On 16 March 2022, our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that all eligible Malaysians are allowed to withdraw their money from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) up to RM10,000. This special news, in a way, does bring hope to those who are mostly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, some might think that this special EPF withdrawal scheme will only bring consequences to each EPF contributor in the long run. 

We all know that EPF is meant for our retirement savings and it is advisable for us not to withdraw our EPF money, unless we really need to and when we don’t have any other options to overcome our financial pitfalls. Nevertheless, before we judge and worry about EPF contributors who already made the decision to withdraw their EPF money, let’s view this issue in a positive way and check out these useful tips that we can apply after withdrawing some of our EPF savings.

1. Do ensure you have strong reasons

It is crucial for us to have concrete reasons to withdraw our EPF money. We can ask ourselves with these kinds of significant questions:

Why do I need to withdraw my EPF savings? Do I really need it in the first place?

For what purposes and reasons? Is it urgent or emergency? 

Possibly, if we are able to list out the reasons the better, so that we can have a clear overview of our purposes and strong reasons to withdraw some of our EPF. We all don’t want to end up feeling guilty after receiving it at the end of the day.

2. Allocate carefully for your main priorities

We surely need to think about our needs, things we should concern most first. Suffice to say, don’t withdraw our EPF just for the sake of fulfilling our wants. We can always seek advice and guidance from the financial experts or even EPF officers, to guide us. Some people may allocate a few portions of their withdrawal for various aspects such as to cover their monthly expenditure, assist their affected family members, boost up their investment and others.

3. Plan and do budgeting appropriately

We need to do budgeting properly after receiving the EPF money. For instance, what would be the specific total amount that we want to allocate for our main priorities. For example, a proper amount that we need to use to help us settle our outstanding debts, daily expenditures, child’s education and others. Plan carefully, and by doing this, we will be able to divide the total amount received effectively.

4. Find ways to rebuild your EPF savings and other retirement fund

We all should understand that we shouldn’t touch our EPF savings if we think it’s not necessary. EPF is one of our savings for a future retirement fund. We don’t want to work hard and have multiple jobs once we reach 50, aren’t we? Thus, after withdrawing the amount that we need, we have to find ways to build again or top up our EPF savings and other retirement funds. It is indeed our responsibility to build back our EPF savings for a secure financial future.

5. Keep track and increase your emergency funds

Another option that we can do is to use our emergency funds instead, whenever we confront unexpected challenges in life. If we don’t have it, we should create one after receiving our EPF money. We can start allocating a certain amount in our emergency savings account and build our emergency money from this account. It’s never too late to start saving. Well, better late than never. This will teach us not to rely solely on our EPF savings alone. 

We all have different financial challenges, and we do need to cater to our vital needs. The choices are in our hands. We are the ones who decided to withdraw our EPF savings. We resolve what is best for ourselves. Think positively and with these meaningful tips, God willing, we can manage our EPF savings/money wisely.