Topic: CPF
8 posts tagged “CPF”.
Why Your CPF Does Not Pass Under Your Will
One of the most common estate-planning mistakes is assuming a will covers your CPF. It does not. Your CPF savings pass only by a separate, free CPF nomination — here is how to make one.
No CPF Nomination: The Public Trustee Route
Skip the free CPF nomination and your savings take the long way home — through the Public Trustee, distributed by a fixed legal formula, with a fee and a wait of up to six months.
CPF in One Picture
Your CPF is not one account but several, and how much flows into each shifts with age — from the Ordinary Account in your home-buying years towards retirement and healthcare savings later. Here is the whole system on a single page.
CPF as Your Bond Allocation
When planning an asset mix, many people overlook their largest safe asset. CPF's near-guaranteed interest makes it behave like a very high-quality bond — which means the rest of your portfolio can often afford to hold more growth than you first think.
Housing vs Retirement
Using your CPF Ordinary Account to buy a home is convenient and often sensible — but the accrued-interest rule means you must refund it on sale, with the 2.5% interest it would have earned. Housing and retirement draw on the same pot.
Top-Ups and Tax Relief
Voluntary top-ups to your Retirement Account compound at CPF's ~4% and can reduce your income tax — up to S$8,000 of relief for yourself and another S$8,000 for family. The optimisation play, with one catch: the money is locked in for retirement.
The Three Retirement Sums
At 55, CPF sets a savings target for your Retirement Account in three tiers — Basic, Full and Enhanced. The more you set aside, the larger your lifelong CPF LIFE payout from 65. Here are the 2026 figures and what each buys.
CPF LIFE Explained
CPF LIFE pays you a monthly income for as long as you live, removing the risk of outliving your savings. The choice is which of three payout shapes fits you — level (Standard), inflation-rising (Escalating), or lower-but-larger-bequest (Basic).