AN estimated 60 per cent of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members can potentially reach the basic savings level of around RM390,000 at the age of 60 by 2030, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
He said that 3.1 million or 41.2 per cent of active EPF members in the formal sector, who are Malaysian citizens aged between 18 years and 55 years, had reached the basic savings level by age as of the end of 2025.
“This shows that there are still 4.42 million or 58.8 per cent of formal sector members who are Malaysian citizens who have not reached the minimum savings level targeted to ensure sufficient savings upon retirement,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Negara today reported by Bernama.
Amir Hamzah was replying to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Ng Keng Heng regarding the government’s official estimate of the percentage of citizens who are expected not to reach the sufficient minimum savings level by retirement age in the next 10 years to 20 years.
Meanwhile, Amir Hamzah said the government, through the EPF, is committed to ensuring that the erosion of basic savings due to early withdrawals can be controlled by introducing the retirement income adequacy (RIA) benchmark.
He said RIA functions as a guide to the adequacy of retirement savings, helping members assess their savings position before making withdrawal decisions, thus encouraging more prudent long-term financial planning.
“At the same time, several measures to strengthen savings continue to be implemented, including account restructuring, namely the introduction of Flexible Accounts, encouraging voluntary contributions, and more active promotions involving iSimpan, i-Saraan, and i-Topup.
“EPF is also intensifying its awareness campaign to encourage members not to make full or lump sum withdrawals, which can affect income after retirement, but instead choose the withdrawal option in monthly payments,” he said.
As a note, the number of active employers registered with the EPF increased by 4.2 per cent to 640,391 as of December 2025 from 614,563 in 2024, while the number of formal sector workers also grew by 3.3 per cent to 8.2 million in 2025 from 7.9 million in 2024.
This positive development contributed to the growth of annual contributions of EPF members who are Malaysian citizens to RM120.0 billion in 2025, 12 per cent higher than RM107.1 billion in 2024. – March 4, 2026
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