our EPF contribution Employee 11%, employer 12%
total 23% savings

CPF forced more savings employee 20%, employer 17%
total 37% savings but with capping

Singapore takes care more of the lower category
Malaysia tak kisah

that's why CPF is grade A
Malaysia Grade C+

and we like it sure
because a salary of 20k here gets $2400 from taukeh
in singapore you get $1260 only

we get $4600 into EPF
they get $2740 to CPF

if they think CPF return poor,
then they are happy too.

if you want to take care of the general public CPF is good
if we only think of ourselves then C+ suits me fine

the confusion is from whether one is refering to active only members vs all members...

90K would be the active members (which includes those working or just self-contribution also)

the larger 130K would be all members, and hence benchmarked to the full 16 odd million members.

My heart has changed tune.. now fully ported to US market. +40% past 1 year and want to focus on some good stocks.

I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Pull me back pls 😅

I love Sg 20% 17% system and provided no cap. Our EPF will rise so fast if you do that

I see. So 40k isn't active. Thanks a lot.

You could be doing the right thing too.
As there are people doing it too.
Especially if they already had 700k in kwsp. They put 100k into SnP. They think even if their stock crashes with 40% losses, it could be recovered back from the kwsp dividend in a+ year.
SnP had been uptrend for decades since last major 40% crash.
They had been making lots of money in SnP with that 100k compared to kwsp.

Once tasted sweets, very difficult to avoid it. Unless there are serious happenings that chanced their desires.
Something like in 1999-2025, .... where Tfxi blossomed, evolved to Crypto then bombed. Investors dreams and expectations of riches with continous passive income were scattered.

you are definitely not alone. Like what MUM mentioned above, I also made a similar move.
Between late 2023 and mid-2024, I took out half of my EPF savings to invest overseas... mainly into SG, USA and HK/CN. Honestly, this move alone have netted me what would have taken more than 15 years to earn in EPF divs (compounded).

So, I have to thank our madani gov and pmx for giving me that little nudge to diversify away from malaysia. My local equity holdings have been quite stagnant... luckily the divs still help as part of my spending budget.

Going forward, EPF will not play a much of role in my financial or retirement planning anymore. more just as a final safety net, given the gov guarantee.

The real question now isn’t about bringing funds back or topping up EPF (especially with that RM100K pa limit). The focus should probably be on how to position our portfolios for the near future. After such a strong run in global markets, only fair to ask... are we due for a pullback/crash soon?

yes, at a point, i somehow think EPF was there not to enrich malaysians, it's to support local businesses.

They can easily put all fund in ETFs, but they choose to support local businesses at our expense. I don't like that idea.

but i take stocks as means to an end, while epf is ends to a mean... so there is still chance i park some fund in epf (as safety net) after a good run in stocks. all depends on market and business condition.

good to hear.. you have passed the 50/55 withdrawal age, i assume?

ill still retire with over 2 mil for epf... and have my money work harder at this point.

under trump, economy will grow (also volatile thanks to his tweets). pullback/crash may happen, we always need to be ready for it. but optimist always win pessimist in investing.

Many of us keep forgetting EPF is retirement fund...

They cannot be very heavily invested in risky assets or over heavily on foreign assets too... Forex risk...

Probably that's why they more on local.... Also national interest comes into mind too...

Unfortunately, there’s been a bit too much interference... by current gov esp.

When the FM suggests that EPF should prioritize local investments, often under the banner of "national interest" as suggested by yourself, it’s worth asking whether that goal be at odds with EPF’s true purpose: ensuring sustainable retirement outcomes for its members.

A simplistic example would be when "national interest" once meant supporting ventures like Proton, MAS, or Renong... initiatives that didn’t always translate into sound financial returns.

At the end of the day, EPF’s core mandate is clear: to manage the compulsory retirement savings of its members. That should always remain the first priority. Any other objectives, however well-intentioned, ought to come second.
I am sure there's a reason in the first place why the professionals and board members of EPF originally allocated XXX% to overseas market...

Epf has more invested in foreign businesses than local business fyi.

However, what EPF does have a lot of is Malaysian goverment bonds. Not local business but the Malaysian government.

This exposure does drag down potential returns but its the safest investment. Guaranteed returns. No credit risk. No fx risk.

Makes sense right? Since epf is also a guaranteed fixed income min return investment.

Let me ask u this. Imagine a bad bear market. Not 202p bad or 2022 bad. Worse than that. Whats the minimum negative returns can you accept for your portfolo? What if its a multi year bad market? How many years of negatove return can you accept?

This post has been edited by Cubalagi: Oct 26 2025, 06:45 PM

Unker have been suspended several times for bringing in alternative point of view in EPF forum and ASM forum. Then, Unker realised a lot of minions under employment by the big boys to usher and do marketing for them.

Unker advise you to stay away from walking along the lines. You might be SUS like Unker previously.

Unker understood what you're trying to say. It's actually about geographical diversification. Don't put all the eggs in one basket. When you invest majority of your retirement savings in one country, it's rather dangerous

no one forgets...

because it's retirement fund. people can stomach high risk longer years... retirement funds for other countries also have positive and negative = growth, balance, cash categories. so as you age, you want lower risk...

it's us only expecting retirement fund to be forever positive. (6% cannot make everyone happy, i can imagine negative return during downturn, lol)

but yes, risk/reward always come together... there is no real solution, all depends which angle we see things.

Actually speaking.....

EPF is quite okay for low risk level play..... Especially the 2.5% minimum guaranteed returns....

You don't get such guaranteed in any of the investment class anywhere....

So no worries during economy downturn 😁

Those smart enough would know, to have EPF as part of their overall portfolio mix.... How much percentage is depends on individual appetite & objectives..... It's like last back ups for retirement if you make wrong decisions & lose all your $$$... Still got EPF $$$ to hold you up 😑

all is well so long our currency doesn't drop - that easily erase the 5-6% for the year.

The figure I gave is as at end of 2024. A year later from the quoted example.

That is also relatively muted - if your spending is local.


MYR to USD 4.2 to 4.8 and now to 4.2, I think the impact is more from inflation and post covid vs currency fluctuation.

not just relatively muted.... it does feel like almost no impact at all....

ringgit move from 2.99xx back in najib's time to 4.8xx PMX time to now 4.2xx.... anyone notice any change in prices except slow rising prices?
I never see chicken rice price go down.... and neither have I seen honda official car prices go down... (and honda story somemore yen weaken like mad)...
I would make a brave prediction: even when ringgit appreciate back to 3.8 also no diff in prices except slowly rising...

will only really notice when traveling overseas.

So yeah, keep in ringgit denom assets/EPF if don't want volatility and just spend in ringgit.... invest overseas if can stomach volatility in exchange of some kicker return.

Once the price went up. Hardly any price will come down.

except bonus.... lol...

wanted to include salary, but turns out, salary also very hard to go down if remain in same firm.

Ini I setuju
Bila harga roti canai naik dari rm1.20 to rm1.50 now almost RM1.90 or some places rm2.00 - tak mungkin turun
Nasi lemak lagi gila road side also rm2.80 to rm3.00 macam day light robbery

We are suppose to support our local road side seller but their pricing make it sometimes hard for me to support, still remember last week bought 5 bungkus nasi lemak from road side cost me rm15 and buka a few ikan bilis 5 ekor and 1/6 telur... Not even 1/4.... Peanut 3 biji hahahaha 😂 🤣

Want price at rm3 is fine but make it worth it so you have repeat customer

Rm3 with half an egg + at least 8 to 10 ekor ikan bilis + 6 to 7 biji peanut then at least I feel a bit worth - just looking for food that is worth that pricing

Some places sign big big say rm3.50 lagi gila... 2.50 hardly can find nowadays

Rather go in mamak order nasi lemak big portion 1 place already full baru rm4.50

This post has been edited by virtualgay: Oct 28 2025, 01:24 PM

Ubah Gaya hidup if continue to keep in Ringgit and save into EPF. Unker already diversify into different sovereign bonds and currencies