A Special Needs Savings Scheme (SNSS) will be launched on 6 Feb 2012 to allow parents to save for the long term care of their special needs children. Under this scheme, children who have attended or are attending special education schools can receive a monthly disbursement from their parents’ CPF savings after their parents’ demise.
The SNSS complements the existing Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) set up in 2009 which provides trust services. Both SNSS and SNTC enable families to enhance the financial security of persons with disabilities by providing mechanisms for parents to save for their children.
Mr. Sam Tan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said, “The SNSS scheme offers another option for parents to look after the financial security of their children with special needs. We encourage parents to use the scheme.”
The
Centre for Enabled Living (CEL) is the scheme administrator. Parents may approach the CEL (website:
www.cel.sg or Info Line:
1800-8585885) for more information. Interested applicants can submit their application forms to CEL.
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ANNEX: FACT SHEET ON SPECIAL NEEDS SAVINGS SCHEME
The Special Needs Savings Scheme (SNSS) allows parents to save for the long-term care of their children with special needs. Under this scheme, parents can nominate their children to receive monthly disbursements from the parent’s CPF savings after the parents’ demise.
To be eligible for the scheme, the nominating parent and the person with disabilities have to be Singaporeans/Singapore Permanent Residents at the time of application. The person with disabilities has to:
(i) Require assistance in at least 1 Activity of Daily Living (ADL)*; OR
(ii) Have attended or is attending a Special Education (SPED) school.
*The six ADLs are – washing, dressing, feeding, toileting, mobility, and transferring.
Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria may be considered on a case-by-case basis by an SNSS Committee.
The SNSS provides financial support for children with special needs within the CPF system and will be particularly useful to parents who do not have substantialsavings outside of CPF. CPF interest rates will continue to be paid on the amount set aside for the SNSS nominees. An extra 1% interest will be paid on the first $60,000 of the combined balance of the nominated amount and the child’s own savings.
Parents can determine the quantum of monthly payout to the nominated child at the point of application, subject to the CPF floor payout of $250 for each recipient. To start the scheme, a participating parent’s CPF savings upon his demise must be sufficient to support a year’s worth of payouts (e.g. balance of $3,000 for a monthly payout of $250). Otherwise, the deceased parent’s CPF savings will be disbursed as a lump sum.