Malaysians have been reminded that they’re forbidden from dipping into their EPF retirement account for any purposes.
This includes withdrawing funds to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca to perform the haj, reported NST.
Withdrawals from EPF Account 1 not allowed, says govt
This was announced by Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying during a Parliamentary session today, who explained that forbidding Malaysians from withdrawing from their Akaun Persaraan, formerly known as Account 1, was to ensure that EPF members had at least RM240,000 to live on upon retirement.
She added that Account 1 was meant to be a retirement savings and makes up 75% of a person’s EPF contributions, where it can only be withdrawn at the age of 55.
However, the conditions that allow EPF members to withdraw from Account 1 include housing, life insurance, critical illness, education, health (critical illness and fertility).
“Additionally, they can withdraw from their Akaun Sejahtera (Account 2) at 50 years old for any purpose anytime,” she said.
Lim was replying to a question posed by Jerlun MP Dr Abd Ghani Ahmad, who asked whether the government would allow EPF contributors selected to perform the haj to withdraw their savings before reaching retirement age.
Meanwhile, Lim revealed that since the introduction of Account 2 in 2013, 6,070 haj withdrawal applications totalling RM16.7 million were approved, which equaled to an average of RM2,759 per application.
“The amount that can be withdrawn from the account is the difference between the total pilgrimage cost and the member’s Tabung Haji savings account balance at the time of accepting the offer.
“But this is subject to a maximum amount of RM3,000 or the account balance, whichever amount that is lower.
“Should members need additional funding, they can withdraw their savings from Akaun Fleksibel (Account 3),” she said.
Starting May 11 of this year, all EPF members’ account were divided into three separate accounts, namely Akaun Persaraan, Akaun Sejahtera, and Akaun Fleksibel.
Under the new system, , all future contributions will be distributed across the three accounts as follows: 75% to Akaun Persaraan, 15% to Akaun Sejahtera, and 10% to Akaun Fleksibel.
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