If you are under 55, the maximum CPF contribution per month from your salary in 2026 is $2,960. That is the full 37% rate applied to the $8,000 monthly wage ceiling that took effect on 1 January 2026. Earn above $8,000 and the extra pay attracts nothing more. Older workers hit a different cap because their rates differ, and bonuses run on a separate yearly ceiling. Across a whole year, mandatory and voluntary contributions together cannot exceed the CPF Annual Limit of $37,740. This guide works out the monthly maximum for every age band, then shows how the annual limit and voluntary top-ups stack on top of it.
Your monthly CPF contribution is two numbers multiplied together: the slice of salary that counts, and the contribution rate for your age. CPF only charges on Ordinary Wages up to a monthly cap. For 2026 that cap, the Ordinary Wage ceiling, is $8,000. It climbed there through a phased increase that started in September 2023 and finished with the final $600 step on 1 January 2026.
Above $8,000 of monthly salary, nothing more goes into CPF from Ordinary Wages. Someone on $8,000 and someone on $18,000 contribute exactly the same from their monthly pay. So the maximum monthly contribution is the rate for your age applied to $8,000.
For workers aged 55 and below, the total rate is 37% (20% from you, 17% from your employer). That gives the headline figure: 37% of $8,000 is $2,960 a month. You can model your own number with the CPF contribution calculator if you earn under the ceiling.
Rates step down as you age, and from 1 January 2026 the rates for workers above 55 to 65 went up again as part of the multi-year senior worker increase. Both halves of the equation matter: every band below uses the same $8,000 ceiling, so the only thing changing the cap is the rate.
These caps assume monthly wages above $8,000, so the full ceiling applies. The split between your share and the employer's share decides how much leaves your take-home pay versus how much your employer adds on top.
| Age band | Employee % | Employer % | Total % | Max monthly CPF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 and below | 20% | 17% | 37% | $2,960 |
| Above 55 to 60 | 18% | 16% | 34% | $2,720 |
| Above 60 to 65 | 12.5% | 12.5% | 25% | $2,000 |
| Above 65 to 70 | 7.5% | 9% | 16.5% | $1,320 |
| Above 70 | 5% | 7.5% | 12.5% | $1,000 |
The monthly maximum only covers Ordinary Wages, meaning your salary and monthly allowances. Bonuses, leave encashment and other lump sums are Additional Wages, and they have their own yearly cap rather than a monthly one. The Additional Wage ceiling for a year is $102,000 minus the Ordinary Wages that already attracted CPF that year.
If your monthly pay sits at or above $8,000 for all twelve months, your Ordinary Wages hit $96,000, so only $6,000 of bonus attracts CPF for the whole year. Earn less, and a larger chunk of your bonus is covered. We walk through the full arithmetic in our guide to the Additional Wage ceiling.
Together the Ordinary Wage ceiling and the Additional Wage ceiling are designed so that total CPF-attracting pay in a year cannot exceed $102,000, the annual salary ceiling that has held steady since January 2016.
There is a second ceiling that sits above everything: the CPF Annual Limit. For 2026 it is $37,740, the figure you get by applying the 37% maximum rate to the $102,000 annual salary ceiling. The Annual Limit is the most that can flow into your three accounts in a calendar year from all sources combined: mandatory contributions from salary and bonuses, plus any voluntary contributions to all three accounts.
The number matters most if you plan to top up voluntarily. Your room for voluntary contributions in a year is $37,740 minus whatever mandatory CPF you already received from work. A high earner who already maxes out mandatory CPF has little or no headroom left; someone with patchy or lower employment income has plenty.
Self-employed people without an employer don't get mandatory contributions, so almost the whole Annual Limit is open to them through voluntary contributions, subject to MediSave being topped up first. See our breakdown of the self-employed MediSave requirement for how that works.
Two specific top-up routes sit outside or alongside the $37,740 Annual Limit, and both carry tax relief. They are the reason many people contribute more than their salary alone allows.
The first is the Retirement Sum Topping-Up scheme, which moves cash into your Special Account (under 55) or Retirement Account (55 and up). It is capped by your retirement sum target rather than the Annual Limit. The second is the MediSave top-up, which fills your MediSave up to the Basic Healthcare Sum.
Cash top-ups to your own retirement savings earn up to $8,000 of tax relief a year, with a further $8,000 of relief for topping up family members such as parents, grandparents or a spouse. The amount you can actually pay in is bounded by the current Full Retirement Sum, which is $220,400 in 2026, less what is already in the relevant account.
Voluntary cash into MediSave is capped by the Basic Healthcare Sum, which rises to $79,000 in 2026 for members below 65. MediSave top-ups also count toward the combined $8,000 tax-relief cap shared with RSTU self top-ups, so the two reliefs are not stacked on top of each other beyond $8,000.
Take a 40-year-old earning $9,500 a month with a two-month bonus. CPF charges only the first $8,000 of monthly salary, so the monthly contribution is the maximum $2,960 ($1,600 employee, $1,360 employer). Over twelve months that is $35,520 of mandatory CPF from salary.
Her Ordinary Wages for CPF purposes are $96,000, so her Additional Wage ceiling is $102,000 minus $96,000, leaving $6,000 of bonus that attracts CPF. At 37%, that bonus adds $2,220. Her mandatory CPF for the year is $35,520 plus $2,220, which is $37,740 exactly, the Annual Limit.
Because she already touches the Annual Limit, she has no room for voluntary contributions to all three accounts. She can still do an RSTU cash top-up for tax relief, because RSTU sits outside the Annual Limit. To see how the contribution splits between accounts and grows, run the figures through our CPF contribution calculator and the compound interest calculator.
For employees aged 55 and below, the maximum is $2,960 a month, which is the 37% total contribution rate applied to the $8,000 Ordinary Wage ceiling. Older age bands have lower caps because their contribution rates are lower.
No. Only the first $8,000 of monthly salary attracts CPF in 2026. Anyone earning $8,000 or more contributes the same monthly amount from Ordinary Wages, though a bonus can add more under the separate Additional Wage ceiling.
The CPF Annual Limit is $37,740 for 2026, covering all mandatory and voluntary contributions to your three accounts combined. Separate schemes such as RSTU cash top-ups sit outside this limit and can push your total higher.
Yes. You can make voluntary contributions up to the gap between $37,740 and the mandatory CPF you already received. Beyond that, RSTU top-ups and MediSave top-ups let you add more, each carrying tax relief of up to $8,000.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.