Many regret taking out their money early

PETALING JAYA: While some preferred to withdraw their Employees Provident Fund upon turning 55, or partially at 50 to make their own investments, others have regretted doing so.

A self-employed man who wanted to be known as Choo, 64, said that he did well with property investment after withdrawing his EPF at age 55.

However, he lost RM10,000 in investment from his earlier partial withdrawal at 50.

Choo revealed that he had invested in foreign real estate funds which promised good returns but the market went down and he lost the money.

Iun Thong Meng, 54, said he had taken out a portion of his EPF to pay off part of his housing loan, which he felt was a good form of investment.

Asked if he would withdraw his EPF at age 55, he said he would withdraw only if there was something worthwhile to invest, otherwise, he would leave it there until he reached 60.

Patrick Mah, 53, a manufacturing company deputy general manager, said he regretted withdrawing part of his EPF at age 50 for fear that money in the EPF would be gone due to political interference.

“It is now still sitting in the bank. I will think hard before withdrawing it at 55,” he said of the lesser yield from bank interest.

Mah had wanted to invest in an insurance scheme but later found that he could only withdraw the funds after 20 years.

“By then I will be in my 70s and it will not be of much use,” he said.

Retiree Wong Weng Hong, 64, deci­ded to leave her funds in EPF when she retired at 60 and only with­drew the dividends for her daily needs.

“The more than RM2,000 monthly dividends are enough for me,” she said

“I don’t need to spend much on clothes and bags anymore and I keep my life simple,” she said.

She said she could still go on holidays while her siblings who were more well-off also sponsored her trips.

Wong, who had worked her way up to assistant vice-president in IT procurement in a bank said she built her EPF pool by not withdrawing for housing or at age 50 or 55.

A retired company manager who only wanted to be known as Janet, 57, said she decided not to withdraw her EPF savings at age 55 because it was giving good returns.

“As a retiree, I want to invest in somewhere safe and not high risk, and EPF is doing a good job,” said Janet who currently lives on her savings.