Working seniors in Singapore to receive $300-750 bonus to retirement savings this month

The retirement boost, called the Earn and Save Bonus, will be credited automatically to eligible recipients’ Central Provident Fund accounts, the Ministry of Manpower announced last Thursday, as reported by CNA.

Recipients will be notified via SMS or a letter sent to their addresses in April after the bonus has been credited, it added.

CPF is Singapore’s mandatory social security savings scheme that helps working citizens set aside funds for retirement, housing, healthcare and other purposes.

Those born in 1973 or earlier are eligible for the bonus if they were employed and had an average monthly income of S$500-6,000 last year, reside in a property with an annual value of S$31,000 or less, and do not own more than one property.

Working seniors with an average monthly income of S$500-2,500 will get a S$1,000 bonus while those who make S$2,500-3,500 will receive S$700. The bonus is S$400 for those earning S$3,500-6,000 monthly.

The Earn and Save Bonus was announced in 2023 as part of the Majulah Package, which was designed to enhance the retirement security of lower- and middle-income Singaporeans in their 50s and early 60s, a group often referred to as "young seniors," according to The Straits Times.

Last December, some 1.6 million Singaporeans born in 1973 or earlier received a S$1,250-2,000 MediSave Bonus. MediSave is the city-state’s national medical savings scheme that helps individuals save up for their healthcare needs in old age.

Around 800,000 from the same age group also received a one-time S$1,000-1,500 bonus in their CPF accounts.