Najib's stupid short-sighted plan about EPF - really will affect us Malaysians in our old age...

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) - was the Simpanan Hari Tua (Savings for when one is old and is retired) - and this must be preserved and protected..

Remember that most Malaysians do not get pensions like some government servants (or public servants) - and most Malaysians will only have their EPF or KWSP funds to survive on in their old age until they die. (And life span is getting longer and longer these days...)

When the government started using this EPF money for allegedly assisting some companies - we suddenly found that we did not anymore get that almost fixed 8% interest annually...

Then to assist the economy - the government started allowing persons to take out their money to buy this and that...

The consequence will be felt later on when the money in our EPF account in our old age is so little - and is not able to sustain our lives for more than a few years.

Now, again for the sake of assisting the current economic situation, the government is allowing us to pay 3% less - and hopes that we will use this money now to buy things and help the current economy...

Very...very bad idea from Mohd Najib Razak and the UMNO-led government..

For starters, Najib, also the finance minister, said that in view of giving extra cash in hand for employees, the government will give workers the option to reduce their contribution to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) by three percent for two years beginning next January.

Currently, employers contribute 12 percent to EPF while the employees contribute 11 percent of their salary to the national savings fund.

"With the reduction, the level of contribution is still at a very reasonable 20 percent, with employers contributing 12 percent and employees eight percent.

"A person with a salary of RM2,000 a month will get RM60 extra in disposable income, while someone earning RM6,000 will get an additional disposable income of RM180 a month," said Najib.

Should all the contributors volunteer to reduce their EPF contribution, the amount involved will come up to RM4.8 billion a year, he said.

Assuming that only 50 percent of the contributors take up this option, the level of private consumption spending will increase to RM2.4 billion, he added. - Malaysiakini, 4/11/2008 - RM7b stimulus to bolster economy

Think not just short term solutions to national economic problems...but the Long Term solutions for Malaysians in their old age...

When we do not have money to live in the future after we retire (or are unable to work anymore) - will the government be there to help?

Or will Malaysians like people in USA be forced to work until they die just to survive..Oh yes - go watch that movie that is showing on ASTRO called 'SICKO' - which deals with this issue and healthcare...

One wonders how much money one should put away now, when we can still work and earn, so that we can survive our old age....noting of course that the cost of living continues to rise year after year...