CPF Easy Info Thread. :)

[JuniorLion]

can i ask some questions here on CPF investment ?

before i got my hdb , i stash $20000 away to a Prudential investment plan .... the investment was formulate under low risk and i got it done maybe middle of 2017.

till date i lost about $500 in value (floating around that amount every month).

The way i see it is that i have been losing 2 years of CPF interest plus the capital ...

As the $20k is not very critical , i am monitoring at the end of each month when the lost is closest to the capital amount and just close it.

Say i do that, what can I do myself ?

Only two options, right?

1) Liquidate the plan, move the money back into your OA
2) Continue holding on, and possibly switch fund if you wish.

$500 is minimal. So you just decide for yourself.

 

[iMac]

can i ask some questions here on CPF investment ?

before i got my hdb , i stash $20000 away to a Prudential investment plan .... the investment was formulate under low risk and i got it done maybe middle of 2017.

till date i lost about $500 in value (floating around that amount every month).

The way i see it is that i have been losing 2 years of CPF interest plus the capital ...

As the $20k is not very critical , i am monitoring at the end of each month when the lost is closest to the capital amount and just close it.

Say i do that, what can I do myself ?

If $500 per year..It is still on lar...

It will be quite a while till the plan suck dry your $20k.

The bigger question is...Since you know now that this plan doesn't work the way it is promised to you...Are you still willing to let it suck you year after year?

 

[tangent314]

can i ask some questions here on CPF investment ?

before i got my hdb , i stash $20000 away to a Prudential investment plan .... the investment was formulate under low risk and i got it done maybe middle of 2017.

till date i lost about $500 in value (floating around that amount every month).

The way i see it is that i have been losing 2 years of CPF interest plus the capital ...

As the $20k is not very critical , i am monitoring at the end of each month when the lost is closest to the capital amount and just close it.

Say i do that, what can I do myself ?

So you bought PruLink Global Bond Fund or PruLink Singapore Dynamic Bond Fund. When you buy in, there is a 5% sales charge. The first has a 2.5% bid-bid performance since inception (1998 since then there have been 2 major market crashes), and the second fund has been doing 3.6% bid-bid since inception (2011, after the last major crash).

So you have to ask yourself, with this kind of performances and taking into account the fees, is it really worth buying low-risk funds through CPFIS, when leaving it in CPF gets you no-risk 2.5%, and moving it into CPF-SA gets you 4%?

If you really want to invest your CPF OA, low risk investments is a bad idea because their yields can barely match CPF interest rates. You really want to be buying equities, unfortunately the good options under CPFIS are very limited, and IMO the only one worth buying is STI ETF (SGX: ES3). I would prefer a global equities ETF like IWDA but that's not available to CPFIS. There are some global equities mutual funds available under CPF IS but they all have very high management fees.

Your best bet is, if you are fairly sure that you don't need that money for housing before 55, to move the money into CPF SA.

 

[cal3135]

Close this, move $ back to SA & move on.

can i ask some questions here on CPF investment ?

before i got my hdb , i stash $20000 away to a Prudential investment plan .... the investment was formulate under low risk and i got it done maybe middle of 2017.

till date i lost about $500 in value (floating around that amount every month).

The way i see it is that i have been losing 2 years of CPF interest plus the capital ...

As the $20k is not very critical , i am monitoring at the end of each month when the lost is closest to the capital amount and just close it.

Say i do that, what can I do myself ?

 

[PC-User]

Hi all,

My Retirement Account has just been created and 176K from SA has been snatched without prior consent. I understand that I may still withdraw half of that if I prefer. Just to confirm if I withdraw the money a few years later, it's still the same 88K without the interest together right?

 

[SBC]

Hi all,

My Retirement Account has just been created and 176K from SA has been snatched without prior consent. I understand that I may still withdraw half of that if I prefer. Just to confirm if I withdraw the money a few years later, it's still the same 88K without the interest together right?

Congrats! For this milestone.

Targeting FRS?

Any plans ahead?

 

[PC-User]

Congrats! For this milestone.

Targeting FRS?

Any plans ahead?

Not yet. For now I first wish to confirm how the interest works...

 

[maple96]

Targeting FRS?

He already hit FRS at 55 with RA just created

 

[henrylbh]

One don't know what he wrote and the other don't know what he read

 

[maple96]

One don't know what he wrote and the other don't know what he read

So now I dunno is it real

(I amended my previous post)

 

[PC-User]

U already hit FRS



First, if the social media pick up your "complain" (in red), it would be interesting to watch how CPFB going to "whack" you for "framing them" , disclosing all your "personal information", like the recent case

You "already consented" by waiting for 55 to hit u. No chance to do the SA hack! U never attend the CPF@55 talks?

If u want to withdraw 50% of FRS (excluding cash topups to SA if any) from RA, u have to apply with property charge/pledge. This can be done any time after 55 and preferably before u start mthly payouts from 65 to 70. Yes 50% FRS is 88k, less any cash topups to SA if any. All RA balances continue to earn 4% plus the extra interest credited of max 900 before payout starts, thereafter will depend on which CPF Life plan u choose.

Don't frighten me lah. I know that case. That's why I made the joke.

Please someone answer my question straight - if I withdraw the money say 3 years later, it's still 88K NOT 88K x1.04 x1.04 x1.04 right?

 

[maple96]

Don't frighten me lah. I know that case. That's why I made the joke.

Please someone answer my question straight - if I withdraw the money say 3 years later, it's still 88K NOT 88K x1.04 x1.04 x1.04 right?

U mean my answer for u is not straight enough?

Yes 50% FRS is 88k, less any cash topups to SA if any. .

Now is a straight line one sentence But u must do all the rest stated in the previous post, must meet the requirements of CPFB.

Did u do any direct cash topups to SA?

 

[PC-User]

...Now is a straight line one sentence But u must do all the rest stated in the previous post, must meet the requirements of CPFB.

Did u do any direct cash topups to SA?

Quote from CPFB: "After setting aside the FRS fully with cash, or with cash (i.e. at least the Basic Retirement Sum) and property, you can choose to withdraw the remaining cash balances in your Ordinary and Special Accounts, or continue to keep your savings in CPF to earn attractive interest."

No, never cash top-up. Have a fully paid BTO. If I leave the 88K inside for few more years, it will continue to earn the interest but the interest only contributes to the payout after 65, not withdraw-able together with the 88K itself right? Yes or no?

 

[henrylbh]

Ha Ha. A case of not knowing what you wrote and what you read.

OK lah. You can take out 88k any time from 55.

 

[maple96]

Ha Ha. A case of not knowing what you wrote and what you read.

OK lah. You can take out 88k any time from 55.

haha, I refuse to answer anymore. U write like that, then he thinks can just withdraw with no conditions, because he dun even know he got FRS

 

[BBCWatcher]

No, never cash top-up. Have a fully paid BTO. If I leave the 88K inside for few more years, it will continue to earn the interest but the interest only contributes to the payout after 65, not withdraw-able together with the 88K itself right? Yes or no?

That's correct. In fact, you can top up your Retirement Account by any amount up to the Enhanced Retirement Sum -- and still withdraw that $88,000 later, before CPF LIFE payout start, if you wish. You can withdraw any increment(s) of that $88,000 -- it doesn't have to be the whole $88,000. For example, you can withdraw $3,000 on your 57th birthday, $5,000 on your 58th, and $1,500 on your 59th.

"Only" having higher monthly retirement income for life from age 65 (or later, starting as late as age 70 if you wish), and a higher residual for your CPF nominees (heirs) at any/every age when a residual still applies, is a very, very good deal when 4%/year interest is fueling the premium. If you do withdraw any dollars you should make sure that you actually need the money to spend on something reasonably important now (and don't have any other source of funds that's less attractive from an earning point of view), or that you have some alternative investment/savings vehicle that you are confident will do better. The latter is really hard to imagine.

CPF is pretty good at answering this withdrawal question, by the way. Have you looked at their retirement guide yet?

 

[a4973]

Hi all,

My Retirement Account has just been created and 176K from SA has been snatched without prior consent. � I understand that I may still withdraw half of that if I prefer. Just to confirm if I withdraw the money a few years later, it's still the same 88K without the interest together right?

Congrats, able to share the timeline that the RA was created relative to the 55th birthday?

 

[Squaredot]

haha, I refuse to answer anymore. U write like that, then he thinks can just withdraw with no conditions, because he dun even know he got FRS

don't like that lah
Likely PC User knows FRS 176k.
His reply "Not yet" is for SBC's question "Any plans ahead?"
That's how I read it

Congrats! For this milestone.

Targeting FRS?

Any plans ahead?

 

[maple96]

That's correct. In fact, you can top up your Retirement Account by any amount up to the Enhanced Retirement Sum -- and still withdraw that $88,000 later, before CPF LIFE payout start, if you wish. You can withdraw any increment(s) of that $88,000 -- it doesn't have to be the whole $88,000. For example, you can withdraw $3,000 on your 57th birthday, $5,000 on your 58th, and $1,500 on your 59th.

no need to comply with any conditions?



CPF is pretty good at answering this withdrawal question, by the way. Have you looked at their retirement guide yet?

are u sure? can share how u determine your answer in red above?

Are u very sure of what u write above as highlighted? Read my comments in blue above

 

[BBCWatcher]

That's correct. In fact, you can top up your Retirement Account by any amount up to the Enhanced Retirement Sum -- and still withdraw that $88,000 later, before CPF LIFE payout start, if you wish. You can withdraw any increment(s) of that $88,000 -- it doesn't have to be the whole $88,000. For example, you can withdraw $3,000 on your 57th birthday, $5,000 on your 58th, and $1,500 on your 59th.

Are u very sure of what u write above as highlighted? Read my comments in blue above

Yes, quite sure. The pronoun "you," referring to PC-User, is what I wrote and has meaning. Perhaps you missed PC-User's explanation that he/she has a HDB BTO available to pledge and has a FRS-funded Retirement Account.