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You can generally only withdraw your accrued MPF benefits when you reach age 65. Earlier withdrawal is allowed only on these statutory grounds: early retirement at age 60 or above; permanent departure from Hong Kong; total incapacity; terminal illness; death (benefits form part of your estate); or a small balance — your account holds $5,000 or less, no contributions were made in the 12 months before your claim, and you declare you do not intend to become employed or self-employed.
eMPF (積金易) is the MPFA’s central electronic platform, launched on 26 June 2024, with all trustees onboarded by end 2025. It lets you view all your MPF accounts across trustees in one login, and handles enrolment, contributions, fund switching and transfers digitally. Because administration is standardised, fees are falling: from April 2026, administration charges were cut by 21.6% (from 0.37% to 0.29% of assets) for all 4.8 million members.
Your old employer’s contributions stop on your last day, but your accrued benefits stay invested in the old scheme. You can leave them there, transfer them to your new employer’s scheme, or move them into a personal account under a scheme of your choice. Your new employer must enrol you in their MPF scheme within 60 days.
Yes. Under the Employee Choice Arrangement (in force since 1 November 2012), you may transfer the accrued benefits derived from your own mandatory contributions to an MPF scheme of your choice once per calendar year — this is the “semi-portability” (半自由行) arrangement. Your employer’s contributions stay in the employer’s chosen scheme unless your employer agrees otherwise.
You and your employer each contribute 5% of your relevant income. If you earn less than $7,100 a month, you don’t have to contribute — but your employer still pays their 5%. Contributions are capped: on monthly income above $30,000, each side pays a maximum of $1,500.
Employees aged 18 to 64 who have been employed continuously for 60 days or more must join — your employer must enrol you in an MPF scheme and contribute. Self-employed persons aged 18 to 64 must enrol themselves and contribute. Casual employees in the construction and catering industries are covered from day one under industry schemes. Exemptions include domestic employees, self-employed hawkers, members of MPF-exempt ORSO schemes, and overseas workers in Hong Kong for 13 months or less.
Log in to eMPF — it shows all your accounts across every trustee in one place (see N7). If an account still doesn’t appear, the MPFA can search its personal account register for you via its hotline or service centres.
Every MPF scheme must offer an MPF Conservative Fund. It invests in short-term Hong Kong-dollar money-market instruments such as Treasury bills and certificates of deposit, and aims to beat the average bank savings rate. It is low risk, but returns are not guaranteed and the fund can lose money in extreme conditions — “conservative” does not mean capital-guaranteed. Administration fees may only be charged from returns above the MPFA’s prescribed savings rate.
The DIS is a ready-made option built from two mixed-asset funds: the Core Accumulation Fund (CAF) and the Age 65 Plus Fund (A65F). It is designed for members who prefer not to make investment choices, but anyone may choose it. Since 1 April 2017, new accounts without an investment choice are invested under the DIS by default. Your benefits stay fully in the CAF until age 49; from age 50 the trustee automatically shifts you toward the A65F each year, completing the move at age 64. DIS management fees are capped at 0.75% of net asset value per year, plus out-of-pocket expenses of at most 0.2%.
Although these funds aim to replicate the Hang Seng Index as closely as practicable, their performance won’t match it exactly on every valuation day. Three reasons: fund fees and expenses are deducted from fund assets but not reflected in the index; buying and selling stocks to track index changes incurs transaction costs and stamp duty; and there can be a timing lag between an index change and the fund’s portfolio adjustment.
Your accrued benefits form part of your estate and are paid to the personal representative named in the grant of probate or letters of administration. There is no beneficiary nomination in MPF enrolment — so keep your will and estate arrangements in order if you want your MPF to reach the right people smoothly.
No — trustees cannot pick the price. MPF funds use forward pricing: the dealing price is only calculated after the market closes on that trading day, as the fund’s net asset value divided by the units in issue. One price is set per trading day, and the trustee does not know it when executing your instruction. The price you get reflects the market close, not anyone’s discretion. (This is standard for open-ended retail funds, not just MPF.)
Each trading day, the fund’s net asset value (its investments minus fees and charges) is divided by the number of units issued. One unit price is set per trading day. (Before 1 July 2015, Conservative Fund fees were deducted by cancelling units from members’ accounts instead — a historical method no longer in use.)
No. Management fees are charged as a percentage of fund assets, not a fixed amount, so they shrink your balance but can never reduce it to zero. Fees are reflected in the daily fund price. Note that if you stop contributing, the account stays invested and fees continue to apply — which is one reason to consolidate idle personal accounts (see FAQ N5).
No. By law your MPF must remain within your scheme’s constituent funds. You decide how to allocate across what your scheme offers — equity funds, bond funds, mixed-asset funds, conservative funds, the DIS and others — but you cannot buy individual shares or outside unit trusts with MPF money.
Not for employment after 1 May 2025. From that date, employers can no longer use the accrued benefits from their mandatory contributions to offset severance payments (SP) or long service payments (LSP). The change is not retrospective: SP/LSP for employment before 1 May 2025 can still be offset (“grandfathered”), and benefits from employers’ voluntary contributions may still be used. The government subsidises employers’ SP/LSP costs under a 25-year scheme.
Tax Deductible Voluntary Contributions (TVC) let you top up your retirement savings in a dedicated TVC account — you choose any scheme offering TVC accounts and contribute directly. Contributions qualify for tax deductions of up to $60,000 a year (an aggregate limit shared with qualifying deferred annuity premiums, since the 2019/20 tax year). Anyone holding an MPF account, or a member of an MPF-exempt ORSO scheme, can open one. Withdrawal rules are the same as for mandatory contributions.
You mainly pay fund-level fees, reflected in the daily fund price rather than billed to you. The key figure is the Fund Expense Ratio (FER) published in each fund’s fact sheet — it bundles management fees and ongoing charges into one percentage. Small differences compound over decades, so compare FERs across similar funds. Industry-wide, eMPF standardisation is driving fees down (see N7).
Yes，but you will have to participate in an MPF scheme again. You may also want to note that the withdrawal of accrued benefits for this reason can only be made once in your lifetime.
Yes. Such contributions made by you are called voluntary contributions, and are subject to the governing rules of your scheme. “Voluntary contributions” are contributions that employers, employees or self-employed persons make to an MPF scheme in excess of the amount of mandatory contributions required to be paid under the MPF legislation.
A scheme member aged 60 to under 65 who has retired and wishes to withdraw his/her accrued benefits must statutorily declare that he/she has permanently ceased employment. If you have withdrawn your accrued benefits on the ground of early retirement and wish to re-join the workforce, you will have to be enrolled in an MPF scheme again.
Yes, if you are aged 18 to 64. You must enrol in an MPF scheme and contribute 5% of your relevant income (the income you declare), subject to the $7,100 floor and $30,000 monthly cap — the same bands as employees. If your income is below $7,100 a month, you are not required to contribute.
When choosing an MPF service provider, employers can consider these factors:
Product features and benefits
Information found in the scheme’s offering documents can be used for comparison, including:
Operations and principals of schemes
Choice and objectives of constituent funds
Investment policy and restrictions
Fund valuation methods and frequency
Restriction or flexibility of contributions, withdrawals, and switches
Fees and charges
Reports and accounts
Notification requirements for participants and fund holders
Investment performance and expertise
Although past track record is not indicative of future performance, you can assess the credibility and capability of the fund manager by reviewing the consistency and absolute performance of similar funds that he or she manages
Client servicing
Many employers find that efficient administration and client servicing support are essential to the smooth running of the scheme and keeping costs down
Employee education
Regular communications and education programs to employees on how the MPF can help employees achieve their retirement goals, and what types of MPF fund are suitable for their needs are helpful information. So are regular updates on fund managers’ latest investment performance and strategy.
Employees should not rely solely on MPF to provide for their retirement needs — it is only one of the solutions to ensure financial security for the community in old age. It complements benefits paid out from social security and private savings.
For MPF to work successfully, employers and employees should work as partners in preparing for employees’ retirement.
Also, employees need to make informed decisions regarding contribution rates and asset allocations across available options. These decisions have a direct impact on the level of money they can accumulate for retirement. To ensure that they can make informed decisions, the industry and the providers should provide extensive employee education, in particular to enable them to understand, among other things:
what are the key sources of retirement income?
how to set goals for retirement income?
what is the effect of inflation on retirement’s buying power?
what is the implication of life style and expected life span on retirement income?
Index (passive) funds aim to replicate a market index — such as the Hang Seng Index — as closely as possible, at low cost. Actively managed funds try to beat the market through research and stock selection, and charge higher fees for it. Neither approach guarantees better returns: compare each fund’s fees and long-term performance against its benchmark before choosing.
Different MPF schemes offer different funds for members to select. You should understand the features and risks of an MPF fund by reading the Offering Document and Fund Fact Sheet, and choose the MPF funds that best match your investment objectives and risk tolerance level.
If the investment climate iswhen you reach the age of 65, you may consider keeping the accrued benefits in the MPF system for continuous investment, to make the best of market conditions and suit your personal needs. You may then consider withdrawing your accrued benefits later, when the prices of MPF funds rebound.
Use both, for different jobs. Cumulative return shows total growth over a period (e.g. +28% over 5 years). Annualised return smooths that into an average yearly rate, which is the right figure for comparing funds over periods longer than one year. Always compare like with like — same period, same fund type — and remember past performance doesn’t predict future results.
When you leave a job, the accrued benefits in that employment stay in the scheme but move to a personal account in your name. After several job changes you may hold multiple personal accounts across trustees — consolidating them into one account makes your MPF easier to manage and avoids duplicated administration charges. Transfers between personal accounts are free.
Yes. The MPFA recommends scheme members to hold just one personal account. If they have multiple personal accounts, they should consider having them consolidated into one account for easier management. However, factors such as processing time and possible incurrence of investment loss or gain arising from accrued benefit transference should also be considered before making such a decision.
It can lose money. “Conservative” means low risk, not capital-guaranteed: the fund invests in money-market instruments whose prices can fall, and its return is not guaranteed. The one protection members get is on fees — administration fees may only be charged from returns above the MPFA’s prescribed savings rate. If you want a formal guarantee, look at guaranteed funds, which promise a return only if strict conditions are met (e.g. holding to a qualifying event such as retirement at 65).
The price fluctuations of stocks are on average higher than those of bonds over the long term, and so the risks of Equity Funds are generally higher than other types of funds, including Bond Funds, over a short period of time. However, when the interest rate volatility is high or the credit rating of bond issuers is downgraded, Bond Funds may be as volatile as Equity Funds.
Yes. Your MPF assets are held in trust, legally separate from the trustee’s own assets — creditors of a bankrupt trustee cannot touch them. The MPFA also maintains a statutory compensation fund as a further safety net, and would arrange for another trustee to take over administration.