4 Mar 2008
The Crux of my critique
The key recommendations of the National Lifelong Income Scheme (NLIS) have been put forth in the report submitted by the National Longevity Insurance Committee chaired by Prof Lim Pin, and accepted by the government. While some details of the scheme might still be subject to minor amendments, the structure of the scheme and how it will provide a lifelong income to CPF members have more or less been finalized. It is therefore time to critique and take a stand on the scheme.
My take is that while the CPF Life scheme is a vast improvement over the previously announced Longevity Insurance scheme, the CPF Life scheme is still deficient in that the payouts are not indexed to inflation, the government has not expressed any desire to co-fund the scheme, the payout amount is subject to drastic change in the event that interest rates fall or life expectancies improve significantly, and the government is limiting itself to helping the poor with one-off handouts rather than a continuous and sustainable welfare programme.
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