Mr Michael Toh Thiam Hock claims that most of his CPF savings had been transferred to MediSave without his authorisation. This is not true. If there were such transfers, it would appear on his CPF statements.
In February 2019, in response to Mr Michael Toh’s allegation that his CPF savings were locked up, we had informed him that although he does not have enough CPF savings to meet his cohort Basic Retirement Sum, he is eligible to make a withdrawal of about $10,000 from his Ordinary Account (OA) and Special Account savings. To date, he has not applied for his lump sum withdrawal.
Like all CPF members, Mr Michael Toh’s CPF contributions are allocated to the Ordinary, MediSave and Special accounts for his housing, healthcare and retirement needs. We note that he has used over $86,000 of his CPF savings to meet these needs. Over $54,000 was used for his flat which is now fully paid up. Mr Toh has also withdrawn over $9,000 from his Retirement Account (RA) since 2013. Although his RA is now depleted, he continues to receive $15 monthly due to the government paying extra interest on his OA savings.
Like all homeowners, Mr Toh may wish to enhance his retirement income through options such as (a) renting out a room, (b) right-sizing his flat, or (c) selling a portion of his flat’s lease back to HDB under the Lease Buyback Scheme. HDB officers are available to guide him through the process.