Topping up your CPF Special Account (SA) to Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) is optional. No one is forcing you to do that. The government is forcing you to have at least an amount equivalent to the Full Retirement Sum or Basic Retirement Sum so that you have enough passive income during your retirement years. But I get this thinking that many are lost in the cross-currents of CPF strategy discussion that they failed to see the benefit that you enjoy from topping up to the ERS. Topping up your CPF SA (before 55) or CPF RS (after 55) does not provide income tax relief. But it does change the nature of your future passive income. If Sally contributes more to her CPF above the full retirement sum of say $198,000 today, she is making a capital allocation decision that she prefers the income stream she gets from CPF LIFE over other kinds of...