boys made, or more accurately, I made for them. Oh yes, of course they agreed!

1.      Save $10 per week from the weekly allowance of $25

2.      Save at least $500 for voluntary contribution into CPF OA/SA/MA

3.      Keep an expense journal to record daily expenses

4.      Maintain a cash flow statement at the end of each month

To sweeten the deal, I have agreed to match a dollar for a dollar savings into their CPF account. So if they save $500, I will top up another $500.

Some may ask why do I want my boys to contribute to CPF when they are only turning 15 and 16 in 2015? I have two reasons for this. 

Firstly, I want them to save up and partially fund their own university education. 

Secondly, I want them to actively manage their CPF money and be exposed to more complex financial decision making but within a relatively risk-free environment.

If my boys get into university, they will have 5 to 6 years to build up their CPF OA. CPF allows members to use up to 40% of the OA savings for polytechnic/university tuition fees. 

Along the way, I will encourage them to work during their school holidays and increase their voluntary contribution to CPF. 

Hopefully, they will accumulate enough to pay school fees for 1 semester. 

After they graduate, they will to pay back their own CPF OA. 

I want them to experience some form of financial obligation when they start work so that they won’t take on debt too readily.

Once they have settled their school fees for 1 semester, they shall decide what they want to do with their CPF OA. Let it accumulate slowly to more than $20,000 and use the excess to buy stocks subsequently?  

Or transfer the OA savings into SA to take advantage of the higher interest rate? I’ll leave it to them. 

For illustration sake, I’ll show them that at 4%, $5,000 in SA at 21 years old will grow 4.8 times to almost $24,000 when they reach 65 years old. 

Hopefully, this will inspire them to grow their SA more consciously and plan for retirement adequacy earlier. 

My children’s New Year resolutions will mark the beginning of my attempt to formally introduce financial literacy at home, which happens to be one of my own New Year resolutions. 

To keep all of us on track, I have downloaded the CPF voluntary contribution form from the CPF website and shall do the inaugural contribution using my boys’ current savings within the next week or so.

That shall be a good start to a prosperous 2015 and beyond!

Remember the POSB mascot, the squirrel? 

We might see a couple of squirrels on steroids here! Good one, EY!

EY's guest blog jolted my memory and I remember I started my CPF account before I had mandatory contributions too but it was for those discounted SingTel shares. 

I am sure some of you might remember the year that happened. I still have those shares today.





Thanks, EY, for providing munching material for consideration.

Read other guest blogs EY: here.

Related post:
Financial freedom is a family affair.