Increase in CPF Contribution rates from January 2023

[malcontent]

Looking back, contributing to CPF was one of the main deterrents to applying PR back when I first started out here. When you earn less than $6,000/mo, that 20% really bites, especially when are on your own (no parents to live with), and you don’t have nearly enough for a downpayment, so owning is not an option.

In my particular case, I was getting 6.2% deducted for SS and 1.45% for Medicare, and 6% deducted for ESPP (voluntary, but necessary to get the employer match). Imagine deducting another 20% on top of all that… I don’t think I would have had enough left to pay the rent, let alone anything else.

I guess I’m the square peg. But I feel as though things have worked out in the end. My employer has a CPF substitute program that I don’t need to contribute to, so I haven’t really lost out versus what I would have collected in employer contributions to CPF. That is the main reason I’m still on an EP after all these years; switching now would actually set me back financially.

[NYY1]

The ability to live at home when just starting out is a big difference. It's basically building up the down payment vs paying rent each month. Still, more and more kids are looking to live on their own now sooner and sooner. The degree of higher paying jobs may also be more these days. Some seem to be able to make it work.