FMT:
Economist sounds alarm over Malays’ low EPF savings
The median savings of seven million Malay EPF members has dropped to RM5,500 post-pandemic.
Deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan says dwindling EPF savings was one reason the government did not want to allow another round of withdrawals. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: An economist has urged the government to find ways to replenish the retirement savings of Employees Provident Fund members, saying the situation among the Malays is especially worrying.
Barjoyai Bardai said the RM5,500 median savings of the Malays meant that many of the seven million EPF members from the community would not have enough to retire on.
The Universiti Tun Abdul Razak lecturer said EPF’s minimum basic savings target was RM240,000 which should be able to generate around 6% interest per year. This should see pensioners earning around RM1,000 a month.
“If someone retires with RM50,000 in their EPF, they would be looking at annual returns of RM250 a month. That’s not enough,” he told FMT. “Imagine the situation of those who will retire with less than RM50,000. It’s quite grim.”
PETALING JAYA: An economist has urged the government to find ways to replenish the retirement savings of Employees Provident Fund members, saying the situation among the Malays is especially worrying.
Barjoyai Bardai said the RM5,500 median savings of the Malays meant that many of the seven million EPF members from the community would not have enough to retire on.
The Universiti Tun Abdul Razak lecturer said EPF’s minimum basic savings target was RM240,000 which should be able to generate around 6% interest per year. This should see pensioners earning around RM1,000 a month.
“If someone retires with RM50,000 in their EPF, they would be looking at annual returns of RM250 a month. That’s not enough,” he told FMT. “Imagine the situation of those who will retire with less than RM50,000. It’s quite grim.”
kt comments: OK PM, load up their accounts each to at least RM240,000
Last week, deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan said the median EPF savings of Malays had dwindled from RM16,900 to RM5,500 due to withdrawals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahmad said this was one of the reasons the government did not want to allow another round of withdrawals.
Barjoyai said if the problem of low savings was not resolved, many elderly Malays would be forced to continue working beyond retirement. The labour market would be filled by elderly people, he said.
“What about those who are incapable of working? They would be a burden on the government because they still have to be looked after.”
On the government’s one-off contribution of RM500 to EPF members aged between 40 and 54 with less than RM10,000 in their Account 1, Barjoyai said it would not help much as the amount was negligible.
Last Friday, finance minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the one-off contribution as part of Budget 2023, adding it would benefit two million EPF members at a cost of RM1 billion.
Former Klang MP Charles Santiago, meanwhile, called for a new social protection policy to ensure those with inadequate savings could survive after retirement.
“The main problem with the EPF is that people aren’t earning enough, so you are not saving enough to cope with the rising cost of living.”
He proposed the establishment of a fund for those who had retired but did not have sufficient savings.
“We can look at various ways to raise the funds, be it through bonds or contributions. The fund itself can be managed by EPF or Socso.
“But the idea is to help disburse funds to those who need it. In the meantime, the government needs to ramp up reskilling efforts to help workers earn more so they can save up for retirement.”
At least Anwar's government is resisting the call to allow another round of EPF withdrawal. Anothervwithdrawal will make it worse for those with extremely low EPF savings.
ReplyDeleteAnd people like Mahiaddin couldn't care less so long as he can score some political points.
Many questions have been asked about the low EPF savings of the melayu. Thus affecting their retired lives.
ReplyDeleteYet how many of these smartalecky pretenders ever do cross check on
1) Melayu only yet govt supported funds of ASM, ASB & ASB2 etc managed under PNB
2) melayu under govt pension scheme
3) multitudes of govt manna given out specially to the melayu at large irrespective of wealth standings
Part of the low EPF savings of the melayu is due to many melayu prefer govt jobs with pension than private sector with EPF. In fact many work in private just as stepping stone before opportunities arise to switch job to public sector. After switching to public jobs their EPF contributions stop & remain do till they retire from their govt jobs with pensions!
The ASM, ASB & ASB2 etc managed under PNB have benefited the delay tremendously as durian runtuh with very minimum contributions. But this schemes have been long exploited by their elites, to sapu clean the mother life of fund!
Then those endless free manna from the long line of ketuananized policies…
If REAL & TRANSPARENT in-depth comparisons r made then the majority of the B40 melayu crowd r not fared as dire in their retired lives as these pretenders made up to be!
A possible yet unlikely solution to redress the low incomes & savings of the melayu B40.
ReplyDeleteRedistribution of wealth gap was the key ingredient of the original NEP as envisioned under the proposal outlined by Dr Just Faaland. Unfortunately it was twisted & masqueraded as get-rich-quick tool to enrich the melayu elites, along the ways paying bread crumbs to their blurred B40 kindred while robbing the Nons with multiples of 'possitive' discriminative govt policies.
Thus going back to that original Faaland theme is the solution to help these dire melayu B40.
There r large numbers of melayu millionaires & billionaires profited humongously from the ketuananized NEP. Only very few were deserving their rich rewards via hard works. Yet many of their offsprings have now learnt the easy way out of 'Kaum dan Agama' fart as a new way to earn their ill-gotten riches.
Thus, majority of these NEP profiteers par excellent SHOULD have their incomes/assets evaluated in a special category, aka zakat clone, separately. The resulting monetary incomes would then be channelled into a 'reworked' PNB fund for redistributions amongst the melayu. Remember the wealth generated is supposedly used to correct the income gaps amongst the melayu!
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ReplyDeleteThere r now new awareness in the developed West that the rich should pay more taxes to help the society at large. After all they gain AGAIN as the society is sopo-economically level & harmonious. This is the new insight of taxing higher rate for the top level income earners in UK/Scandinavia etc.
BTW, zakat payment must be made more transparent as compared to now. Many melayu opt to pay zakat in lieu of income tax. The averaged melayu should allow them to choose that religious option. But the super rich melayu should only be allowed to portion part of their incomes to zakat estimations. The major income portion should be taxed as described above in a separate account. This should be as in the model of the superannuation tax for the rich retirees as proposed in coming Oz budget.
In this regard, the rich Nons shouldn't be touched as they have all the times paying their due income tax contributions while at the same time been forced to attained to NEP guidelines, as compared with the verylow number of melayu taxpayer. Moreover, their efforts r hard-earned via years sometimes century, of ploughing that small seedlings into big trees. No rentseeking, just pure daily/yearly hard works while providing employments & sustaining national economy in their respective ways.
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ReplyDeleteThe PNB should be reorganized & reworked with new & dedicated people of all race. Mohammed Ali's vision has been corrupted by years of toxic practices of new generation of giatunas graduates who r ability challenged & yet outwardly fame-seeking with little competence. These people crowded the top managerial positions while earning big fat remuneration!
The Guthrie share reward for Khalid, who was championed by the ketuanan fart, was just a front man for the dawn raid schema proposed by the Jewish Goldman Sachs was a wrong wrong move that Mohammed Ali would turn in his grave! It sets a precedent that all the 'energized' greenhorn-ed giatunas executives would do - camouflaging as able managerial executives via using foreign expertise to administrate their cares. Along the way viable businesses r been rundown as corpses. Examples - Pharmaniaga, BPMB, Bank Bumiputra, POS & etc etc.
A restructured PNB loaded with able & competent executives on all levels & from all race would inject new insight into PNB's real noble aim to help the melayu. The diverse group of executives besides creating different mindsets also built-in check&balance via kindred peer pressure!
The size of PNB fund is huge, very huge. Yet it's operations r never transparent partly due to its quoted 'bigotrial' aim, partly the current top echelons r just helping each other's to profit themselves in robbing the funds blind. Thus a yearly transparent reporting of the PNB performances should be made public - for the sake of the blur-sotong.
The profit distribution of the PNB funds should skewed towards the lower end contributors while restricting those big contributors trying to make a durian runtuh killing in the safe funds by raising their unit sizes.
The mentality of the B40 melayu must be reinvigorated via education of hard works & true learnings - no more shortcuts of giatunas farts! No more that zombieic - insaf Allah diatribe - u work for what u gain, zilch manna from anywhere! Don't be the moppets of yr elites!
Wakakakaka… This is my wet dream for bolihland. & I will tan ku Ku for it to turn fruitful.