To those who are new to Singapore’s workforce: congratulations, and welcome to the beginning of your journey into adulthood! Getting your first paycheck and being able to do more with the money you earn can be both exhilarating and intimidating. A big part of your gross salary (the salary figure stated in your contract) will go into your CPF account, and it is important for you to understand how CPF works so that you can start your #adulting journey on the right foot. Here are 3 things that you should first know about CPF.

1. How are your CPF contributions allocated into the different CPF accounts?

It might be demoralising to know that 20% of your gross salary (employee contribution) goes into your CPF account, but remember that your employer contributes an additional 17%. This 17% is not part of your gross salary (yay!) and it is not subjected to income tax either....