The minimum requirement to have an account in EPF is you must be working, either self employed or employed, and must be at least in your teens. Best is to save up with any child/ kid savings account offered by banks. The incentive is to encourage self employed to contribute for their retirement.

Currently those working in government and not contributing to EPF are given tax exemption up to RM 7,000 for insurance/takaful premium.

The way I read it, now these government employees are encouraged to self contribute to EPF.

"This new treatment is applicable to civil servants under the pension scheme." Many may have missed this statement under the Table (in Appendix 3)

They , I believe, are now put on par with private sector employees.

This post has been edited by Cyclopes: Feb 25 2023, 06:51 AM

I have not read on the increase/additional self contribution of RM40K....

"The EPF welcomes the initiative to expand the scope of annual tax relief for life insurance premiums or life takaful contributions to cover voluntary contributions to the EPF of up to RM3,000. This initiative can be enjoyed by all workers, both in the formal or informal sector, who make voluntary contributions to the EPF. This means that a member who contributes compulsorily (tax relief up to RM4,000) and increases savings with voluntary contributions will be able to enjoy tax relief of up to RM7,000. This effort will encourage more Malaysians to increase their retirement savings for old age."

If both your mandatory EPF plus insurance premium totals less than RM7,000, you can now top up the difference as voluntary contribution. These will also be a good time to relook on the insurance premium you are currently paying.

This post has been edited by Cyclopes: Feb 27 2023, 11:00 AM

B40 don't have 40K that they can save (untouched) long term.

I would say the new ruling in made specifically with government staff in mind, who are on pensionable scheme don't have mandatory contribution. Now they are encouraged to do voluntary contribution.

Starting salary for government staff is lower compared to private sector. The current doctor's salary is an example. The current contribution to KWAP is 17.5%.