TL;DR – By default, they get it in CASH.
Most of us would love to leave something behind to our loved ones when we leave this world. Given that a good part of our income goes into CPF, that’s one of the most likely chunk of money that we can leave to our loved ones when we pass on. So it’s no wonder that we should be quite concerned if there are any changes to the way our loved ones receive money from our CPF savings after we are gone.
That’s why I was quite shocked when I received this message on Whatsapp:
Does this mean that my loved ones won’t get money to spend? Instead their money will only go into their Medisave accounts? And they can only use it if they’re ill? And we actually have to go through the extra trouble of applying to CPF to ensure that our loved ones get our CPF money in cash? What kind of sick joke is that? Why is the government doing this?
Since the person who wrote that Whatsapp message said he/she confirmed it after checking the CPF website, I decided to go to the CPF website to check.
But guess what? The CPF website is so lousy that it doesn’t say anything about how my loved ones will receive my CPF money after I kick the bucket.
Nothing. No information at all.
It does say how to make a nomination, and explains various things about what a nomination is, and how my CPF money gets distributed if I don’t make a nomination. But it says nothing about whether my loved ones will get my CPF money in cash or in their Medisave account.
So I went to check the Internet. And this is what I found.
To make things simpler to understand, here are three quick FAQs that I’ve put together after trawling the internet:
1. Do my loved ones get my CPF money in cash or not?
According to the Factually website at gov.sg, by default, your loved ones will get your CPF money in cash. But if you are scared that they’ll squander the money immediately on frivolous things, you can make a nomination such that they get the money in their CPF accounts.
2. If I don’t make a nomination, then how much will each of my loved ones get?
That depends on who’s left behind and whether you are a Muslim or not. If you don’t make a nomination, then your CPF savings will be transferred to the Public Trustee’s Office (PTO) for distribution to his or her family members under the Intestate Succession Act, or the Inheritance Certificate (for Muslims).
For non-Muslims:
If you are Muslim, then this is the way your CPF money will be distributed:
Do follow the CPF Facebook page for information relating to your CPF and also for regular updates.
3. If I have a will, do I still need to make a nomination?
Yes. CPF savings cannot be distributed via a will. Instead, it gets distributed by Public Trustee Office (PTO). And the PTO charges a fee for administering un-nominated CPF money. So if you have children you don’t love, or love one child more than another, or think it’s better for your spouse to get all your CPF money, better make a nomination.
Don’t anyhow believe things on Whatsapp
Yes, don’t make the mistake of believing or forwarding all your WhatsApp messages to anyone without actually verifying them.
I don’t know which know-it-all started that Whatsapp message and the rationale behind this. But we really shouldn’t allow ourselves to have fallen victim to fake news without checking. In this day and age of fake news, we really need to have a healthy dose of skepticism.
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