|
|
|
|
From 80 onwards, he will continue to receive such monthly payouts, but from his annuity plan. It is for the rest of his life. The 12 plans were unveiled on Tuesday when a government-appointed committee made public its recommendations for a compulsory national annuities scheme. Yesterday, in responding to the recommendations, Dr Ng expressed confidence that most of the others will attract smaller groups. The committee had proposed two groups of six plans each, with varying payout ages that range from 65 to 90. One group allows refunds to family members if the CPF member dies before reaping the payouts, while the other is made up of non-refundable plans. The non-refundable options are for people with no beneficiaries and Dr Ng estimates that they will make up around 10 per cent of a cohort. The Refund 65 option is also for another small group with smaller balances but who want higher payouts, while he reckoned that the Refund 90 option will not be popular because people feel that collecting money at age 90 is 'too far off'. 'So in effect, CPF Life is simpler than what it is made out to be,' Dr Ng said. 'Most people don't have to do anything and just go for the default plan. So I don't think it will be a problem.' The minister also explained that people will not be allowed to switch plans because the scheme is based on 'actuarial principles'. 'If you allow people to change, then the risks change,' he said. 'The insurance works on a certain level of uncertainty and choice.' He also said the CPF Board is working on a 'gold standard' when testing if the average man in the street can understand the scheme. 'Basically at the end of it, a three-minute or five-minute or two-minute test, I explain to you and you should be able to understand.' The CPF Board will introduce online calculators for people to calculate their retirement needs before choosing a plan. And for those unfamiliar with computers, CPF staff will be on hand to guide them through the scheme and answer their queries. A guidebook on CPF Life, in the four official languages, will also be distributed islandwide. Meanwhile, those with burning questions can call the hotline 1800-Life CPF (1800-5433-273). Making plain that the CPF Board has its work cut out for it, Dr Ng said only between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of Singaporeans understood what the scheme entailed when it was first discussed in public. 'Because this is going to involve all Singaporeans, we'll still have to make sure that they understand the initial messages before we come up with a more sophisticated one.'
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
