| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: From 2013, CPF members turning 55 and with at least S$40,000 in their Retirement Accounts will be automatically included into CPF LIFE.
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament that CPF LIFE will provide the member with a lifelong monthly income from age 65 onwards.
Those with lower balances however, can still opt in to CPF LIFE.
Mr Gan told MPs that in September last year, CPF LIFE was made available for older members aged 55 and above to sign up.
About 37,000 have done so, committing a total of S$1.7 billion.
More than S$120 million top-ups were made into members' Retirement Accounts to raise their LIFE monthly income.
Refinements have also been made to the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS).
Mr Gan noted that currently, monies in excess of S$30,000 in the Special Account can be invested under CPFIS.
Given the higher interest rate on the Special Account and the volatility of CPFIS returns, the minister felt that CPF Board should take a more conservative approach.
Hence, this threshold will be raised to S$40,000 with effect from July.
This meant that members can only invest Special Account monies in excess of S$40,000.
Existing investments will be unaffected until they are liquidated.
The minister also gave an update on the feedback process on the Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older employees after it was issued for the first time.
He said greater clarity has been provided on the employment assistance payment which was recommended in the proposals.
Such a payment was for those who cannot be re-employed by a company.
He says the Tripartite Guidelines will stipulate a minimum employment assistance payment of S$4,500 and a maximum of S$10,000.
Mr Gan said S$4,500 was roughly three months of salary for the 25th percentile of workers while S$10,000 would cover three months of salary for about two-thirds of our workforce.
He urged employers and employees to exercise flexibility in determining the actual employment assistance payment.
Mr Gan said: "The tripartite partners have been working closely over the last two years to help our companies and workers implement re-employment as early as possible. The results so far have been encouraging. More than 800 unionised companies have already implemented some form of reemployment policies and practices.
According to preliminary findings from a 2009 survey by MOM, nearly 64 per cent of companies surveyed already allowed their employees to continue
working past age 62."
Commenting on the revised guidelines, NTUC Deputy Secretary General, Heng Chee How said: “We are now closer to achieving the goal of providing more opportunities for employees to work beyond age 62, which will allow them to earn a regular income and contribute to their companies.
“The Labour Movement will communicate these Guidelines to our network of more than 800 unionised companies already committed to re-employment. We will work closely with them to put in place the necessary pieces such as appropriate policies and robust appraisal systems, to benefit as many older workers as possible."
The Chairman of the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup and Vice President of the Singapore National Employers Federation Mr Alexander Melchers noted the valuable feedback from the public which resulted in important refinements to the Guidelines.
He added: "On behalf of the tripartite partners, we thank all stakeholders who have participated in the public consultation exercise. The feedback received has helped us further fine-tune the recommendations in the Tripartite Guidelines.
“Moving forward, the tripartite partners will step up our efforts to encourage more companies to adopt the Guidelines to re-employment employees beyond the age of 62. This will ensure that companies and employees can be better prepared before the introduction of the law." - CNA/vm
|
