KUALA LUMPUR: According to the Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) latest guide on monthly expenditure for retirees, a single elderly person needs RM2,690 a month to maintain a reasonable standard of living in retirement.
The pension fund today launched Belanjawanku 2024/2025, which is a guide developed by the EPF and the Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC) at the University of Malaya to estimate the minimum monthly expenses needed for a decent living standard.
Initially focused on the Klang Valley, the guide now covers 11 other major cities in Malaysia and is updated yearly to reflect current living costs.
According to the EPF, it serves as a practical tool for households and a valuable reference for policymakers.
Meanwhile, the EPF has also rolled out the Retirement Income Adequacy (RIA) Framework, which revises the recommended savings level from a single benchmark to three tiers, comprising "basic", "adequate" and "enhanced" levels of savings.
According to the EPF, the RIA Framework, which is set to be implemented in January 2026, allows members to set savings targets that reflect different retirement lifestyles and aspirations.
"This approach emphasises the importance of viewing EPF savings as a source of ongoing income, helping members to understand savings they will need to sustain themselves during retirement," said the pension fund.
Due to the rising cost of living, the RIA Framework will be reviewed every three years starting from 2029, using updated data from the Belanjawanku findings.
The revisions to the Belanjawanku savings benchmarks will have implications for the withdrawal threshold for EPF members, as well as the amount of savings members can transfer from their Akaun Persaraan to approved funds.
