Four in ten Malaysians now have sufficient savings for old age
KUCHING: About 40 to 41 per cent of Malaysians now have adequate retirement savings, up from 32 to 33 per cent five years ago, following efforts by the government and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to strengthen retirement preparedness.
Finance Minister II Senator Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the improvement reflected growing awareness of the need to save for old age, particularly as Malaysia moved towards an ageing society.
“We can see that more people are building sufficient savings for retirement compared with five years ago.
“This shows that our efforts together with EPF are helping members improve their retirement preparedness,” he said during a recent interview on the Financial Faiz Podcast discussing Budget 2027.
Amir Hamzah said smaller families and fewer younger people available to support elderly relatives meant Malaysians could no longer depend as heavily on their children for financial assistance during retirement.
He said the government and EPF were encouraging workers to make additional contributions beyond their mandatory monthly deductions.
Efforts were also being made to bring more informal-sector workers into the retirement savings system through schemes such as i-Saraan and i-Saraan Plus, which offered government incentives for eligible voluntary contributors.
Amir Hamzah also urged EPF members not to withdraw their entire savings upon reaching retirement age, recommending monthly withdrawals instead.
“When they withdraw monthly, the remaining savings can continue generating returns.
“This allows their retirement savings to last longer,” he said.
Beyond retirement savings, he said the government was expanding healthcare infrastructure, improving medical service efficiency and developing the care economy to meet the needs of an ageing population.
This included training more care workers to support elderly people who preferred to remain in their own homes.
Amir Hamzah said Malaysia also needed to move towards higher-value industries and better-paying jobs, as higher wages would increase EPF contributions and strengthen financial security in retirement.
“The challenge is to ensure that we become rich before we become old,” he said.
He stressed that preparing for an ageing society required individual responsibility, stronger retirement savings, better healthcare and continued government support for vulnerable senior citizens.
