The independent Pocket Umbrella CPF Savings to 55 Planner needs JavaScript to load. If this message remains, refresh the page or check that scripts are allowed.
How It Works
Explore how Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions, interest and housing payments could shape your savings before 55.
01
Start with your balances
Enter your birth month and year, regular monthly pay (ordinary wages) before CPF deductions, and your Ordinary Account (OA), Special Account (SA) and MediSave Account (MA) balances. Add your OA housing payment and its final month, if known.
The planner starts next month. Use credited balances for the beginning of that displayed month. Today’s balances may differ; the planner does not automatically update them to the start month.
02
Read your projection
See each account’s estimated credited balance at the end of the month before your 55th birthday month. Credited means already added; pending interest appears separately. The chart and dated table show the path. Comparisons use OA and SA against two retirement savings benchmarks: the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) and Full Retirement Sum (FRS).
03
Try another scenario
Change salary growth or housing payments, then select “See my illustration” again. A notice flags results that still use earlier inputs. “Restore example inputs” brings back the fictional example. Read each scenario alongside its assumptions.
Frequently Asked Questions
These answers explain what the figures mean and where the planner’s limits matter.
Who is this planner for?
Singapore Citizen employees aged 16 to below 55, using ordinary wages only. It excludes permanent residents, self-employed and platform-worker rules, bonuses and other additional wages. It also excludes active Special Account investments under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS-SA). Investment transactions and returns are not projected.
Should I enter salary before or after CPF deductions?
Why does the projection stop before my birthday month?
It covers only the period before 55. Someone born in March 1985 reaches their 55th birthday month in March 2040, so the projection ends at the end of February 2040. The birthday badge marks the boundary, without another month’s contributions. Retirement Account transfers, other account changes, payments and withdrawals from 55 onwards are not modelled.
Is the projected total money I can withdraw at 55?
What happens when MediSave reaches its limit?
The Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS) is the MediSave limit used here. MA above the modelled BHS goes to SA until SA reaches the modelled FRS for that year, then to OA. CPF Board’s actual under-55 rule also counts active CPFIS-SA investments towards FRS. Those holdings are excluded here, so the planner is not suitable if you have them. [6, 7]
Why is some interest shown separately?
CPF interest is worked out monthly and credited annually. The planner adds it at the next January within the projection. Any interest still pending at the endpoint stays outside the account cards and headline. For a January birthday, the endpoint is December, before that credit. The separate accrued-interest comparison adds pending OA and SA interest only, excluding pending MA interest and later overflow. [4]
Could my actual CPF savings be higher or lower?
Your actual savings could be lower than the projection if you spend MediSave money, pay insurance premiums or make withdrawals that aren't included here. They could also be higher because the planner leaves out some interest earned earlier in the starting year.
Treat the projection as an illustration, not a guaranteed minimum.
Does the calculator save or send my financial inputs?
The calculations run in your browser. The calculator’s code does not send or intentionally store your inputs, or connect to your CPF account. This covers the calculator, not every website cookie or service. Keep personal financial details out of feedback and other website forms. See the site’s Privacy Policy for website-level information.
Use CPF Board’s account services and calculators for personal CPF information. This independent illustration is not an official CPF statement, a guarantee or personal financial advice. The Pocket Umbrella is not affiliated with CPF Board.
Methodology & Assumptions
The planner estimates monthly credited OA, SA and MA balances before 55, using your starting balances and assumptions, after your entered OA housing payments. It does not assess whether your household has enough cash to retire.
The projection is not a guaranteed conservative lower bound. Medical expenses, insurance premiums and withdrawals are left out, which may overstate balances. Interest earned earlier in the opening year is also left out, which may understate them. These limits still apply when the calculations are correct.
Contribution rules used here
The model uses Singapore Citizen employee rules, the S$8,000 ordinary-wage ceiling and age-based account allocations. Above S$750, the under-55 contribution rate is 37%: 20% employee and 17% employer. Lower wages use the relevant bands. Announced January 2027 increases affect ages above 55 to 65; published under-55 rates and allocation ratios stay unchanged. [1, 2, 3, 3a, 3b]
Growth assumptions you can change
The defaults are 2% salary growth at each later January, 3.5% annual BRS growth after 2027, and 3% annual BHS growth after 2026. You can change them. Salary growth happens in January, not on a work anniversary. Employment breaks and irregular pay changes are not separately modelled.
Published BRS is S$110,200 for 2026 and S$114,100 for 2027. FRS is twice BRS. Later BRS estimates compound from 2027, round to the nearest S$100, then double for FRS. Published 2026 BHS is S$79,000; later estimates compound from that base and round to the nearest S$100. These future paths are illustrations, not announced CPF limits. [6, 8]
Interest and future policy
Base interest stays at 2.5% for OA and 4% for SA and MA, with under-55 extra interest. CPF Board’s 4% floor for Special, MediSave and Retirement Account savings (SMRA) runs through December 2027. It does not promise an exact 4% rate for decades. Future contribution policy, the wage ceiling and interest arrangements stay unchanged in this scenario. [5]
What the model leaves out
The planner leaves out additional wages, medical spending, insurance premiums, investment activity, top-ups, voluntary transfers, refunds, government credits and other withdrawals.
It does not calculate mortgage principal or loan interest, or check CPF housing eligibility and usage limits.
It does not model Retirement Account creation, SA closure at 55, CPF LIFE, property pledges or housing payments after 55.
Amounts are in Singapore dollars, without an adjustment for inflation.
Last reviewed: 10 October 2026. Policy reference date: October 2026. Calculation Details explains timing, worked examples and sources.
See calculation details
Monthly contributions and account allocation
Monthly wages are capped at S$8,000. Above S$750, total CPF is 37% of those wages, rounded to the nearest dollar. The employee share is 20%, with cents dropped; the employer pays the remainder. Lower-wage bands are included: no contributions at S$50 or less, employer-only contributions above S$50 to S$500, and phased-in employee contributions above S$500 to S$750. [1, 2]
Total CPF is split by age band for the contribution month: MA first, then SA, with the remainder going to OA. The ratios are shares of total CPF, not salary. The band changes in the month after the relevant birthday. [3]
| Age band | OA ratio | SA ratio | MA ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 and below | 0.6217 | 0.1621 | 0.2162 |
| Above 35 to 45 | 0.5677 | 0.1891 | 0.2432 |
| Above 45 to 50 | 0.5136 | 0.2162 | 0.2702 |
| Above 50 to below 55* | 0.4055 | 0.3108 | 0.2837 |
*The official table includes age 55 in this band. This planner stops before the 55th birthday month.
The S$750 reference example
In the CPF Board reference checked for this planner, someone born in January 1996 has a total CPF contribution of S$750 for February 2026. It is split as follows:
| Account | CPF allocation |
|---|---|
| Ordinary Account | S$466.28 |
| Special Account | S$121.57 |
| MediSave Account | S$162.15 |
| Total | S$750.00 |
The planner matches these amounts. S$750 is total CPF, not monthly salary. One matching allocation does not make the projection an official CPF statement or confirm every rounding case. [3]
Housing timing
Housing comes out before that month’s CPF contribution. If OA starts at S$600 and the payment is S$900, the model uses S$600 from OA and shows a S$300 cash gap. A later contribution does not remove that earlier gap. Actual transaction dates can change the outcome.
The final payment month is included. Deductions stop by the month before 55. Leave both month and year blank to continue to that boundary. A later date does not extend the projection or confirm your mortgage payoff date.
Interest earned and interest credited
Monthly base interest uses balances after housing payments and before new contributions: eligible balance × annual rate ÷ 12. Contributions earn interest from the following month. Housing deductions earn no interest in their deduction month. Monthly interest accumulates and is credited at a later January within the projection. [4]
An unchanged S$10,000 OA balance earns about S$20.83 in monthly base interest at 2.5% a year. Extra interest is worked out separately. Below 55, the model gives an extra 1% on the first S$60,000 of combined balances, including at most S$20,000 from OA. It fills this allowance with OA, then SA, then MA. Extra interest earned on OA goes to SA. [5]
For a start after January, earlier opening-year interest is unknown and omitted. A January start assumes opening balances include the previous year’s credited interest. Neither reconstructs your CPF transaction history.
MediSave overflow
After monthly contributions and annual interest credits, MA is checked against that year’s modelled BHS. Excess goes to SA until that year’s modelled FRS is reached, then to OA. This is the current-year limit, not your eventual 55th birthday benchmark. Active CPFIS-SA holdings count in CPF Board’s actual under-55 FRS test, but are excluded here. [6, 7]
Reading the retirement comparisons
The main comparison uses credited OA plus SA at the endpoint, without MA or pending interest. Suppose OA plus SA is S$150,000. Against the published 2027 BRS of S$114,100 and FRS of S$228,200, this is S$35,900 above BRS and S$78,200 below FRS. These gaps do not establish withdrawal rights or show that your household is ready to retire. [8]
Later birthday-year benchmarks are illustrative. The accrued view adds pending OA and SA interest, excluding pending MA interest and later overflow. Neither view predicts exact Retirement Account funding at your birthday.
Reading the chart and dated table
The chart shows individual credited balances on a linear currency scale starting at zero, with selected dates. Its birthday-month boundary point means the end of the previous month, without extra savings. The dated table labels this “Before” the birthday month and shows cents. Cards round to whole dollars, so their sum may differ slightly from the separately rounded total. Pending interest stays separate.
Official CPF Board sources
- [1] Contribution rules and rounding
- [2] Ordinary Wage ceiling
- [3] 2026 account allocation ratios (PDF)
- [3a] 2027 account allocation ratios (PDF)
- [3b] Contribution changes from January 2027
- [4] How CPF interest is computed and credited
- [5] CPF interest rates and the floor through December 2027
- [6] Basic Healthcare Sum
- [7] MediSave savings above BHS
- [8] Basic Retirement Sum
- [8a] CPF retirement sum and account transfers