The debate over CPF have fizzled out. Just when you thought that we can carry on with our lives, the Prime Minister announced that it will be one of the main agendas in his National Day Rally speech next week.
It would seem that this time around, I am not expecting those small changes. The changes are likely to be dramatic that will affect us in many ways:
- How we serviced mortgages. This is bound to be a hot topic
- Whether a new private fund will be formed. Would this mean forced savings
- The changes to the composition of existing structures
It is likely whatever they put out, there are going to be naysayers about this (there will always be those #RETURNMYCPF crowd) but what concerns those most will be how this impacts them in their daily disposable income, retirement and housing needs.
The savvy folks wouldn’t want to contribute more unless the incentives are lucrative enough.
How drastic can this get? I am not sure. I say it is likely that they are not going to monkey around. The MAS announcement for commission free direct insurance is hard to swallow enough for the insurance companies i felt.
The degree of magnitude could very well be how much they shrink down the variety of choices for investment products to a few choices. It would mean that they are taking some toys away from the financial services big brother and passing it to the citizen little brothers.
No point guessing. Lets wait a week to find out.
Some past commentaries on CPF can be viewed here:
- The CPF is giving us a higher rate
- I thought the CPF Life Annuity gave a high 8.5% return, perhaps I was wrong
- 2004 SAF Speech shows not all plans for CPF will work as it should
- What happens if I cannot hit the minimum sum
- CPF Discussion Points: Longevity, Adequacy, Housing and Withdrawal Age
- TD Ameritrade to Focus Only on Accredited Investors (AI) in Singapore. You May Need to Take Actions. - September 26, 2023
- The Dangers of Income Planning with a Fixed Inflation Rate (such as 3% p.a.) - September 25, 2023
- New 6-Month Singapore T-Bill Yield in Late-September 2023 Should Stick to 3.75% (for the Singaporean Savers) - September 21, 2023