CPF Members Aged 55 and Above with Outstanding Mortgage Payments

Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current percentage of CPF members aged 55 and above with outstanding mortgage payments; and (b) what is the average mortgage amount per month, broken down by (i) those who do not meet the basic retirement sum (BRS), (ii) those who do meet the BRS but not the full retirement sum (FRS) and (iii) those who do meet the FRS respectively.

Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Manpower for CPF members who (i) do not meet the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) (ii) meet the BRS but not the Full Retirement Sum (FRS) and (iii) meet the FRS (a) what is the percentage of CPF members aged 63 and above with outstanding mortgage payments; and (b) what is the average monthly mortgage amount.

Dr Tan See Leng: As the average mortgage instalments may be skewed by a relatively small group of members with higher mortgage instalments, it may be more representative to look at the median instead.

Of members aged 55 and above who had not attained the cohort Basic Retirement Sum (BRS), 6.5% were using their Central Provident Fund (CPF) to service monthly mortgage instalments with median amount of $380 in CPF savings used for mortgage instalment. Of members aged 55 and above who had attained cohort BRS but set aside less than the cohort Full Retirement Sum (FRS), 10.5% were using their CPF to service monthly mortgage instalments with median amount of $700 in CPF savings used for mortgage instalment. Of members aged 55 and above who had set aside the cohort FRS or more, 7.4% were using their CPF to service monthly mortgage instalments with median amount of $1,000 in CPF savings used for mortgage instalment.

Of members aged 63 and above who had not attained the cohort BRS, 2.5% were using their CPF to service monthly mortgage instalments with median amount of $330 in CPF savings used for mortgage instalment. Of members aged 63 and above who had attained the cohort BRS but set aside less than the cohort FRS, 4.2% were using their CPF to service monthly mortgage instalments with median amount of $590 in CPF savings used for mortgage instalment. Of members aged 63 and above who had set aside the cohort FRS or more, 1.8% were using their CPF to service monthly mortgage instalments with median amount of $900 in CPF savings used for mortgage instalment.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 53-54:

1 All data is accurate as of December 2022.

2 The BRS provides members with lifelong payouts that cover a basic level of retirement expenses. Thus, attainment of the BRS is the relevant indicator for basic retirement adequacy. Those who prefer a higher payout can choose to set aside more CPF savings to the amount of the FRS instead of maintaining only the BRS in their Retirement Account if they own property.