PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are overwhelmingly against a proposal to raise the permissible age for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) members to withdraw their retirement savings from 55 years currently to 60 years.
Counselling therapist Patrick Cheng said he was not in favour of raising the withdrawal age.
“The ages between 50 and 60 is a time when people should innovate and upgrade themselves with another life skill so they will not stagnate and decline when they reach 65.
“If the withdrawal age is kept at 55, it will be easier for people to develop themselves. They should use the money to start a business or develop themselves by taking up a postgraduate degree or a life skills course,” said the 56-year-old.
“Some people also want to use the money to invest in unit trusts or other forms of investment or go on holidays with their family,” said Cheng.
It was earlier reported that EPF was planning to call for a public consultation as a first step towards raising the permissible age for members to withdraw their retirement savings.
A reader, who wanted to be known as Mary, said 55 should be retained with an option given to those who wanted to withdraw at 60.
“There should not be any kind of forced regulation because it is our money. I have been slogging all these years with the hope that by 55, I will be able to withdraw my savings and spend some of it while I still can,” said Mary, 54.
She said although EPF claimed that 68% of its members had less than RM50,000 upon retirement and recommended at least RM198,800 in basic savings, she asked: “What difference would another five years make?”
Marc Leon Herbert, 42, said he would not agree with the proposal unless proper guidelines were drawn up.
“There should be higher dividends and more options to withdraw the sum if needed. I also believe that contributors should be given the option to withdraw the dividend payout every three years to pay for urgent expenses.”
However, neurologist Datuk Dr Raihanah Abdul Khalid said she was in favour of it, adding that lifespans were now longer.
“Many people do not have enough for their retirement. The EPF money should be looked at as entirely for one’s retirement and not as stop-gap savings for everything, including health and education.
“Ideally, one should have multiple forms of savings for different purposes, with EPF being a type of forced retirement savings,” said the doctor, who is in her 40s.
Ahmad Burhan Abd Wahab even suggested that the withdrawal age be set at 70 years for men and 75 years for women.
“Studies suggest that the money lasts only three years. This tallies with the average life expectancy of men (72.6) and women (77.2).”
