Controlled withdrawal of CPF savings will be allowed for retirees: PM Lee

By Jeanette Tan | Yahoo Newsroom – 

Retirees in Singapore who own accounts with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) will be allowed to withdraw a limited portion of their CPF savings in a lump sum, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday.

Speaking in the evening at his annual National Day Rally, held for the second year at ITE College Central, PM Lee said he understood and appreciated why people may want to withdraw monies from their CPF accounts — for reasons such as lifetime ambitions, family emergencies or others.

"I will adjust the policy… and I think we should allow people the option to take out part of their CPF savings in a lump sum if they need to, but subject to some limits," he said.

The Prime Minister said this "cannot be excessive", although he did not share more specific details. He also said only members aged 65 and up would be entitled to this flexibility to withdraw their CPF savings.

"We provide this flexibility, but members must understand clearly the tradeoff," he said. These include the fact that the account holders' monthly payouts from their CPF accounts will be reduced as well.

Yet, he said he recognises the "need to build more flexibility into the CPF system and give CPF members more choices".

Separately, PM Lee also said the Minimum Sum will be raised from S$155,000 this year to S$161,000 next year, for the cohort of CPF account holders who will turn 55 from 1 July 2015.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will also be setting up an advisory panel to study possible ways to give CPF account holders more options. Details will be announced at a later date.

PM Lee also announced that the Lease Buyback scheme, which allows HDB flat owners to "sell" the remaining years of their 99-year lease back to HDB for a lump sum with additional monthly payouts, will be extended to four-room HDB flat owners. This, he said, will cover more than half of HDB homeowners in Singapore.

Check out the rundown of all the initiatives and announcements unveiled by PM Lee at his rally in our live blog here.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/controlled-withdrawal-of-cpf-savings-will-be-allowed-for-retirees--pm-lee-140556895.html