Tuesday, March 17, 2009

EPF

EPF?? What's that??

Some of use might dun really noe wat is EPF. EPF, aka Employees' Provident Fund, is actually a compulsory programme that provides retirement benefits for employee through management of their savings in an efficient and reliable manner. Currently, the employees contribute either 8% or 11% of their monthly income while the employers contribute 12% of the income. Therefore, we can say that each employee has saved at least 20% of their monthly income for their retirement. 

From the government's effort in making EPF a compulsory programme, we have seen that how important the role of everyone in preparing retirement plan. We should not take for granted that since our government has made EPF a compulsory programme, therefore it is unnecessary for us to prepare retirement plan ourselves. Although the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Board will declare dividend annually for the members, is the sum enough for the employees to enjoy the retirement life? This year, the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Board declare a 4.5% dividend for the members. The figure looks good during the economic crisis. However, according to past history, we can see that the dividend declared has been progressively declining since 1987. [This is the information that I get from wikipedia. Trying to get a more reliable source of information. Will update once i get the result]

So u might be wondering how should we prepare our retirement planning? There are a lot of websites provide financial calculator to help u to calculate the total amount that u need for retirement. U might b surprise when u calculate the amount. The following link will assist u in calculating the retirement amount that u need. 

Get a scary amount?? Panic?? Calm down and relax. Wat u should do is to prepare urself a retirement planning and start executing the plan. Long-term investment might be a solution to start with.