Monday, June 23, 2014

It's Not Our Money


Remember last week when I commented on a video where a retired woman met her MP, Hri Kumar, to ask for a way to get her CPF money? Well, Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health Amy Khor to issue a statement to “clear” the air.

According to her statement, the retiree in question, Ms Irene Yap, was mistaken as she “does” have some avenue to withdraw her Retirement Account (RA) Savings. She could either apply to receive monthly payouts from her RA or withdraw her RA savings in a lump sum, provided she had property to pledge.

The only thing this statement “cleared” is that I am right. Senior Minister Amy Khor has just admitted that the CPF in my account is not my money. Why else do I have to pledge my property to take out my money?

If my CPF money is really my money, surely I should be able to take it out. If you’re saying I can’t because of the Minimum Sum, which is $198,500, that’s something; but if you’re saying I can’t because I didn’t pledge property to take it out, that’s something else entirely!

I have to ask (and I don’t think I’m alone) why in the world do I have to pledge my property to take out my money? That’s makes no sense. However, if it’s not my money; then it would make perfect sense.

So the only thing Senior Minister Amy Khor has clarified is that I had been right all along. The CPF savings is not our money.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the case of the retiree teacher's case, the question is why does she has to pledge her property when her peers & colleagues during her batch are not subjected to any minimum sum rule or property pledge when they reach 55 years then?

Is it a case of them trying to use another lie to cover a lie ?

Ghost said...

Most likely her peers took out their CPF when they reached 55. The retired teacher did not and now can't. Honestly, she should have and the fact that she did not was kind of silly.
However that does not change the fact that the "property pledge" rule is stupid...unless you understand the simple fact that the CPF money was never ours to begin with. Then the rule makes perfect sense.

xtrocious said...

Is it something like the "squatter's law"?

The gahment has squatted so long on our money that it is deemed to be theirs now :(

Ghost said...

If they want to term it like that. what can you or me do about it? Nothing!
That's why I never though of CPF as my money.