By MoneyBees
Keeping money in your CPF Special Account earns more: a 4% floor, against 2.5% in the Ordinary Account, and the Government has extended the 4% floor until 31 December 2027. The catch is access. SA savings are set aside for retirement, so you can't use them for a home, and a transfer from your OA into the SA can't be undone. At 55 your SA closes: since January 2025 its savings move into a new Retirement Account up to your Full Retirement Sum, and the rest goes to your OA. The table and the pros and cons below set the two accounts side by side.
| CPF Ordinary Account (OA) | CPF Special Account (SA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest floor in 2026 (CPF Board) | 2.5%, the legislated minimum | 4%, a floor extended until 31 December 2027 |
| Extra interest, members below 55 (CPF Board) | Part of the +1% on the first S$60,000 of combined balances (OA portion capped at S$20,000) | Part of the +1% on the first S$60,000 of combined balances |
| Extra interest, members 55 and above (CPF Board) | Part of the +2% on the first S$30,000 and +1% on the next S$30,000 (OA portion capped at S$20,000) | n/a. The SA closes at 55 (balances move to the Retirement Account) |
| Primary purpose | Housing, education, insurance, approved investments | Retirement income |
| Can pay for housing? | Yes: HDB and private property | No |
| Liquidity before 55 | Usable now for housing, education and CPFIS investing | Set aside for retirement; cash top-ups and transfers into it cannot be withdrawn for other uses |
| Cash top-ups with tax relief? | No | Yes: up to S$8,000 a year for yourself and S$8,000 for loved ones |
| Investable via CPFIS | Yes (CPFIS-OA), on OA savings above the first S$20,000 | Yes (CPFIS-SA), on SA savings above the first S$40,000 |
| What happens at 55 | Tops up the Retirement Account after the SA, up to the Full Retirement Sum; the rest can be withdrawn | Closes; savings move to the Retirement Account up to the Full Retirement Sum, the rest to the OA |
| Transfer between them (before 55) | Can transfer OA to SA up to the Full Retirement Sum (S$220,400 in 2026). This cannot be undone | Cannot transfer SA back to OA |
| SA 'shielding' before 55 (an old move) | n/a | No longer works: since the SA closure at 55 in January 2025, there is no SA left to shield money in |
The OA is your housing and flexibility account; the SA is retirement money that earns a higher floor, 4% against 2.5% in 2026. What decides it is whether you'll need the money before 55. A home still to buy or pay off keeps the money useful in the OA, because a move into the SA can't be undone. With housing settled and an emergency fund outside CPF, the SA's higher floor compounds untouched, and a cash top-up can also bring income tax relief that an OA-to-SA transfer doesn't. Near 55, remember the SA closes and its savings move to your Retirement Account up to your Full Retirement Sum.
The pros: a 4% floor until 31 December 2027 against the OA's 2.5%, extra interest on the first S$60,000 of combined balances, income tax relief on cash top-ups, and savings that fund your CPF LIFE payouts. The cons: the money is set aside for retirement and can't pay for a home, top-ups and OA-to-SA transfers can't be undone, and the SA closes at 55, when savings above your Full Retirement Sum move to the OA and its lower floor.
In 2026 the OA earns the higher of a formula rate or its 2.5% legislated floor, and the SA earns the higher of a formula rate or a 4% floor, now extended until 31 December 2027. Both sit at their floors, a gap of 1.5 percentage points. On top, members below 55 get an extra 1% on the first S$60,000 of combined balances, with the OA part capped at S$20,000. Members 55 and above get an extra 2% on the first S$30,000 and 1% on the next S$30,000, with the same OA cap. CPF Board reviews the rates every quarter.
Yes. Below 55 you can transfer OA savings into your SA up to the Full Retirement Sum, S$220,400 in 2026, and it earns the SA rate from then on. The transfer can't be undone: the money can't go back to the OA or pay for a home. A transfer also gets no income tax relief; only cash top-ups do.
No. SA savings are set aside for retirement. Cash top-ups and CPF transfers into it can't be withdrawn for other uses, and from 55 the savings move into your Retirement Account, which pays your CPF LIFE payouts from 65.
Yes. Cash top-ups to your own SA or Retirement Account get tax relief of up to S$8,000 a year, and top-ups for parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, your spouse or siblings get up to another S$8,000. A top-up that attracts a Matched Retirement Savings Scheme grant gets no tax relief. The OA takes no top-ups with tax relief.
A Retirement Account is created. Your SA savings move into it first, then your OA savings, up to your Full Retirement Sum. The SA then closes, and anything left in it moves to your OA, where you can withdraw it. Since January 2025 this closure applies to every member at 55.
For members turning 55 in 2026, the Basic Retirement Sum is S$110,200, the Full Retirement Sum is S$220,400 (twice the BRS) and the Enhanced Retirement Sum is S$440,800 (CPF Board). Since 2025 the ERS has been four times the BRS; before that it was three times the BRS. Below 55, OA-to-SA transfers are capped at the FRS. From 55 you can top up your Retirement Account up to the ERS. The sums rise each year: members turning 55 in 2027 have an FRS of S$228,200.
No. Shielding meant members about to turn 55 parked SA money in CPFIS-SA investments so less of it moved into the Retirement Account, then sold later to bring it back into the SA. Since the SA closure at 55 in January 2025 there is no SA left at 55 to bring the money back into. Topping up the Retirement Account, which earns the same 4% floor, up to the Enhanced Retirement Sum is the route that remains.
MediSave is the third CPF account, and it sits outside the OA-versus-SA choice. It pays for approved medical bills and MediShield Life and CareShield Life premiums, and it earns the same 4% floor as the SA in 2026 (CPF Board). It can't pay for housing or retirement income. Once it reaches the Basic Healthcare Sum, new MediSave contributions overflow into your other accounts.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).