CPF Account Value Thread 2026

[wutawa]

I invested all my OA and SA, which are all untaxed income and pay fairly low tax. This is the best possible outcome for me.

what will u do at 55?

• frs and liquidate cpfia to reinvest under cash?
• liquidate cpfia to ers?
• continue to hold cpfia until 65, then liquidate to ers?
• others..

 

[s0crates]

what will u do at 55?

• frs and liquidate cpfia to reinvest under cash?
• liquidate cpfia to ers?
• continue to hold cpfia until 65, then liquidate to ers?
• others..

I will likely be amongst the top 1% in Singapore for cpf balance. Whether to get the largest possible cpf life (Ers) depends on how much I want to optimise. I will just choose brs for a start, then decide at 65 whether to go ERS. 10 years is too long a period to let the money grow at 4%.

I will likely liquidate all SA investments so that it flows back to OA (FRS requirement met through property pledging) and I will invest in the better options through OA, assuming the SA investments schemes still suck.

 

[reddevil0728]

I will likely be amongst the top 1% in Singapore for cpf balance. Whether to get the largest possible cpf life (Ers) depends on how much I want to optimise. I will just choose brs for a start, then decide at 65 whether to go ERS. 10 years is too long a period to let the money grow at 4%.

I will likely liquidate all SA investments so that it flows back to OA (FRS requirement met through property pledging) and I will invest in the better options through OA, assuming the SA investments schemes still suck.

do they disclose cpf balance statistics?

 

[RedsYWNA]

Nothing even beats cpf oa 2.5% on a risk-adjusted basis, since OA rates most of the time handily beat similar no risk options like tbills or fixed deposit.

The risked adjusted argument doesn't apply when you have a long investment horizon. SA monies are locked up till 55 now, the real question is, what asset allocation, less cost of fund manager/platform, and possible negative alpha, can reliably beat 4%?

Schroders Multi asset revolution does that. Recently endowus allows access to the higher risk version. I have been happily investing in those for the past 2+ years and it has done well for me.

OA 2.5% has a risk too - inflation risk, if we look through the lens of a longer time horizon. That's why I invest my OA in Amundi Prime USA but I am happy with 4% SA. That said, it's great to share ideas on SA, and I am always open to switch my mind. Thank you.

 

[tehhalia]

You all no need to use OA to pay for mortgage one ah

 

[wutawa]

You all no need to use OA to pay for mortgage one ah

my oa was wiped off when i bought my 3rm hdb. no loan. then slowly accumulate to above $20k to invest lor.

 

[highsulphur]

You all no need to use OA to pay for mortgage one ah

No more mortgage

 

[BBCWatcher]

You all no need to use OA to pay for mortgage one ah

Well, let's check some "back of the envelope" math....

Let's suppose that a hypothetical married couple consists of one working spouse earning S$5,000 per month (S$65,000 per year with "13th month" and/or other variable pay) and another working spouse earning S$6,000 per month (S$72,000 per year). We'll assume they're both 37 years old, and they own an HDB BTO flat. Let's assume the BTO flat was S$320,000 (after housing grants), and they financed 80% (S$256,000) using a 25 year HDB loan at 2.6% p.a.

In this scenario the monthly mortgage payment would be about S$1,162. The couple's total annual compulsory CPF contributions would be S$50,690, of which at least S$28,777 would land in their CPF Ordinary Accounts. (Maybe more if both their MA and SA have high balances.) That's an average of S$2,398 per month in total Ordinary Account inflow to cover a S$1,162 mortgage payment leaving an accumulating surplus of S$1,236 per month. If the couple splits the mortgage relative to their respective incomes then both of them will cross the S$20,000 mark in their OAs within a couple years even if they're both starting from zero OA balances.

They can then invest some or all dollars above S$20,000 via the CPF Investment Scheme (OA). S$40,000 of total OA savings would allow them to pay their S$1,162 per month mortgage for about 35 months (nearly 3 years) even if there were an utterly catastrophic family emergency resulting in the total loss of BOTH incomes — and even without tapping their growing CPF Investment Scheme (OA) assets.

Isn't this scenario realistic?

 

[s0crates]

do they disclose cpf balance statistics?

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/infoh...ics/cpf-members-balances-by-age-group-and-sex

Can get estimate of average cpf balance by age. I refer my current and projected cpf balance against folks in the 1m65 channel, and while their figures seem impressive at face value, it is not high compared to someone who invested since young, hit employment cpf contribution cap, and only have small property outflow. I assume I am doing well if I can handily beat those folks in cpf balance

 

[chiokcc]

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth/wealth-investing/retirement-advice-worries-me-most

 

[limster]

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth/wealth-investing/retirement-advice-worries-me-most

I'm quite amazed that the insurance agent didn't recognise the CEO of providend despite Chris telling him that he was in the finance/wealth mgt line, given his multiple appearances in social media, CNA, etc.

 

[chiokcc]

I'm quite amazed that the insurance agent didn't recognise the CEO of providend despite Chris telling him that he was in the finance/wealth mgt line, given his multiple appearances in social media, CNA, etc.

My exact thoughts when a friend commented that the agent must be a newbie .....

If this is any indication, I am worry for our young generation if they only surf the internet for entertainment and not for sound financial advices .....

 

[lzydata]

I'm quite amazed that the insurance agent didn't recognise the CEO of providend despite Chris telling him that he was in the finance/wealth mgt line, given his multiple appearances in social media, CNA, etc.

Agents only learn what they need to learn to sell products

 

[CrashWire]

LOL. It will be a political suicide…

Is every party member losing their mind…?

It's just an extreme hypothetical. They can do so fully within the law, and who knows, maybe without any political repercussions too if there are no good opposition parties to choose from.

It's also possible that the PAP could just tighten the noose over CPF withdrawals more and more by changing the policies (policy risk is very real with CPF), just like how frogs and lobsters are boiled alive.

 

[chiokcc]

It's just an extreme hypothetical. They can do so fully within the law, and who knows, maybe without any political repercussions too if there are no good opposition parties to choose from.

It's also possible that the PAP could just tighten the noose over CPF withdrawals more and more by changing the policies (policy risk is very real with CPF), just like how frogs and lobsters are boiled alive.

While deciding whether you want to start withdrawal at 65 or 70, sometimes you need to consider the "risk" of policy change or medical health .....

For policy changes, usually there will be 1 year or so ahead announcement for people to adjust and decide ....

 

[BBCWatcher]

While deciding whether you want to start withdrawal at 65 or 70, sometimes you need to consider the "risk" of policy change or medical health .....

For policy changes, usually there will be 1 year or so ahead announcement for people to adjust and decide ....

Maybe, but I really don't know why so many people single out CPF for policy risks. Every aspect of your financial life is subject to policy risks. For example, the government has changed ABSD rates literally overnight. ABSD rates can have big effects on home values and home buying/selling decisions. It's much the same with TDSRs: real prospective home buyers could wake up to the news that TDSRs are tighter, and they need to spend more time (months? years?) mustering bigger down payments.

You don't mitigate policy risks by avoiding CPF. You mitigate policy risks through reasonable portfolio diversification — including a mix of "onshore" and "offshore" assets — and by optimizing across all of your portfolio, including CPF. That said, universal and near-universal government programs such as CPF tend to be the most resilient, durable ones in terms of policy risks. HDB leaseholds are another example of a near-universal program: over 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats, and most leaseholds are owned.

 

[PhantomOpera]

Seems like even if I were to top up to ERS at age 55, and seek first payout at 65 via Standard Plan, my max CPF Life payout pm is only $3k+.
Is it impossible to obtain $5k payout from CPF Life?

 

[BBCWatcher]

Seems like even if I were to top up to ERS at age 55, and seek first payout at 65 via Standard Plan, my max CPF Life payout pm is only $3k+.
Is it impossible to obtain $5k payout from CPF Life?

You can do 2 more things to increase your CPF LIFE monthly payout:

1. Start payouts at age 70, the default payout starting age.
2. Continue topping up your CPF Retirement Account every time the Enhanced Retirement Sum is raised. For example, if the ERS is raised every year on January 1, top up your RA to the new ERS every January 30.

 

[reddevil0728]

You can do 2 more things to increase your CPF LIFE monthly payout:

1. Start payouts at age 70, the default payout starting age.
2. Continue topping up your CPF Retirement Account every time the Enhanced Retirement Sum is raised. For example, if the ERS is raised every year on January 1, top up your RA to the new ERS every January 30.

will that allow to obtain 5k?

 

[highsulphur]

You can do 2 more things to increase your CPF LIFE monthly payout:

1. Start payouts at age 70, the default payout starting age.
2. Continue topping up your CPF Retirement Account every time the Enhanced Retirement Sum is raised. For example, if the ERS is raised every year on January 1, top up your RA to the new ERS every January 30.

But once hit ERS, can still top up next year after it increases again?