SAF officers to get more cash bonus, full CPF contribution
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) officers can look forward to enhanced monetary benefits following changes to its savings and retirement scheme from July 1, 2025.
With these changes, new SAF officers will see an average of 40 per cent increase in benefits as compared to if they were under the current scheme, and can accumulate about three years of their last drawn annual salaries at retirement.
In a statement on Sept 6, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) listed three key changes that will be introduced to the Savings and Employee Retirement (Saver) Plan.
Firstly, bonus cash payments will be given to officers between the ages of 25 and 34 for every three years of service. Known as the Saver Bonus payment, it aims to better support the officers’ needs, such as marriage and housing.
The Saver Bonus will replace the current arrangement, where contributions are deposited into officers’ Savings Accounts during their first 10 years of service, which can be withdrawn from their seventh year of service onwards at increasing percentages.
Secondly, officers will be given their full Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions earlier in their careers, helping them accumulate more CPF to better support their housing and healthcare needs.
Currently, officers are on a reduced CPF contribution arrangement, where Mindef deposits the difference between the full and reduced employer CPF contribution into the officers’ CPF Top-Up Account. The monies in this account are transferred to officers via their CPF account when they leave SAF.
Lastly, increased contributions to officers’ Retirement Accounts will begin from their first year of service instead of the seventh. The existing Retirement Account will be renamed the Saver Account.
The enhanced benefits will be applicable to all new officers who join SAF from Jul 1, 2025, as well as in-service officers who opt to transition to the enhanced SAVER plan.
“Together, these changes will better meet the life-cycle needs of SAF officers and provide them greater financial assurance for career transition upon their retirement from the SAF,” Mindef said.
The Saver Plan, introduced in 1998, aims to encourage officers to remain in service until their retirement from SAF, as well as to help them accumulate sufficient finances for their transition to their next career.
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