By Paul Ho (guest contributor)

For Singaporeans, reaching 55 years old marks a major milestone from the perspective of personal financial planning. At 55, you can withdraw a portion of your Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings. Yes, finally after years of waiting, you can use the money locked up in your CPF!

But hang on… before you start planning for your next holiday destination or researching your second property, reaching 55 does not mean you can simply go to the CPF to withdraw any amount you want. The CPF, Singapore’s pension scheme, has other plans for your funds.

What happens to your CPF when you turn 55?

First, you need to make sure that you have enough savings in your Special Account (SA) and Ordinary Account (OA) to make up the Minimum Sum (MS) of $155,000 in your newly set up Retirement Account (RA).

Up to 50% of the Minimum ...