EPF’s returns? 6.02 pct over past 10 years. 6.37 pct over past 5 years.

I received two Whatsapp messages just yesterday. I really do wonder why people would want to create them and why there are people who love to forward these kind of messages. One came with a photo of the EPF’s building on fire and said something along the lines of “6.9 percent announced yesterday. With this fire, it will be reduced by 2 percent.”  Just to share, EPF’s payout for 2017 is RM48 billion. If we assume the EPF building is RM500 million, then this payout is enough to buy nearly 100 of them. Oh yeah, this is the actual yearly performance of EPF from before Merdeka days. I think its performance is respectable even when compared to ANY neighbouring countries or some advanced countries. Please keep improving but here’s a pat on the shoulder for the latest 2017 payout announcement. 
Second Whatsapp was also with a photo of a burning EPF building and it says something along the lines of “Official news. Due to destruction of files, no EPF members are allowed to withdraw any funds for 6 months.”  I am not sure how online some other provident funds are, including those from the advanced countries but our EPF certainly do not rely on tons and tons of hardcopy records these days. Plus, do you really know what is happening should there be no withdrawals for 6 months? Even during the 1998 financial crisis that we could still withdraw money from the EPF. Now, a fire in ONE (1) building and withdrawals are stopped for 6 months? And you BELIEVE it as Official News?
Oh yeah, there were also some sinister comments in Facebook saying that the fire was started by some insider to destroy information. To destroy any information nowadays, it’s best to get a hacker.  Just refer to all the technology being used during the US President’s election. None of them involved using fire or starting a fire in some buildings.   This is the cause for the fire:  “The cladding panels used on the exterior of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) building in Jalan Gasing did not meet fire safety requirements, said Fire and Rescue Department deputy director-general Datuk Soiman Jahid. He also said “A spark ignited the cladding panels. Hot weather and strong wind were also factors in the spread of the fire to other parts of the building’s exterior. The Uniform Building Bylaws require buildings to be fitted with less flammable cladding panels. Using more flammable ones is a clear infringement,” he told reporters at the scene of the fire yesterday. Full news in TheStar here.  So, would 2018 be an even better year for all of us with savings in EPF? For our sake, I certainly hope so.
written on 14 Feb 2018
Next suggested article: Becoming a millionaire just by working 9 to 5?