Have a looked at note 25 of the 2017 financial statement.
The reserves are not what layman think as reserves. The reserves are accounting attribution and revaluation due to unrealised gains/losses from the assets they hold. These reserves are there so that the users are able to see the gains / losses for the current year (even when the assets are not sold yet).
My previous posting about the reserves are wrong and i will amend that.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) said today it anticipated further reductions in contributions as more workers go into the informal sector.

EPF’s new chief executive Tunku Alizakri Alias told international investors here that the total number of workers who contributed to the EPF had dropped drastically to just 40 per cent from 48 per cent from a few years ago.

“There might be a day that EPF may not even exist anymore,” Tunku Alizakri told Invest Malaysia 2019, a conference on capital markets here.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/201...ays-ceo/1734229

No more EPF      where to invest & get good "dividends" yearly

maybe.. the "40% of workers" shows a CONTINUAL BLOATING civil sector, that selected retirement scheme instead of EPF scheme?
coz as i understand it, EPF scheme is mandatory for us un-civil sector, whether part-timer or full-timer.

At least he being true...
Not like some, giving false hope. Everything is okay,but actually is not....

U want such situation...

Can the Malaysian government just print money to pay off EPF holders in the event the fund does not perform as expected?

I mean it's not suppose to do this right? But it seems to me that nothing is stopping this from happening though.

RM4000 this year. Check again.

while waiting for responses,
here is an article that shows "sort of" tax calculation on EPF....

It is not hard for one’s EPF savings to get taxed. Based on the new, reduced RM4,000 relief for EPF contributions, someone earning above RM36,364 a year (RM3,030 a month with zero bonus) would see their EPF savings subjected to some level of income tax, back-of-the-envelope calculations show.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/stat...duced-next-year

Someone earning RM10,000 a month — who contributes at least RM13,200 a year to the EPF and pays about RM12,580 in tax annually as he or she falls under the 24% tax bracket — is actually paying RM2,208 in taxes on income that is actually EPF retirement savings they cannot spend.

Sorry, I am a bit lost.
Income Tax is taxable regardless of you are contributing EPF or not right?
Do you mind elaborate why contributing in EPFs with 6% pa returns will takes 4 years to even out for taxes?

Better than 401(k) or IRA's in US actually. In the case of 401(k) and traditional IRA, contributors get taxed upon withdrawal of the retirement funds, meaning the capital + gains will get taxed.
Our EPF earnings are not taxed, we will only be taxed at our income source. Come to think of it, we are quite fortunate that we have no capital gains tax.

From my own understanding, there are indeed some special tax benefits when withdrawing under certain conditions, but tax benefit does not mean total elimination of tax. It simply means that there are certain conditions to meet in order to lower the amount of tax upon withdrawal. Under normal circumstances, withdrawal is still subject to the income tax rate at the point of withdrawal. That in itself totally defeats the purpose of the tax deduction in the first place.
One can do a rollover into another retirement fund when they leave the employer to avoid paying tax on the income immediately, but one will still need to pay tax upon withdrawal eventually.

I dont  know why you guys are so allergic to EPF....can see so many scrambling to get money out to "invest" elsewhere........
just how much extra return they get i wonder......As if money in EPF is money lost for good
Alot of heresay, when reach 55  cant get money out etc,
all totally untrue!
instead of seeing 6% return as a chore requring 4 years to recover back the 24% tax taken by gomen,

i look at it this way:
1)i put 11% in , i get extra 13% from taukeh
2)instead of paying tax X amount i get to pay less tax from  EPF relief
3)Instead of struggling here and there investing and getting 4% return or lower
EPF is there to do it for you better

Easy to make 8% pa in investment?
Mind sharing which platform you are using for your investment?
Investing in Mutual Funds and making negative profit for 2 years

not refering to you alone on the disliking, but can read here alot of sayings to that effect.

So easy to make 8% pa??

I had made few years of 9% return, but overall i cant simply tell others "IT IS SO EASY...".
Misleading.
here is one example who is surprised  by what prophet professed.

In general most people dont consistently find it easy to make 8% pa.
if you read the FSM forums many made just FD returns even after years
We have forumners in here who invested in mutual funds and showed IRR 9+% over  >3 years.
Get the right fund sell the right time but that is exception rather than the rules

So is it  really that easy?

Ah, okay, I just started venture into Stocks/Shares actually and bought some Reits, after finding Mutual Funds isn't as breezy as it seems to be.
But then again, MF is for long term and market is just down right bad these 2 years.
Glad that I didn't buy wrong since you also suggested Reits, Thanks for sharing yo.

6% is not bad. 10% is raising red flag already. 15% is definitely scam.

If a person enters the market at the right time, it's possible. 15% p.a. is like 1.25% a month. Look at US market also easily fluctuate 3% when uncle donald tweets.

But anyway, my point is, s/he can offer any %. Whether s/he can deliver or not, or run run run run runaway with people's money is a different story. And it's investors that bear the risks.

How? Prop investing had been and will continue to be the greatest generator of wealth for most people...

Sorry but I cannot understand your logic here...how is it that your money in EPF is paying a tax? Your 24% tax paid is on your income right?