KUALA LUMPUR: A total of one million Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members have made voluntary contributions amounting to RM11.16 billion as of October 2024, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said 288,000 formal active members of the EPF had also contributed above the statutory rate of 11 per cent during the same period.
“Additionally, through the restructuring of EPF accounts, contributions to the Retirement Account (Account 1) have been increased to 75 per cent from 70 per cent previously.
“This is expected to help members achieve the Basic Savings target more quickly,“ he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara today.
He said this in reply to Senator Robert Lau Hui Yew’s question on the government’s strategies to ensure that individuals have sufficient EPF savings for a comfortable life post-retirement.
According to Amir Hamzah, as of Oct 31, 2024, 2.65 million or 36.2 per cent of the 7.33 million formal active members aged between 18 and 55 had achieved the age-specific Basic Savings target, compared to 2.21 million (30.4 per cent) of 7.25 million members in December 2022.
Meanwhile, he said the government has taken note of Lau’s proposal to increase the retirement age to 65 years old, saying that this requires thorough and careful consideration by all parties before any decision is made at the policy level.
