27/08/2025
Recently, I had the privilege of speaking to around 50 dedicated educators at ๅคๆไธญๅญฆ on โWhy Teachers Should Start Planning for Retirement โ Lessons from COVID-19 & EPF Withdrawals.โ ๐
To every teacher, yours is one of the most honored professions. You shape values, build thinking skills, and guide our children from young age. Malaysiaโs future literally sits in your classroom. So thank you for showing up, day after day. โค๏ธ๐
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
Even if you have a pension and EPF, donโt rely on them alone. The pandemic years and special withdrawals taught us a hard truth which was short-term shocks can derail long-term retirement goals if thereโs no separate plan. As of late 2024, only about 36% of active formal EPF members are on track with age-based Basic Savings. It is a reminder to all of us to build additional buffers beyond compulsory contributions. (๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ: ๐ฉ๐ต๐ต๐ฑ๐ด://๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ.๐ฌ๐ธ๐ด๐ฑ.๐จ๐ฐ๐ท.๐ฎ๐บ/๐ฆ๐ฏ/๐ธ/๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ง-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ด-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ซ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ถ-๐ค๐ข๐ค๐ฆ/๐ค๐ข๐ค๐ง-๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต-๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ-๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ค๐บ-๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ)
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ (๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐๐๐๐):
Emergency withdrawals provided relief, but they reduced many membersโ retirement balancesโanalyses estimate over RM145 billion flowed out across the pandemic-era schemes. Rebuilding is crucial so todayโs needs donโt steal tomorrowโs dignity. (๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ: ๐ฉ๐ต๐ต๐ฑ๐ด://๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ.๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ง.๐จ๐ฐ๐ท.๐ฎ๐บ/๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ญ/๐ฆ๐ฏ/๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด/๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด-๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด/๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง-๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฏ-๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ง-๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด-๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ธ๐ฏ-๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ-๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ-๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ญ-๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด)
Letโs talk risks teachers face outside the classroom, too.
Educators have increasingly appeared in scam reports. Most recently, a Penang teacher lost RM511,000 to a โFacebook stockโ investment scheme. If something promises โguaranteed returnsโ or pressures you to pay quickly, pause and verify. (๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ: ๐ฉ๐ต๐ต๐ฑ๐ด://๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ.๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ญ.๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ/๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด/๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ข/๐ค๐ข๐ค๐ง/๐ข๐ง/๐ฃ๐ค/๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ-๐ฃ๐บ-๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐บ-๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ-๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ-๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด-๐ณ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ข๐ข๐ข-๐ต๐ฐ-๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ-๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ-๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฎ/๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช)
If youโre ever scammed or suspect a transfer:
Call the NSRC 997 hotline immediately (8amโ8pm daily). The faster you act, the higher the chance of freezing funds and tracing transactions. Then notify your bank. For more info, please visit ๐ฉ๐ต๐ต๐ฑ๐ด://๐ฏ๐ง๐ค๐ค.๐ซ๐ฑ๐ฎ.๐จ๐ฐ๐ท.๐ฎ๐บ/๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐น.๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฑ/๐ฆ๐ฏ/๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต-๐ฏ๐ด๐ณ๐ค
A simple Retirement Action Plan for Teachers
๐ฏ Create a separate โRetirement Bucket.โ Automate a fixed monthly top-up (standing instruction).
๐ฏ Diversify sensibly. Balance safety (cash/fixed income) with growth (equities/unit trusts/PRS) according to your risk profileโreview yearly.
๐ฏ Rebuild what COVID withdrawals reduced. Set a 12โ24 month catch-up plan to restore your long-term target.
๐ฏ Shield the plan. Maintain 3โ6 months emergency cash and appropriate protection (medical/CI) so one crisis doesnโt trigger another.
๐ฏ Audit for scams. No urgent payments, no unknown links, no โinvestment admins.โ Verify licenses on official sites and keep loved ones in the loop.
If youโre a teacher (or love one), Iโm here to help you turn uncertainty into a clear, doable roadmap. Follow for more checklists, templates, and bite-size guidesโand share this with a colleague who might need it. ๐ฌ
Grateful to the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia for the opportunity, and a special thank-you to Ong for her the superb assistance throughout.
