Guide to CPF Voluntary Contribution (VC) for Employee

This Opinion post first appeared in my blog here: https://pwlcm.wordpress.com/2022/03/24/guide-to-cpf-voluntary-contribution-vc-for-employee/

Refer to the list of acronyms on CPF in the following blog posts: https://pwlcm.wordpress.com/2022/01/06/acronym-cpf/

I am a CPF Volunteer. If you find this blog post providing useful information about CPF matters and it leads you to using CPF online services, you may fill in my full name “Tan Choong Hwee” in the “Referrer Name” field in some selected CPF online services.

Voluntary Contribution to 3 Accounts (VC-3AC) by Employer

Your employer can voluntarily contribute to your three CPF accounts (OSMA), up to the CPFAL of $37,740 minus the MC you received from your employer for the calendar year:
https://www.cpf.gov.sg/employer/making-voluntary-contributions

The allocation of VC to the three CPF accounts will follow the same allocation rates for MC.

You may refer to the following blog post on MC for the description on CPFAL and MC allocation rates:
https://pwlcm.wordpress.com/2022/01/24/guide-to-cpf-mandatory-contribution-mc-for-employee/

Additional MediSave Contribution Scheme (AMCS) by Employer

Your employer can voluntarily contribute up to $2,730 to your MA under Additional MediSave Contribution Scheme (AMCS):
https://www.cpf.gov.sg/employer/making-voluntary-contributions

These contributions are not subject to the CPFAL nor your Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS).

Should the contributions cause your MA balance to exceed your BHS, the excess over BHS would be transferred to your SA or RA if you are below or above age 55 respectively and if you have not met the Full Retirement Sum (FRS) in SA or RA. Otherwise, the excess contributions would be transferred to your OA.

Voluntary Contribution to 3 Accounts (VC-3AC) by Employee

It is probably rare that your employer would do the above mentioned VC-3AC, but you certainly can do VC-3AC for yourself. You can VC to your OSMA up to the CPFAL of $37,740 minus the total MC (plus your employer VC-3AC if any) you received from all your employers and the total VC-3AC you have contributed for the calendar year:
https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/growing-your-savings/saving-more-with-cpf/top-up-ordinary-special-and-medisave-savings

The allocation of VC to the three CPF accounts will follow the same allocation rates for MC. You may check the current allowable contribution amount using the e-Cashier as described in the following webpage:
https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/faq/growing-your-savings/top-up-your-cpf-accounts-to-build-your-savings/how-do-i-check-my-voluntary-top-up-limit-to-my-three-cpf-acc

Do take note that the e-Cashier won’t be able to take into account any future MC and VC-3AC amounts, so you will need to estimate your subsequent MC and reduce the allowable contribution amount accordingly. Should the total MC and VC-3AC amount exceed CPFAL, MC will take precedence and stay in your CPF accounts, but any excess VC-3AC amount would be refunded without earning any interest.

There is one subtlety regarding the MC timing. MC for your monthly salary is usually credited in the following month. If you choose to do VC-3AC in December, thinking that you can check the full year MC from the transaction history and hence able to calculate the headroom for VC-3AC, you may be in for a surprise come February~March the following year that there is excess VC-3AC refund with interest clawback.

The same MA excess over BHS overflow mechanism as described in the above AMCS section would apply.

You may refer to the following blog post on MC for the description on CPFAL and MC allocation rates:
https://pwlcm.wordpress.com/2022/01/24/guide-to-cpf-mandatory-contribution-mc-for-employee/

Voluntary Contribution to MediSave Account (VC-MA) by Employee

You can voluntarily contribute to your MA up to your cohort Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS):
https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/growing-your-savings/saving-more-with-cpf/top-up-your-medisave-savings

Your cohort BHS is the prevailing BHS when you are under age 65, but would be frozen at the BHS when you are 65 as you grow beyond 65. The BHS is declared to be $66,000 in 2022. If you are 65 in 2022, your cohort BHS would stay at $66,000 after 2022, even though the prevailing BHS would continue to increase every year.

VC-MA used to be subjected to both BHS and CPFAL, but the CPF Amendment Bill 2021 has simplified the VC-MA limit to just the BHS:
https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/infohub/news/cpf-related-announcements/cpf-amendment-bill-highlights-2021