Budget 2020: Government to match retirement savings top-ups by up to S$3,000 over 5 years

The government is introducing a five-year programme to match cash top-ups made by older, lower- to middle-income Singaporeans of their retirement savings, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Tuesday.

Lower to middle-income Singaporeans aged 55 to 70 who have not been able to set aside the prevailing Basic Retirement Sum in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) will be eligible for the new Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, Mr Heng said in his Budget speech.

Under this scheme, the government will match every dollar of cash top-up made to their CPF Retirement Accounts, up to an annual cap of S$600, from 2021 to 2025.

This means that those who make a top-up of S$3,000 over the five years will get a dollar-for-dollar top-up from the government of S$3,000, bringing the amount saved to a total of S$6,000.

"This is a way of encouraging and augmenting family support for our seniors with fewer means in retirement," Mr Heng said, adding that about 435,000 Singaporeans will be eligible.

In addition, Mr Heng said the government will double its spending on the Silver Support Scheme from S$330 million to around S$620 million in 2021.

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This will see the quarterly cash payouts for the Silver Support Scheme raised by 20 per cent. For individuals living in smaller flats, ]cash payouts will increase from S$750 to S$900.

The scheme currently provides cash payouts to the bottom 20 per cent of Singaporeans aged 65 and above, with some support for those slightly above the bottom 20 per cent.

Mr Heng said the eligibility criteria will be broadened, with the threshold for lifetime wages and per capita household income expanded to cover more seniors.

There will also be a new payout tier to provide a smaller payout to seniors whose monthly household incomes per person are above S$1,300 but not exceeding S$1,800. Such seniors do not receive Silver Support today.

Eligible seniors will be notified by CPF Board and start receiving payouts under the enhanced scheme from December.

Mr Heng said about 100,000 more seniors are expected to benefit from the enhanced Silver Support in 2021.

For more Budget 2020 stories, visit bt.sg/budget20.