Will Your CPF Be Enough for Retirement?
Project your CPF balances using conservative floor rates, current contribution rules, and key milestones like the age 55 transfer to your Retirement Account. You can also test how housing withdrawals, annual top-ups, and OA to SA transfers may change the outcome.
How CPF Projection Works
The CPF Projection tool estimates how your CPF balances will grow from now until retirement, based on your current age, income, and contribution patterns.
The projection accounts for:
- Your CPF contributions, Employee and employer contributions based on your income and age group
- Account distribution, How contributions flow into Ordinary Account (OA), Special Account (SA), and MediSave (MA)
- Base interest rates, OA at 2.5%, SA/MA/RA at 4% per annum (floor rates for conservative projections)
- Extra interest, Additional 1% on first S$60,000 of combined balances, and another 1% on first S$30,000 for members aged 55 and above
- Key milestones, Age 55 (SA closure, RA creation), age 65 (BHS freeze, CPF LIFE eligibility)
The projection also estimates your potential CPF LIFE monthly payout based on your projected RA balance at age 65. This is an estimate, actual payouts depend on the CPF LIFE plan you choose and prevailing annuity factors when you join.
Important: This is a projection, not a guarantee. Actual rates, income changes, housing withdrawals, and voluntary top-ups will affect your final balances.
CPF Extra Interest: How the 1% Bonus Works
CPF members earn extra interest on top of base rates to boost retirement savings. This bonus interest applies to the first portion of your combined CPF balances.
How it works: The extra interest is paid into your Special Account (or Retirement Account if you're 55+). This means your SA/RA grows faster, directly increasing your CPF LIFE payouts in retirement.
Example: A 30-year-old with S$50,000 across OA + SA + MA earns an extra $500 per year ($42 per month) on top of base rates.
CPF Retirement Sums (2026)
The Retirement Sums determine how much you need in your CPF Retirement Account (RA) for different levels of CPF LIFE payouts. These amounts increase yearly to keep pace with inflation and longer life expectancy.
Tip: You can withdraw the amount above your FRS at age 55, or transfer it to RA for higher CPF LIFE payouts later.
CPF Top-Up Limits & Tax Relief
You can boost your CPF savings through cash top-ups, which also qualify for tax relief. This is one of the most tax-efficient ways to save for retirement in Singapore.
How the tax relief works:
- The relief goes to the person making the top-up, not the person receiving it
- Maximum combined relief: S$16,000 per year (S$8,000 for your own account plus S$8,000 for family members)
- For top-ups to a spouse or sibling, their income in the preceding year must not exceed S$8,000 (from YA2025; it was S$4,000 before). No income condition applies to parents, parents-in-law or grandparents
- Transfers from your own CPF account do not qualify, only cash top-ups do
Matched Retirement Savings Scheme (MRSS):
- A separate government matching grant, dollar for dollar, on cash top-ups to eligible members’ retirement savings
- Up to S$2,000 a year, capped at S$20,000 over a lifetime
- For members aged 55 and above with Retirement Account savings below the Basic Retirement Sum, subject to income and property criteria. The upper age limit of 70 was removed on 1 January 2025
- Top-ups that attract an MRSS grant do not also attract the cash top-up tax relief
Note: Top-ups are irreversible. Once you transfer cash to CPF, it stays in CPF until retirement age (or for approved housing/education/insurance purposes from OA only).
Strategy tip: Top-ups early in the year earn a full year of interest. A S$8,000 top-up to SA at age 30, left untouched at the 4% floor rate, would be worth about S$21,300 at 55. This illustration uses the floor rate only and ignores extra interest.