changes in cpf minimum sum, medisave minimum sum and medisave contribution ceiling from july 01, 2012

the cpf board has announced that cpf members turning age 55 between between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2013 will need to set aside a Minimum Sum (MS) of $139,000 soon. the previous minimum sum for 2011 was $131,000. as for the medisave minimum sum which is the amount that a person turning 55 needs to set aside for his hospitalisation expenses in subsidised Class B2 and C wards, subsidised outpatient treatment for selected chronic conditions and basic MediShield and ElderShield premiums in his old age, will be raised from $36,000 to $38,500. cpf members will be able to withdraw their medisave savings in excess of the medisave minimum sum at or after age 55. the maximum a cpf member may have in his medisave account known as the medisave contribution ceiling is set at $5,000 above the medisave minimum sum and therefore, the latter will be increased to $43,500 from $41,000 previously. any excess of the prevailing medisave contribution ceiling will be transferred to the cpf member's special account if he/she is below age 55 or to his/her retirement account if above age 55 and has a medisave shortfall. my comments: is it any surprise that the adjustments to the cpf minimum sum, the medisave minimum sum and medisave contribution ceiling has been adjusted to account for inflation, longer life expectancies and rising expectations of quality of life post retirement. even though the minimum sum is $131,000 currently and yet, a vast majority of cpf members still fall short of the cpf minimum sum, even after pledging their property which is permitted up to 50% of the minimum sum with the latest figures showing that only 45% of cpf members have met the minimum sum requirement.