The prevailing low interest rate environment has made many rethink their investment portfolios, and retirement saving plans. How do we grow our retirement funds?

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has performed well historically, and most of us are comfortable with the returns without doing anything extra. However, did you know you can actually potentially maximise your EPF savings by diversifying your investment? EPF i-Invest, launched August last year, allows you to diversify part of your EPF savings in approved unit trust funds. You will have greater control to diversify your investments based on your risk appetite -- aggressive, moderate or conservative, local or abroad.

Here are a few basic things you need to know about how you can diversify your savings with EPF i-Invest.

Eligibility

Malaysians, or permanent residents (PR) or non-Malaysians (registered as EPF Members before 1 August 1998)

Have sufficient savings with EPF

Below 55 years old -- can invest up to 30% of the total savings exceeding the Basic Savings in Account 1.

Above 55 years old -- can invest any amount from Akaun 55 or Akaun Emas, as long as you retain RM1,000 in the account.

** Basic Savings is a pre-determined amount set according to age in Account 1 to enable members achieve a minimum savings of RM240,000 when they reach age 55. The implementation of the Basic Savings is to ensure that members have sufficient savings at a minimum amount of RM1,000 per month when they retire in order to support their basic retirement needs for 20 years from age 55 to 75, in line with Malaysians' life expectancy.

How to invest

You can invest via an agent with an EPF-appointed Fund Management Institution (FMI), or through the EPF i-Invest platform, or both.

To use i-Akaun, first time users must be registered and have a mobile phone number linked to the account to receive the transaction authorisation code (TAC). First time users can click here for more information.

Invest in 4 simple steps:

1. Log in to EPF i-Akaun.

2. Select "Investment" on the menu bar.

3. On the buy screen, choose your preferred fund(s).

4. Select your preferred FMI and complete your transaction from with RM1,000.

Introducing Principal Asset Management Berhad

Principal Asset Management Berhad (Principal) is an established fund manager with over 25 years’ experience in helping Malaysians to invest and offers over 30 quality EPF-approved funds.

You have a wide choice of:

Conventional and Syariah-compliant funds.

Different geographic sectors to meet your preference.

A variety of asset allocations to meet your financial goals - equity, bond, mixed asset, money market etc.

Award-winning funds.

The right fund/s for you would depend on your risk appetite, and how far you are from retirement.

This short quiz will help you determine the type of investor you are.

Below are the funds recommended by Principal investment experts:

Note: The past performance of a fund should not be taken as indicative of its future performance.

Investment returns with EPF i-Invest are not guaranteed, so you’ll also need to do your research to select performing funds. Use the Fund Selector (under Fund Tools) to analyse and compare information on any approved unit trust funds.

Fees

You do incur some fees when investing with EPF i-Invest:

Upfront fee/ sales charge: Ranging from zero to 0.5% of the transaction amount. (From now till 30 April 2021, you can benefit from reduced service charges at 0% sales charge for investing via EPF i-Invest.)

Management fee: Typically up to 1.80% per annum. But that's included in your fund purchase.

Switching fee: Till 30 April 2021, none.

Redemption fee: Varies according to fund.

To view the charges by FMI, log in into EPF i-Akaun → click "Investment" → "Transaction" → "Charges".

Take charge of your retirement planning

Have greater control over your retirement savings. Diversifying part of your EPF savings with Principal today.

Principal is rewarding all new EPF i-Investors from now until 31 December 2020. Earn a reward of RM50 Touch 'n Go e-Wallet reload pin when you deposit a minimum of RM2,000.

Find out the New Investor Promotion here

Additionally, in conjunction with the 11.11 online promotion, you can earn up to 0.58% worth of Touch 'n Go e-Wallet reload pin when you invest with Principal funds via EPF i-Invest from 11 November to 12 December 2020. This promotion is open to all Principal EPF i-Invest customers.

Start investing, and earn rewards!

Click here for campaign information and terms and conditions.