This is another brilliant scheme in the brewing. The struggle to get oldies to work longer continues. Now the struggle to get oldies to be better paid. The cost of hiring oldies is lower because of lower CPF contribution, so can raise their CPF.
With all due respect to the oldies, I am also one, depending on the job one is doing, many will slow down and some jobs that are physically and mentally more demanding will extract their tolls on the oldies. Other than some exceptions and some specialized professions when age and experience counts more, many oldies would not be able to contribute as much as the young.
Let’s face the fact that nature made us that way, when one is young, one is full of energy and vibrancy. When one is old, hitting the sack is a big draw and taking life at a slower pace is only natural. Our taxi drivers can drive till 73 and may be even extended to 75. I don’t think it is a good thing. The pathetic state of Sinkies to have to work till that kind of age or else, is a reminder of our failure in our retirement scheme and pension fund. Everything is wiped away by high inflation and the high cost of living is making the oldies into the workforce imperative.
Would employer seriously want to pay more to the oldies for lesser work? Or can the oldies contribute the same with other workers for the same wage? If yes, then there is no issue. Can our workforce can be competitive with higher pay for the oldies without the same level of productivity?
What is questionable is who is going to profit from more CPF contributions from the oldies’ income? Why not just pay direct to their salary when other oldies are withdrawing their CPF savings?
Instead of asking the employers to increase CPF contribution rate, why not the government increase the interest rate of CPF of the oldies to, let say, 5% for OA, 8% for SA and MA, in another word just double it. I believe this a simple method and there is no cost to the employers. Anyway, GIC and TS are making tons of money.
ReplyDelete>>What is questionable is who is going to profit from more CPF contributions from the oldies’ income?
ReplyDeleteJinx: Ho Say Liao...more $ to spend
Look like a precursor for another excuse to increase GST !
ReplyDeleteLast time is GST hike to help the poor (minister)
now it is
"increase GST to help the old" !
Employers can reduce the salary to compensate for increase in CPF. In the end, older workers are just getting a bad deal. The money doesn't go into their pocket, instead they may get lower take-home pay, while Temasek and GIC will have more money to gamble with.
ReplyDeleteYeah, spot on - the retirement scheme based on CPF policies is a big failure. They are trying to do patch up with more flaw policies. Now HDB is conducting a survey on 'Monetization Options' for the remaining lease of HDB flats. Such nice sounding name. The fact is our senior citizens don't have enough to live on because all the money in their CPF is lock up by PAP. It used to be called reverse mortgage. Now they change to the name to make it more acceptable. We would not need more and more 'fanciful' scheme if CPF policies are well conceived. If Mah BT had done a good job, our CPF would not have been eaten up by HDB.
ReplyDeletePure Wayang, more wayang.
ReplyDeleteCPF is a tax. If you increase the tax, you make hiring less attractive.
ReplyDeleteStupid fucking idiot government scheme.
No matter how much the people save, no match for housing and inflation. All down these two bottomless pits.
ReplyDeleteAnd welcome to the blog SNA.
ReplyDeleteno no, I heard some one say here that Gahment lost $50 bn, so I dont think GIC and TS got so much money to play with..so which is which ?? they made lots of money or they lost lots of money ??
ReplyDeleteRemember HDB reverse mortgage scheme? It is now replaced by lease buyback scheme. Reverse mortgage stinks as we have to pay interest rate! Talk about sucking the elderly dry while in the pretext of 'helping' them monetized their flat to supplement their retirement income. So after their dirty trick is revealed they come with lease buyback which they claim is a govt subsidize scheme.
ReplyDeleteMy take on this is - as there are so many folks who cannot meet the CPF minimum sum which amount used to buy CPF compulsory annuity scheme - they now want us to sell our flat lease to HDB so that we have money to buy annuity. The money goes back into CPF to be lock up forever!
You should weigh the pros and cons and decide what you require, nobody force u to sell if u do not want to.
ReplyDeleteWhy old FARTs have to work till they drop???
ReplyDeleteDoes it mean that our cost of living has gone up too far for old farts to retire at 55, then 62, then 67, then... work till die???
Why is our super talented "SUPER TALENT" not able to solve this simple problem, and just keep importing for FT(Foreign Trash), its like kicking the "CAN" down the road!!!!
My OLD FART at home has retired and kicking around for 16 years liao, his siblings are also in that shoe, the extended family is able to support them...
Our "SUPER TALENT" better look at the whole issue and revisit the old tradition and standards that were broken in the late 1960s in the name of progress... where we start to have nuclear families and 2 is enough and having ever smaller HDB bird cages and conning us that the area per person is higher when its because each family is getting ever smaller!!! and start to have double incomes and kids brought up by maids....
Rebuild the family and clan base support that host the oldies and the new comers!!!! and dun chase GDP unless it goes to the pocket of the residents..... stupid selfish super shitty talents....
They can give you a hundred and one reasons. But only one reason is the real one. They need more money to patch up the big hole.
ReplyDeleteHow to patch up a hole while digging at it at the same time?
ReplyDelete