Whopping Rm13bil In Voluntary Top Up By Epf Members Last Year

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An EPF official said 70% of members did not touch their funds in the Flexible Account (Account 3), which allows them to withdraw any amount at any time.PETALING JAYA: The voluntary contribution for savings and “top-up” scheme for EPF members attracted some RM13 billion last year, which an official says shows the public’s confidence in keeping their money with the statutory body

According to the official, over 1.6 million members opted to save their money in EPF instead of banks presumably because of the much higher and consistent dividend rates over the last couple of decades.
The contributions involved 1.2 million members and another 400,000 via the i-Saraan scheme, a voluntary contribution for self-employed persons and casual workers without fixed income.
Contributors under i-Saraan will receive a special incentive of 20% up to a maximum of RM500 from the government for their total voluntary contributions.
EPF members who top up voluntarily can add up to RM100,000 to their accounts each year.
The official said 70% of members did not touch their funds in the Flexible Account (Account 3), which allows them to withdraw any amount at any time.
About three million members who have reached 55 and are eligible to withdraw their entire savings are still keeping their money with EPF, given the better returns and security, the official said.
“These show that Malaysians are taking their EPF savings seriously: RM13 billion in a year is a great start, and awareness of the advantages of voluntarily saving with EPF is catching on,” he told FMT.
EPF has more than 15 million EPF members, with about 8.5 million active contributors. - FMT

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