I think you got the wrong understanding. Leaving aside standard plan, about 10% of RA is used to pay annuity premium for basic plan at the time of PEA. That premium money, not to say interest, is as good as gone into a pool unless one lives beyond a certain age to recover what's in the poo.. The balance in RA earns interest at prevailing rates and payout is from RA till it runs dry and henceforth payout will be from the pool.
Deferring payout only makes sense as money in RA will roll over at prevailing interest rate and the subsequent payout will be (7%) higher. But then one is betting more on CPF Life as 10% of RA will be taken off as annuity premium.
My estimate, one needs to live well pass 90s to get back every cent that's in RA (without annuity deduction) at prevailing interest rates. Below that you lose in the bet.
Your comment shows your incorrect understanding/interpretation of CPF rules, and obviously a wrong understanding/interpretation of what I wrote!
Pls comment in the context of this thread. My comment is based on JL's uncle's CPF Life plan which is a standard plan, 50k already in CPF Life pool as premium. So it does not make sense to defer his payout as his 50k is earning interest for the CPF Life pool! Should he die before his CPF Life premium is fully withdrawn as payout, his bene gets it, only the unused premium, no interest!
I will not discuss on CPF Life Basic plan as this is not the topic of discussion here. My choice is of course Basic Plan with payout at 65.