MALAYSIANS have voiced somewhat mixed reactions to the World Bank\u2019s proposal for Malaysia to raise the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawal age from 55 to between 65 and 70, a move it argues would strengthen the country\u2019s social protection system amid rising life expectancy.<\/p>\n
Many older contributors, however, are pushing back against the suggestion. Personal driver R. Ravi, 62, told The Star recently that the current withdrawal age should remain at 55, citing family and financial responsibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we reach a certain age, there are other priorities that we need to attend to, like planning for our children\u2019s wedding or arranging money for them to study overseas,\u201d said Ravi, who has contributed to the EPF since he was 18.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be restricted from taking out the money sooner,\u201d he added, noting that the existing option to withdraw one-third of savings at 50 already provides a reasonable balance.<\/p>\n
Retiree, who only wanted to be known as Jennifer, 61, also disagreed with the World Bank\u2019s suggestion, saying that many depend on their savings for their children\u2019s education and other family needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took out money from my EPF to pay for my children\u2019s education in college and also to pay for my expenses. My daughter recently got a new car; I also used some money to pay for the down payment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jennifer believes the withdrawal age should stay at 55, allowing seniors to enjoy early retirement and use their funds freely.<\/p>\n
Economists, however, have urged careful and phased implementation.<\/p>\n
Prof Mohd Nazari Ismail of Universiti Malaya said, \u201cIt would be unreasonable to extend the EPF withdrawal age to 65 if the official retirement age remains at 60.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetirees need access to their savings to supplement their pension.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warned that restricting access could \u201cerode public trust\u201d and push retirees into debt, calling instead for stronger financial literacy programmes.<\/p>\n
Bank Muamalat chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid supported a moderate revision. \u201cRaising the withdrawal age to 60 makes sense as it would align with the current retirement age,\u201d he said, suggesting that any adjustment be introduced gradually on a voluntary basis.<\/p>\n
Sunway University economist Prof Yeah Kim Leng agreed that extending the withdrawal age could improve retirement security.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that many contributors deplete their savings within three to five years, a compromise could be to convert half the amount into an annuity account for continued financial support,\u201d he said, adding that flexibility should remain for special cases.<\/p>\n
Senior economic consultant Samirul Ariff Othman of Global Asia Consulting said the World Bank\u2019s recommendation is \u201clogically grounded in macroeconomic realities,\u201d citing Malaysia\u2019s ageing population and low retirement adequacy levels.<\/p>\n
However, he cautioned against a rigid approach. \u201cImplementation must be phased and reflect the actual capacity of older workers to remain employed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Independent analyst Nazri Hamdan said Malaysia\u2019s average life expectancy of 75\u201378 years justifies reviewing the current system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one retires at 55 with RM300,000 in savings, it only lasts about 12 years at RM2,000 a month. Extending the contribution period to 65 could increase savings to around RM500,000 \u2014 far more realistic given current demographics,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Nazri also warned that Malaysia faces a growing risk of elderly poverty, as nearly half of citizens aged 70 and above fall within the low-income category.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf EPF funds are depleted and they can no longer work, the only options left are depending on their children or government aid \u2014 and that\u2019s unsustainable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The World Bank\u2019s latest study, \u2018Should Malaysia Expand Its Social Pension? Global Evidence, Design Issues and Options\u2019, argues that Malaysia\u2019s current withdrawal age of 55 is too low for an ageing nation. It recommends raising the age gradually to between 65 and 70 to ensure the sustainability of the country\u2019s pension framework while aligning it with improved healthy life expectancy. – November 1, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MALAYSIANS have voiced somewhat mixed reactions to the World Bank\u2019s proposal for Malaysia to raise the Employees Provident…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[3726,79,92085,18,29249,19,17,92084,234,235,3045,75518,13180],"class_list":{"0":"post-158226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-ageing-population","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-economy-financial-security","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-epf","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-pension-reform","16":"tag-personal-finance","17":"tag-personalfinance","18":"tag-retirement-age","19":"tag-social-protection","20":"tag-world-bank"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115478239811187698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}