CPF
CPF Retirement Account (RA) & Retirement Sums
The account created at 55 from your OA and SA, sized to the Basic, Full, or Enhanced Retirement Sum and earning a 4% floor.
What it is
In plain language.
At age 55 your Special Account closes and savings from SA and OA combine to form a Retirement Account. The RA is the pool that funds your monthly retirement income, and it earns the same guaranteed 4% floor.
How much goes into the RA is anchored to three reference sums for 2026: the Basic Retirement Sum of $110,200, the Full Retirement Sum of $220,400, and the Enhanced Retirement Sum of $440,800. The more you set aside up to the ERS, the larger your eventual payouts.
The RA is the bridge between your working-years CPF balances and lifelong income through CPF LIFE. It is where the forced-savings system finally converts accumulated balances into a retirement annuity base.
How it works
In Singapore, in practice.
When the RA forms at 55, SA savings transfer first, then OA, up to your chosen retirement sum. Money above that can generally be withdrawn from 55 subject to rules, while the rest stays to generate income.
The Basic Retirement Sum can be met partly by pledging a property; the Full Retirement Sum requires cash CPF; the Enhanced Retirement Sum lets you voluntarily top up to roughly double the FRS for higher payouts. The sums are revised upward each cohort year.
You do not open an RA yourself. It is created automatically. Your main levers before 55 are how much you build in OA and SA and whether you top up toward FRS or ERS.
Run the numbers
See it in your own figures.
See the corpus this is ultimately building toward, the point where your money could cover your life.
Your financial-independence number
The corpus that, drawn down at a safe withdrawal rate, could cover your expenses indefinitely. Excludes CPF LIFE here, so it is deliberately conservative.
Where it sits
Its place in the instrument map.
A sound plan is built in layers, from a guaranteed base up to small, high-risk satellites. This is the role CPF Retirement Account (RA) & Retirement Sums plays, and the layers around it.
Small, high-risk positions you could afford to lose entirely.
Direct stocks and REITs held for long-run growth.
Funds, ETFs, and bonds that spread risk across many holdings.
Government-backed income and the SRS tax wrapper.
Guaranteed and liquid: your CPF base and emergency cash sit here.
The trade-offs
What it does well, and what to watch.
Good for
- Anyone approaching or past 55 planning retirement income
- People targeting larger lifelong payouts via FRS or ERS
- Those who want a guaranteed 4% base underpinning their retirement
Watch outs
- Retirement sums rise each year, so the target you must set aside grows over time.
- Meeting the BRS by property pledge means lower cash payouts than meeting the FRS in cash.
- Funds set aside in the RA are committed to retirement income and are not freely withdrawable.
In the market
What this looks like.
Real Singapore examples, shown to make the instrument concrete. These are illustrative, not endorsements.
How it connects
Instruments that work with this.
CPF Special Account (SA)
The retirement-focused CPF account earning a 4% floor, locked away to compound until age 55.
Full breakdown CPFCPF Ordinary Account (OA)
The CPF account you can use for housing, insurance, and approved investments, earning a guaranteed 2.5% floor.
Full breakdown CPFCPF LIFE
Singapore's national annuity that turns your Retirement Account into a guaranteed monthly payout for as long as you live.
Full breakdown CPFCPF Top-Ups (RSTU & MediSave)
Voluntary top-ups to your SA/RA or MediSave that boost retirement and health savings at a 4% floor, with potential tax relief.
Full breakdownSources
Where the facts come from.
- RA guaranteed floor interest rate of 4% per yearSingaporeConfig.cpf.cpfInterestRates.ra
- 2026 retirement sums: BRS $110,200, FRS $220,400, ERS $440,800SingaporeConfig.cpf.retirementSumTiers
- RA formation at 55, SA-to-RA transfer and retirement sum ruleshttps://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/retirement-income/monthly-payouts/the-three-retirement-sums
See where CPF Retirement Account (RA) & Retirement Sums fits your own plan.
This is educational, not advice. When you want a detailed look at how this fits your situation, a licensed adviser will map it to your income, CPF, and goals.