How to retire in Singapore
Summary
Singaporeans made a record $6.7 billion in voluntary top-ups to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme in the first seven months of 2025, far surpassing 2024’s full-year total of $4.8 billion. According to the CPF Board, 316,000 members received top-ups, mainly to the Retirement Accounts of those aged 55 and above, driven by January’s one-time surge after the Enhanced Retirement Sum was raised to four times the Basic Retirement Sum and the Special Account for over-55s was closed. These top-ups, which can be made in cash or CPF transfers to one’s own or loved ones’ Special or Retirement Accounts, earn higher long-term interest rates of up to 6 per cent a year for older members and also qualify for tax relief of up to $16,000 per year. The strengthened Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, which now offers a $2,000 annual matching grant and covers more seniors, including those above 70, also encouraged larger contributions, with over 130,000 members benefiting in the first seven months alone. Together, these measures have boosted retirement savings and improved monthly payout prospects for CPF members.
Concepts
Contradicting Welfarism
This case study on the record CPF top-ups illustrates how Singapore’s approach to social policy diverges from traditional welfarism, which is usually defined as a system where the state directly redistributes large amounts of public funds to provide cradle-to-grave benefits regardless of individual contribution. Such welfare regimes can be costly to maintain, inefficient to administer, and risk breeding complacency by weakening personal responsibility. In contrast, Singapore’s government deliberately avoids this model. Schemes like the CPF Retirement Sum Topping-Up and the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme provide matching grants, tax reliefs and attractive interest rates, but still require citizens and their families to make their own contributions first. This encourages individuals to take active steps to build up their retirement savings, while allowing the state to supplement and reward such efforts rather than replace them entirely.
The influence of policies
Beyond their immediate economic outcomes, public policies can also have an edifying effect by shaping citizens’ attitudes and behaviour. When programmes like the CPF top-up schemes reward voluntary saving and family support, they implicitly teach values such as self-reliance, intergenerational responsibility and prudent planning. Instead of simply transferring resources, these policies signal what behaviours society considers desirable and normalise them over time, fostering a culture where individuals and families take ownership of their well-being even as the state provides targeted support.