Have you recently received your annual CPF statement of account in the mail? You may have noticed it looks different from the previous years

In the past, what you would have received was a table with rows after rows of numbers – something that I believe many people, including myself would just put one side or file it away unless we needed to refer to it. Some people also found the table confusing to understand and decipher.

However this time what we get is a colorful pie chart on page 1 and a colorful table on page 2. That caught my attention and got me looking at it more carefully.

So what are the pie chart and table about? The information is actually not new, it’s about the transactions in and out of your CPF account over the past year. Only this time it is summarised and presented in a much more user friendly format – that is easier to understand for the lay-man.

Page 1 – Amount Credited – $ that went into your CPF over the past year, such as

• Your working contributions from your salary and/or employer
• The interest that was earned in your CPF, broken down by the various accounts
• Any government support e.g Workfare payouts or Pioneer Generation Medisave top ups

Page 2 – Amount Debited- $ that went out to pay for various needs, which includes areas such as

• Housing e.g housing installments, downpayment, HPS premiums etc
• Healthcare e.g medical expenses, Medishield Life or Integrated Shield plan premiums, Eldershield premiums etc
• Education e.g tuition fees for children

And of course you also have the usual table of numbers on a separate sheet which you can then refer to for the details if needed.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the total interest earned in my CPF, especially when comparing to the paltry interest rates in the bank. Although I know that CPF provides higher interest rates than the banks on a percentage basis, it was when the numbers were totaled up that I actually appreciate the difference it makes! Plus – the breakdown of the interest on the Medisave account gives me a clearer picture of the amount that can help to pay for the premiums of Integrated Shield and Eldershield supplements etc without touching the basic funds.

As you can see, I like this new format of the CPF statement – what about you? Do share your thoughts and comments about the new CPF statement!

Oh and by the way if you have new ideas or feedback about the statement you can complete a simple survey at www.cpf.gov.sg/ysoa2015survey by 31st Mar 2016 and 1000 respondents stand to win a $5 NTUC voucher

To Your Success and Happiness,

Yong Hui