PETALING JAYA: Monthly withdrawals under the Employees Provident Fund\u2019s (EPF) i-Emas scheme should be tailored according to individual needs, where retirees are given flexibility to take money out for genuine emergencies.<\/p>\n
Consumer finance expert Prof Dr Mohamad Fazli Sabri said setting a fixed amount would not work for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cA retiree who owns a fully paid-off home and has other income will have different needs from someone who is renting, supporting a spouse or receiving regular medical treatment,\u201d said the Universiti Putra Malaysia Human Ecology Faculty dean.<\/p>\n
Fazli said i-Emas, the rebranded monthly payment option under EPF\u2019s Age 55 and Age 60 Withdrawal, could act as a \u201cself-funded monthly salary\u201d and help retirees budget for food, utilities, transport and healthcare.<\/p>\n
Under the scheme, eligible members can receive at least RM100 monthly, or RM1,200 yearly, for at least 12 months or until age 100.<\/p>\n
He said withdrawal flexibility should be offered for emergencies such as medical treatment or essential repairs after a disaster, adding that there should not be a withdrawal cap for such cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cRM8,000 represents one-fifth of a RM40,000 balance, but only 2% of a RM400,000 balance,\u201d he said, adding that the same amount could have different consequences for the financial security of different people.<\/p>\n
He suggested that the retirement fund provide information detailing the remaining balance, its impact on future monthly income and how long savings might last \u2013 before a withdrawal is made.<\/p>\n
He said monthly withdrawals would allow the retiree \u201cpredictable\u201d cash flow, while the savings that remain in the EPF account would continue to earn annual dividends.<\/p>\n
However, he cautioned that dividends may not fully offset withdrawals and one should not assume that the rates would not change in the future.<\/p>\n
Inadequate savings remain a concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cDividing a small balance into monthly payments does not automatically make it sufficient. For example, RM60,000 withdrawn at RM1,000 per month would last five years, excluding dividends and other withdrawals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the purchasing power of retirees would be affected and they would have to budget.<\/p>\n
Retired accountant Lim Poh Tsuan, 62, from Subang Jaya said the i-Emas was a good idea, especially for retirees who need a steady monthly income to cover their daily expenses, but contributors should be given the option to withdraw money in the event of an emergency or urgent family matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be able to manage our own savings, especially after working so hard for so many years. The good thing about i-Emas is that we can receive money every month without worrying too much about spending all our savings at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, the amount must be enough to cover basic needs. If the monthly payment is too small, it may not help much, especially with the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I think a combination of monthly payments and flexible emergency withdrawals would be the best option,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PETALING JAYA: Monthly withdrawals under the Employees Provident Fund\u2019s (EPF) i-Emas scheme should be tailored according to individual…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,36112,197327,246,311140,311141,311138,311139,111,139,69,244,245,311143,66929,2532,311142],"class_list":["post-634877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-consumer-finance","tag-essential-expenses","tag-finance","tag-flexible-emergencies","tag-future-financial-security","tag-i-emas-scheme","tag-monthly-withdrawal","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-predictable-cash-flow","tag-purchasing-power","tag-retirement-planning","tag-savings-illustration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}