Guide to MediSave Grant for Newborns (MGN), Child Dev Acc (CDA) & Post-Sec Education Acc (PSEA)

This Opinion post first appeared in my blog here: https://pwlcm.wordpress.com/2022/04/04/guide-to-medisave-grant-for-newborns-mgn-child-development-account-cda-post-secondary-education-account-psea/

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.

There are a few schemes where the government is putting money directly or indirectly into your CPF Accounts.

MediSave Grant for Newborns (MGN)

All Singapore Citizen newborns are credited with a $4,000 MediSave Grant for Newborns (MSN) in their CPF MediSave Account (MA):
https://www.madeforfamilies.gov.sg/support-measures/raising-your-child/healthcare/medisave-grant-for-newborns

Child Development Account (CDA)

As part of the Baby Bonus Scheme, all Singapore Citizen newborns would have a special savings account known as Child Development Account (CDA) opened and credited with the CDA First Step Grant of $3,000:
https://www.msf.gov.sg/policies/Strong-and-Stable-Families/Supporting-Families/Pages/Baby-Bonus-Scheme.aspx

After that, your parents can deposit money in your CDA, and there would be dollar-for-dollar Government Co-Matching for each dollar deposited, up to the stipulated caps according to your birth order:

Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA)

When you turn 12 years old, your CDA would be closed and any unused CDA balance would be transferred to another account known as Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA):
https://www.moe.gov.sg/financial-matters/psea

The PSEA balance will earn interest pegged to the CPF OA, which is currently 2.5% p.a., but the extra 1% interest on the first $20,000 in the CPF OA will not apply to the PSEA.

When you turn 31 years old, your PSEA would be closed and any unused PSEA balance would be transferred to your CPF OA.