The United Nations classifies any nation with 21% of its population aged 65 and above as super-aged.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/566cc8f963b86babf32bdc3fabbddc2dad92b1a8cdf77e236d68d0e477f13db0.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Marsh highlighted in its report that ageing populations are placing increasing strain on government budgets.<\/p>\n
Public pensions, especially those that operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, will not be sustainable because they rely on taxes from the current working population to fund the retirement payouts of today\u2019s retirees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the population ages, there will be a smaller workforce to pay for the retirement benefits of a growing pool of retirees.<\/p>\n
Marsh noted that growing financial strain will prompt many countries to review the funding of their pension systems.<\/p>\n
Governments will either have to cut retirement benefits or encourage their population to save for their future payouts in advance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CPF is funded by contributions<\/p>\n
Marsh noted that Singapore\u2019s CPF, unlike other pension systems, is \u201cfully funded with contributions from both employers and employees\u201d.<\/p>\n
These CPF contributions are invested primarily in special Singapore Government Securities, which allow the CPF Board to pay interest of at least 2.5% on Ordinary Account savings and at least 4% on Special Account and Retirement Account (RA) savings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walter Theseira, associate professor of economics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, added that because CPF payouts are based solely on one\u2019s own retirement savings, they will not be affected by government tax constraints or public finance challenges.<\/p>\n
CPF Life, the national longevity insurance annuity scheme, pays out income from each member\u2019s CPF personal retirement savings pot for as long as they live.<\/p>\n
More savings in their RA when they join the scheme means they receive a higher monthly payout.<\/p>\n
CPF members have the flexibility to start their lifelong monthly payouts anytime between the ages of 65 and 70.<\/p>\n
Those who choose to wait can expect their monthly payouts to grow by up to 7% a year for each year of deferment.<\/p>\n
A CPF member can therefore receive up to a 35% increase in payouts by waiting until the age of 70.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theseira pointed out that retirees must carefully evaluate the trade-offs of taking their payouts earlier or later.<\/p>\n
If they defer their payouts, they run the risk of not being able to enjoy their retirement if they have a shorter healthy lifespan than expected.<\/p>\n
However, starting payouts early results in smaller monthly sums and a potentially lower standard of living, he noted.<\/p>\n
Adapting to longer, flexible retirements<\/p>\n
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, highlighting the need for flexibility in the pension system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tim Jenkins, lead author of the report and partner at Marsh Investments and Retirement, noted that such flexibility is no longer optional.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People should be allowed to choose when they take their retirement income, how their retirement plans are designed and how they transition from full-time work to retirement, he said.<\/p>\n
For example, not everyone will want to stop working at age 65. Some may want or have to continue working full-time. Others may opt to go part-time or do freelance work, and some may retire.<\/p>\n
This option to work beyond the traditional retirement ages of 60 or 65 is becoming more crucial as life expectancies rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Longer working lives directly strengthen one\u2019s retirement adequacy as individuals continue earning and growing their retirement savings.<\/p>\n
Marsh noted in its report that the largest increase in the average labour force participation rate for those aged 65 and above was observed for Singapore, which saw a 19% jump from 2003 to 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In comparison, the average participation rate for this age cohort across more than 30 pension systems covered in the index grew by a more modest 4%.<\/p>\n
The Republic has progressively raised its retirement and re-employment ages since January 1999 to enable senior workers to continue working if they are able and wish to.<\/p>\n
By 2030, it will fully realise its goal of establishing a statutory retirement age of 65 and a re-employment age of 70.<\/p>\n
Joelle Fong, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said Singapore\u2019s clear and transparent retirement and re-employment policies serve to change corporate behaviour by ensuring legal compliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, her January 2026 study in the International Journal of Manpower showed that employers\u2019 mindsets have been slow to catch up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In her survey of 509 employers from about 20 major industries in Singapore, Fong found that\u00a0 \u201cemployers exhibited distinct hiring preference for mature workers (aged 50 to 59) as compared to senior workers (60 and above)\u201d.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, employers also showed more supportive attitudes towards providing development and training opportunities for workers in their 50s than for those in their 60s, she said.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, changing long-held mindsets and updating corporate practices take time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jenkins added that even the best-performing systems need to keep evolving. \u201cNo pension system can afford to stand still in the face of demographic shifts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore\u2019s Central Provident Fund (CPF) has retained its A rating for a second consecutive year in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245],"class_list":["post-636115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636115","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=636115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}