Every year, the CPF Board publishes the amount of CPF balances that its members have collected in their CPF accounts. It can be interesting to look at the balances to compare how we are doing when compared to the median statistics.
Source: CPF
The first thing we noticed is that CPF members have a total of $873.6 billion in our CPF accounts (as of 31 Dec 2023). This is 5.8% higher than last year.
Another thing to note when looking at these figures is that they are based on “regrossed balances”, which means it includes amounts withdrawn under various CPF schemes, including Investments, Education, Residential Properties, Non-Residential Properties, and Public Housing Schemes. Actual balances grew 4.8% to $571 billion this year.
We were also wondering how “Non-Residential Properties” got in the regrossed balances and learned that this scheme for using CPF funds for non-residential properties ended on 1 July 2006. Some CPF members are still servicing their Non-Residential property loans with their CPF.
From the statistics, we can also discern that there are at least 50 members between the age group of 20 to 30 with more than $400,000 in their CPF accounts already. These individuals may be on track to have $10 million in their CPF accounts by the time they retire!
How Much CPF Savings Should You Have, Based On Your Age
Another interesting statistic we can learn from these figures is how well or badly we are faring compared to our peers when it comes to accumulating CPF savings.
Based on the total number of 4,494,980 CPF members, with a combined regrossed balances of $873.6 billion, each CPF member should have $194,354 on average. This wouldn’t be a fair comparison though, as we would accumulate more CPF savings the older we get, and would only have very little before we start working.
Here’s how much CPF savings we should have in every age group:
Looking at the 50th percentile, we can see the median CPF savings that peers in our age group have accumulated:
Age Group We Are In
Median CPF Savings Range
0 to 20
Below $20,000
>20 to 25
Below $20,000
>25 to 30
$40,000 to below $60,000
>30 to 35
$140,000 to below $160,000
>35 to 40
$200,000 to below $220,000
>40 to 45
$280,000 to below $300,000
>45 to 50
$300,000 to below $400,000
>50 to 55
$300,000 to below $400,000
>55 to 60
$260,000 to below $280,000
>60 to 65
$200,000 to below $220,000
>65 to 70
$140,000 to below $160,000
>70 to 75
$80,000 to below $100,000
>75 to 80
$40,000 to below $60,000
>80
$20,000 to below $40,000
Looking at the chart, we can see that total CPF savings tend to increase as one gets older, right up to when a CPF member is between 45 to 55. Then, CPF savings start to decline. One reason for this may be that older Singaporeans and PRs did not benefit from contributing as much into their CPF accounts in the earlier days.
Another big reason may be that once a person turns 55, he or she may draw down their CPF balances. Those who turn 55 can withdraw up to $5,000 of their CPF savings, while those who have saved more than the prevailing Full Retirement Sum or Basic Retirement Sum can withdraw anything above the retirement sum they choose to keep.
At 65, CPF savings are also contributed into CPF LIFE or start getting drawn down. This may contribute to a steeper drop in median CPF savings in older age groups.
Read Also: BRS, FRS, ERS: Why There Are 3 CPF Retirement Sums & Why They Increase Every Year
You Will Not See The Median Range In Your CPF Account
If we don’t have the median amount saved in our CPF accounts at a particular age group, there’s no reason to start panicking. This range includes amounts that have been used via the various CPF schemes mentioned above: Investments, Education, Residential Properties (and Non-Residential Properties), and Public Housing Schemes. We should add these up for our personal calculations.
At the same time, it’s also important to realise that it is not a race to accumulate the most amount of CPF balances. As it is a median range, approximately 50% of people will have more than the median range and another 50% will have less than the median CPF range.
Your takeaway is that if you’re in the bottom (or top) 50% then you can still work towards voluntarily increasing your CPF savings if you think it’s valuable through the Retirement Sum Topping Up (RSTU) scheme.
Finally, we should just use this as additional information for what our peers may have, rather than stress up or take things easier thinking we are below or above the median level. We can always do more for our retirement security, and we should be concerned with our personal retirement goals.
The post How Much CPF Savings Should You Have At Every Age Group appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
