Govt urged to top up retirement savings

Feb 9, 2011

By Elgin Toh
THE Government is being urged to give a monthly stipend of $200 to $300 to low-income older workers, to supplement the inadequate retirement savings of this vulnerable group of Singaporeans.
This proposed Retirement Grant would, however, be only for those aged 65 and older who have passed a means test.
Modelled after Hong Kong's Normal Old Age Allowance scheme, it is among three key recommendations made by a group of 10 experts formed by Reach, the Government feedback unit.
The group stressed, in a Reach statement yesterday, that the grant 'is intended to be one component of retirement adequacy, while personal savings, family support, part-time work, WIS (Workfare Income Supplement), and renting or reverse mortgaging HDB flats will continue to supplement CPF savings'.
Another recommendation is to let older, low-income workers who have been laid off make specified monthly withdrawals from their CPF savings, for three months.
This Individual Unemployment Credit, viewed as a loan, would have to be repaid when the worker found another job.
The money would come from a scheme to which both the worker and the Government will make equal contributions. For those earning below $1,000, the Government would