Debated in Parliament on 21 Apr 2023.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Health in each of the past five years, what is the number of CPF account holders who passed away before 85 years old and had monies of (i) between $5,000 and $10,000 (ii) between $10,000 and $20,000 (iii) between $20,000 and $30,000 (iv) between $30,000 and $40,000 and (v) more than $40,000 in their CPF MediSave accounts respectively.
It is more instructive to look at MediSave balances at the point of death for Singaporeans who lived till at least 85 years old. Otherwise, it will give a misleading picture of excessive MediSave savings. The requested data for those who passed away aged 85 or older has been provided in the reply to Question No 7 for Oral Answer on the Order Paper for 27 February 2023. [Please refer to "Balance in MediSave Amounts Following Death of CPF Account Holders", Official Report, 27 February 2023, Vol 95, Issue 87, Oral Answers to Questions section.]
Nevertheless, if we want to examine the data for Singaporeans who passed away at a younger age, the median MediSave account balance of Singaporeans who passed away at aged 65 or older between 2017 and 2021 is about $9,900. Among these, about four in 10 had $5,000 or less, three in 10 had between $5,000 and $20,000, and three in 10 had more than $20,000 left in their MediSave accounts at the point of death respectively.
Please note that this includes many Singaporeans who passed away before the average life expectancy, and who naturally will not have sufficient time to draw down on their savings.
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