Perhaps it’s in our Asian blood, but there’s one thing that Singaporeans love: Competition.
The desire to be number one in everything has led to a classic trait found in most of us.
Being kiasu (fear of losing out) meant wanting to win in everything.
Which is why I suppose most of us would be curious where we stand in terms of our finances as well.
With most of us still largely conservative when it comes to discussing our net worth or salaries , topics like these usually remain a huge mystery.
Our Central Provident Fund (CPF) account is an integral part of our personal finances given its compulsory nature, and usually functions as part of our retirement fund.
If you don’t already know, CPF publishes annual reports which not only include financial statements, but also juicy details like CPF balances of members across different age groups.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the data provided by these reports!
TL;DR: How much an average CPF member have in his/her CPF accounts according to age group
Here’s a quick look at the median CPF balances across age groups.
Age Group
Median CPF Balance
Up to 20
Below $20,000
> 20 – 25
Below $20,000
> 25 – 30
$40,000 to
> 30 – 35
$120,000 to
> 35 – 40
$180,000 to
> 40 – 45
$220,000 to
> 45 – 50
$260,000 to
> 50 – 55
$220,000 to
> 55 – 60
$180,000 to
> 60 – 65
$140,000 to
> 65 – 70
$100,000 to
> 70 – 75
$60,000 to
> 75 – 80
$20,000 to
Above 80
Below $20,000
Scroll down to find out more about the distribution of CPF savings and where you stand!
ALSO READ: CPF interest rates: Minimum 4% on Special, MediSave, and Retirement Accounts extended till 2021
CPF balances across age groups
CPF provided a table that indicates the distribution of regrossed CPF balances across age groups as of Dec 31, 2019.
If you’re wondering what ‘regrossed‘ means, this means that the amounts that are withdrawn under Investment, Education, Residential Properties, Non-Residential Properties, and Public Housing Schemes are included.
How to quickly read it: Locate your age group and the amount of CPF savings you have.
For instance, if you’re 30 and have $100,000 in your CPF account, you’re 1 out of the 21,500 people in that range.
CPF Balance ($)
Age Group
Total Balance ($‘000)
Up to 20 years old
>20 – 25 years old
>25 – 30 years old
>30 – 35 years old
>35 – 40 years old
>40 – 45 years old
>45 – 50 years old
>50 – 55 years old
>55 – 60 years old
>60 – 65 years old
>65 – 70 years old
>70 – 75 years old
>75 – 80 years old
Above 80 years old
Below 20,000
370,520
194,980
76,690
39,850
33,900
32,070
36,640
56,240
75,920
63,580
60,580
51,610
46,360
92,620
6,184,198
20,000 to below 40,000
930
27,220
48,170
21,330
15,980
13,800
14,210
15,730
17,830
19,420
20,310
19,090
15,760
21,830
8,039,421
40,000 to below 60,000
230
9,270
43,990
21,210
14,790
12,820
13,220
14,000
16,590
18,680
18,130
17,810
14,650
14,430
11,446,050
60,000 to below 80,000
130
3,380
36,560
22,050
14,340
12,170
12,330
13,200
15,420
16,680
15,530
14,770
9,510
5,990
13,401,912
80,000 to below 100,000
70
1,180
29,330
23,280
13,970
11,720
12,200
12,560
14,450
15,010
13,580
14,330
6,670
3,280
15,417,558
100,000 to below 120,000
30
330
21,500
24,660
14,280
11,560
11,570
12,060
13,180
13,220
12,540
11,500
3,820
1,880
16,704,003
120,000 to below 140,000
20
100
14,390
24,730
14,510
11,340
11,340
11,310
12,460
12,730
11,820
8,800
2,520
1,170
17,820,070
140,000 to below 160,000
20
30
8,950
23,440
15,180
11,440
10,790
10,680
11,900
12,870
11,820
6,530
1,760
840
18,917,745
160,000 to below 180,000
10
30
5,170
21,050
15,660
11,720
10,600
10,010
10,870
11,540
11,250
5,240
1,310
530
19,529,369
180,000 to below 200,000
50
30
3,070
18,030
15,700
11,560
10,200
9,470
10,450
11,100
10,470
4,320
950
360
20,075,660
200,000 to below 220,000
10
10
1,570
15,060
15,620
11,590
9,930
8,950
10,390
11,380
9,110
3,380
650
330
20,562,242
220,000 to below 240,000
20
20
890
12,620
15,120
11,730
9,610
8,680
11,360
12,650
7,370
2,650
530
220
21,487,290
240,000 to below 260,000
10
#0
350
10,110
14,400
11,300
9,530
8,300
11,840
10,720
5,970
2,100
460
190
21,298,198
260,000 to below 280,000
#0
–
170
8,070
13,570
11,420
9,290
8,150
9,850
8,460
5,080
1,820
360
150
20,613,854
280,000 to below 300,000
#0
#0
80
6,150
12,440
10,800
8,900
7,740
8,700
7,370
4,430
1,500
290
130
19,861,372
300,000 to below 400,000
10
10
70
13,120
48,970
48,370
41,620
34,160
36,530
27,530
15,520
5,220
910
370
94,422,584
400,000 to below 500,000
–
–
10
1,090
24,210
39,290
35,600
28,890
24,810
17,190
8,890
3,030
480
160
82,042,869
500,000 & above
–
–
10
50
5,380
41,100
80,290
85,490
66,050
43,610
20,820
6,420
790
240
248,633,356
# – Number of CPF members is less than 5
CPF balances according to age group (in per cent)
Well, that is A LOT of numbers.
Now, let’s further break down the data into percentages for a clearer view.
CPF Balance
Up to 20 years old
>20 – 25 years old
>25 – 30 years old
>30 – 35 years old
>35 – 40 years old
>40 – 45 years old
>45 – 50 years old
>50 – 55 years old
>55 – 60 years old
>60 – 65 years old
>65 – 70 years old
>70 – 75 years old
>75 – 80 years old
Above 80 years old
Below $20,000
99.59 per cent
82.41 per cent
26.36 per cent
13.03 per cent
10.66 per cent
9.84 per cent
10.53 per cent
15.81 per cent
20.05 per cent
19.05 per cent
23.01 per cent
28.65 per cent
43.01 per cent
64.00 per cent
$20,000 to < $40,000
0.25 per cent
11.51 per cent
16.5 5per cent
6.97 per cent
5.02 per cent
4.24 per cent
4.08 per cent
4.42 per cent
4.7 1per cent
5.82 per cent
7.72 per cent
10.60 per cent
14.62 per cent
15.08 per cent
$40,000 to < $60,000
0.06 per cent
3.92 per cent
15.12 per cent
6.93 per cent
4.65 per cent
3.93 per cent
3.80 per cent
3.94 per cent
4.38 per cent
5.60 per cent
6.89 per cent
9.89 per cent
13.59 per cent
9.97 per cent
$60,000 to < $80,000
0.03 per cent
1.43 per cent
12.56 per cent
7.21 per cent
4.51 per cent
3.74 per cent
3.54 per cent
3.71 per cent
4.07 per cent
5.00 per cent
5.90 per cent
8.20 per cent
8.82 per cent
4.14 per cent
$80,000 to < $100,000
0.02 per cent
0.50 per cent
10.08 per cent
7.61 per cent
4.39 per cent
3.60 per cent
3.51 per cent
3.53 per cent
3.82 per cent
4.50 per cent
5.16 per cent
7.96 per cent
6.1 9 per cent
2.27 per cent
$100,000 to < $120,000
0.01 per cent
0.14 per cent
7.39 per cent
8.06 per cent
4.49 per cent
3.55 per cent
3.33 per cent
3.39 per cent
3.48 per cent
3.96 per cent
4.76 per cent
6.38 per cent
3.54 per cent
1.30 per cent
$120,000 to < $140,000
0.01 per cent
0.04 per cent
4.95 per cent
8.08 per cent
4.56 per cent
3.48 per cent
3.26 per cent
3.18 per cent
3.29 per cent
3.81 per cent
4.49 per cent
4.89 per cent
2.34 per cent
0.81 per cent
$140,000 to < $160,000
0.01 per cent
0.01 per cent
3.08 per cent
7.66 per cent
4.77 per cent
3.51 per cent
3.10 per cent
3.00 per cent
3.14 per cent
3.86 per cent
4.49 per cent
3.63 per cent
1.63 per cent
0.58 per cent
$160,000 to < $180,000
0.00 per cent
0.01 per cent
1.78 per cent
6.88 per cent
4.92 per cent
3.60 per cent
3.05 per cent
2.81 per cent
2.87 per cent
3.46 per cent
4.27 per cent
2.91 per cent
1.22 per cent
0.37 per cent
$180,000 to < $200,000
0.01 per cent
0.01 per cent
1.06 per cent
5.89 per cent
4.94 per cent
3.55 per cent
2.93 per cent
2.66 per cent
2.76 per cent
3.33 per cent
3.98 per cent
2.40 per cent
0.88 per cent
0.25 per cent
$200,000 to < $220,000
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.54 per cent
4.92 per cent
4.91 per cent
3.56 per cent
2.85 per cent
2.52 per cent
2.74 per cent
3.41 per cent
3.46 per cent
1.88 per cent
0.60 per cent
0.23 per cent
$220,000 to < $240,000
0.01 per cent
0.01 per cent
0.31 per cent
4.13 per cent
4.75 per cent
3.60 per cent
2.76 per cent
2.44 per cent
3.00 per cent
3.79 per cent
2.80 per cent
1.47 per cent
0.49 per cent
0.15 per cent
$240,000 to < $260,000
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.12 per cent
3.31 per cent
4.53 per cent
3.47 per cent
2.74 per cent
2.33 per cent
3.13 per cent
3.21 per cent
2.27 per cent
1.17 per cent
0.43 per cent
0.13 per cent
$260,000 to < $280,000
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.06 per cent
2.64 per cent
4.27 per cent
3.51 per cent
2.67 per cent
2.29 per cent
2.60 per cent
2.53 per cent
1.93 per cent
1.01 per cent
0.33 per cent
0.10 per cent
$280,000 to < $300,000
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.03 per cent
2.01 per cent
3.91 per cent
3.31 per cent
2.56 per cent
2.18 per cent
2.30 per cent
2.21 per cent
1.68 per cent
0.83 per cent
0.27 per cent
0.09 per cent
$300,000 to < $400,000
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.02 per cent
4.29 per cent
15.40 per cent
14.85 per cent
11.96 per cent
9.61 per cent
9.65 per cent
8.25 per cent
5.90 per cent
2.90 per cent
0.84 per cent
0.26 per cent
$400,000 to < $500,000
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.36 per cent
7.61 per cent
12.06 per cent
10.23 per cent
8.12 per cent
6.55 per cent
5.15 per cent
3.38 per cent
1.68 per cent
0.45 per cent
0.11 per cent
$500,000 & above
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.00 per cent
0.02 per cent
1.69 per cent
12.62 per cent
23.08 per cent
24.04 per cent
17.45 per cent
13.07 per cent
7.91 per cent
3.56 per cent
0.73 per cent
0.17 per cent
As expected, the majority of individuals below 25 years old have less than $40,000 in their CPF account.
The distribution starts to vary greatly especially for those aged between 30 to 40.
This period is also where most of us are on different career trajectories as well.
What’s interesting to note is that there is a whopping 15.4 per cent of individuals between 35 to 40 years old with CPF balances between $300,000 to $400,000 .
And 7.61 per cent having between $400,000 to $500,000 .
If you’re one of them, you’ll well on your way to becoming a CPF millionaire .
It’s also heartening to note that about 39.5 per cent of those aged between 40 to 45 years old have at least $300,000 in their accounts.
There’s also a whopping 23.08 per cent of individuals aged from 45 to 50 with more than $500,000 in their accounts.
ALSO READ: I'm a Singaporean millennial: How much CPF do I need to retire?
How does my CPF balance compare to those in my age group?
Now you might be wondering – how do I fare against my peers in the same age group?
Here’s where we can look at the median CPF balances (i.e. 50 per cent percentile) across the age groups.
Note: We look at the median instead of the mean due to the skewed distribution across some age groups (e.g. below 20 and above 80).
Using this graph above, we can see the variations across different age groups, showing how the concentration of individuals with high CPF balances increases accordingly, and then decreases again when individuals reach retirement.
As for the median CPF balances, here are the results:
Age Group
Median CPF Balance
Up to 20
Below $20,000
> 20 – 25
Below $20,000
> 25 – 30
$40,000 to
> 30 – 35
$120,000 to
> 35 – 40
$180,000 to
> 40 – 45
$220,000 to
> 45 – 50
$260,000 to
> 50 – 55
$220,000 to
> 55 – 60
$180,000 to
> 60 – 65
$140,000 to
> 65 – 70
$100,000 to
> 70 – 75
$60,000 to
> 75 – 80
$20,000 to
Above 80
Below $20,000
Ways to increase CPF savings
Now you’ve seen the numbers and have a rough gauge of where you stand.
If you have more in your CPF account than an average Singaporean, congratulations!
But if you have yet to reach those numbers, don’t worry as well.
There are various ways to increase your CPF savings and make your CPF money work for you.
Some of these methods have been widely covered by our existing articles, which include:
Topping up your CPF Special Account
Transfer from your CPF Ordinary Account to Special Account
Keep $20,000 in your CPF Ordinary Account instead of wiping it out for HDB loan
Doing voluntary top-ups to CPF accounts
Invest using the CPF Investment Scheme
By starting some of these hacks early, you can still ride on the compounding effect of the attractive interest rates that CPF offers.
That being said, as we all know that CPF top-ups are irreversible, please only do so if that is something that aligns with your financial goals, and do assess your own financial situation before making any decisions.
This article was first published in Seedly. All content is displayed for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice.
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