Greater benefits: People ride bikes with the skyline of the central business district in Singapore in the background. The retirement and medical care schemes are designed to help eligible Singaporeans boost their retirement and healthcare savings. — Reuters
SINGAPORE: More Singaporeans will be eligible for two schemes that allow them to get matching contributions from the government when they top up their retirement and healthcare savings accounts, says the Health Ministry (MOH), Manpower Ministry (MOM) and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board in a joint statement.
The schemes are the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme and Matched MediSave Scheme, which help eligible Singaporeans boost their retirement and healthcare savings.
When eligible Singaporeans top up their Retirement or MediSave accounts in cash, the government will make matching contributions.
In 2026, around 750,000 Singaporeans are eligible under an expanded Matched Retirement Savings Scheme.
This comes on the back of more than 250,000 Singaporeans who received matching grants under the scheme in 2025, and 103,000 members in 2024.
The scheme was introduced in 2021 to allow the government to provide matching grants for people who make cash top-ups to the Retirement Accounts of eligible senior Singapore citizens who have lower retirement savings.
The scheme was then enhanced in 2025 by removing the age cap of 70 years old and increasing the matching grant to S$2,000 per year. The cap is set at S$20,000 over an eligible member’s lifetime.
As a result of these enhancements, a total of S$456mil in matching grants was credited to the Retirement Accounts of more than 250,000 members for cash top-ups received in 2025.
This was a significant increase over the S$61mil credited to 103,000 members in 2024.
The scheme benefits Singapore citizens aged 55 and above with Retirement Account savings less than the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) of that year.
In 2026, those with Retirement/Ordinary and Special Account savings less than S$110,200 – the current BRS – will qualify.
The scheme has also been expanded from Jan 1 to include eligible Singaporeans with disabilities of all ages.
These include Singaporeans with disabilities below age 55 with Ordinary and Special Account savings less than the current BRS, among other criteria.
The expansion will help younger Singaporeans with disabilities build up their retirement savings earlier through cash top-ups to the Special Account, said MOH, MOM and Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board in the statement.
Eligible Singaporeans with disabilities can also receive a dollar-for-dollar matching grant of up to S$2,000 per year.
They also have a lifetime matching limit of S$20,000 on cash top-ups received in their Retirement Account or Special Account.
Meanwhile, 185,000 Singaporeans are also eligible for the new Matched MediSave Scheme, which was launched on Jan 1 as a five-year pilot.
Under this scheme, the government will match every dollar of cash top-up made to the MediSave Accounts of eligible Singapore citizens up to S$1,000 per year.
Top-ups that receive the government matching grants will not qualify for personal income tax relief.
Singapore citizens aged 55 to 70, with MediSave Account savings less than half of the current Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS) of that year stand to benefit.
In 2026, those with MediSave Account savings of less than S$39,500 will qualify.
The current BHS is S$79,000.
The scheme was first announced at Budget 2025 and will run till 2030.
Around 165,000 members are eligible for both schemes and would qualify for up to S$3,000 of total matching grants for top-ups made in 2026.
Members and their families with limited funds, and who are eligible for both schemes, can consider which scheme better meets their needs, MOM, MOH and CPF Board said.
In particular, those who want to increase their retirement income may consider topping up their Retirement Account to benefit from the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, they added.
But those who anticipate higher healthcare spending, given their health circumstances, may prefer to top up their MediSave Account to benefit from the Matched MediSave Scheme.
Eligible CPF members will be notified from the end of January through e-mail or letters.
The matching grants will be automatically credited to their Retirement Account or MediSave Account at the beginning of 2027 for the eligible members who have received the cash top-ups by Dec 31. — The Straits Times/ANN
