Chuan Jin trotted out again & talking cock to defend the undefendable - CPF

[Leongsam]

Thirdly, not once did he mention GIC and Temasek.

He did not mention these two entities for the simple reason that they are not relevant to the discussion.

I have term deposits in Westpac and they are currently paying close to what CPF is paying ie 4% on my NZD and AUD deposits.

However Westpac made record profit this year but that does not mean they're going to share a cent of it with any of their depositors just as I don't expect to have to be involved if they make a huge loss further down the road.

I'm not about the start waving placards outside my bank manager's stately home demanding to know why I was not paid more than 4% considering the fact that Westpac made billions this year. As a term deposit holder, I know my place in the food chain.

Term deposits and CPF savings are low risk savings. Low risk means low return. If Singaporeans want better returns, there is nothing stopping them from using a portion of their take home pay to invest funds with higher returns which of course carry a higher risk too.

The problem with many Singaporeans is that they have an inflated sense of self importance and harbor a notion that GIC and Temasek exist to feed their own personal greed. Nothing could be further from the truth.

GIC and Temasek exist to ensure the long term viability of Singapore which is small country with very little direct influence over what happens in the rest of the world. It is therefore imperative that the country must accumulate extremely large reserves to prevent the country from being buffeted by the rapid changes in the world order.

Be thankful that the CPF is paying far more than the banks. It is testimony to the fact that the government does care.

http://singapore.deposits.org/

TOP DEPOSIT RATES

• 1 year rate0.75%
• 2 year rate0.55%
• 6 month rate0.50%
• 3 month rate0.35%
• 1 month rate0.20%

CPF interest rates

2.5% for Ordinary account. 4% for retirement account... truly a fantastic return in comparison.

 

[Poomer]

I'm not about the start waving placards outside my bank manager's stately home demanding to know why I was not paid more than 4% considering the fact that Westpac made billions this year. As a term deposit holder, I know my place in the food chain.

Well you don't see Westpac extending your 10 year FD to 12 years, a la raising the cpf withdrawal age, or insisting that you mantain a $155,000 balance in your savings account.

Term deposits and CPF savings are low risk savings. Low risk means low return. If Singaporeans want better returns, there is nothing stopping them from using a portion of their take home pay to invest funds with higher returns which of course carry a higher risk too.

Well the point is, the government introduced CPF way back as a form of enforced savings. They've been redrawing the goalposts ever since they implemented the minimum sum. What we are looking at is low risk yet no return as a large part of our CPF goes to paying for overpriced public housing, because it reaches a point of time when a large part of the populace realises that your CPF can basically be used for that and nothing more. The rest goes to ensuring your retirement because the government decide to pass future costs of your retirement to you right now. Have anybody realised that these days the government is not so keen at returning us our CPF?