Read your own CPF statement and choose one action to take this year.
CPF sends you a statement every year, and most people look only at the total before closing it. The total hides three things: whether every contribution arrived, how much interest your savings earned, and whether your savings would pass smoothly to someone if you died. You can check all three in about twenty minutes. You will end up with a one-page summary to keep for next year's review.
You need Singpass to log in. Your payslips for the last twelve months are also useful, if you can find them.
Log in to cpf.gov.sg with Singpass and open your transaction history. Filter it to the last twelve months or the last calendar year. A contribution is what you and your employer put into CPF. You should see one credited for every month you were employed. Each contribution shows the employer's name and the amount, split across your accounts.
Contributions for one month's wages are usually paid in the following month, so January's pay normally appears in February. Match each credit to the month of wages it covers. If a month shows up a month later than you expected, it is not missing.
Next, compare a few months against your payslips. The total CPF on a payslip is your share plus your employer's share, and it should match the amount that arrived. Three things are worth raising: a gap, a month with nothing, or an amount that does not match. Take any of these to HR or the payroll team first, because the cause is often a simple delay or a payroll error. If HR or payroll does not resolve it, you can report it to the CPF Board, which follows up with employers that do not pay. Look closely at the months around a job change, because missing contributions most often turn up there.
Wei Ling opens last year's transaction history and matches each credit to the month of wages it covers. Eleven of the twelve months are present, and March is missing. March was her first month at a new job. March's wages should have been credited in April, but nothing arrived in April. The new employer's first credit arrived in May, and it was for April's wages. Her March payslip shows that CPF was deducted. The money left her pay but never reached her account, so March is the item she needs to chase.
Write down the current balance of each of your three accounts: Ordinary, Special and MediSave. Then find last year's interest, which is what your CPF money earned on its own. CPF works out interest monthly but credits it once a year, around the turn of the year. You will find one interest entry per account in the transaction history and on the yearly statement.
Record interest separately from contributions. Contributions show what you and your employer put in, and interest shows what the money earned by itself. Over a working life, interest can become a large share of the total, so it helps to watch it as its own figure.
Wei Ling's balances are S$32,000 in her Ordinary Account (an example figure), S$11,000 in her Special Account and S$14,000 in MediSave, a total of S$57,000. Last year's interest was S$760 on Ordinary, S$440 on Special and S$560 on MediSave. S$760 + S$440 + S$560 = S$1,760, and she writes that S$1,760 total at the top of her page.
Your nomination status is shown on the CPF dashboard. A CPF nomination decides who receives your CPF savings if you die. You need one because CPF savings do not pass under a will. Without a nomination, your savings take a slower route to your family. For now, only note the status: "nomination made" with its date, or "no nomination". Module 8 explains what a nomination does and how to make or update one.
Wei Ling's dashboard shows no nomination.
Pick one action for the year and give it a month by which it will be done. Choosing only one makes it more likely to get done. The usual candidates are:
Confirm a missing or doubtful contribution with your employer. Make a CPF nomination. If you made one before a marriage, divorce or child, it may need updating. Review how much of your Ordinary Account has gone on housing. If you sell the home, you must refund that money with accrued interest. If you are below 55, the refund goes to your Ordinary Account. If you are 55 or older, it is first used to top up your Retirement Account to your Full Retirement Sum, and any balance stays in your Ordinary Account. The CPF Board publishes the current Full Retirement Sum on its website. Lesson 5.2 explained this. Use the retirement planner if you have never used it. Lesson 5.3 covered how.
Wei Ling has two candidates: the missing March contribution and the nomination. She picks March, because a payroll mistake is easier to fix while the month is recent, and puts the nomination at the top of her list for module 8. Her action is to email the new employer's HR about March CPF this week. If it is not credited by the end of next month, she will report it to the CPF Board.
Then write your summary on one page. It holds the date, each balance and the total, last year's interest by account and in total, your nomination status, and one action with a deadline. Wei Ling's summary fits on half a page.
Your own version is finished when you have checked twelve months of contributions, written down each balance and last year's interest, noted your nomination status, and chosen one dated action. Keep the summary with your net worth sheet from lesson 1.3, because next year's review starts from it.
Write a short CPF summary with your balances, last year's interest, your nomination status and the one action you will take this year.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).