EPF declared 6.15 percent for 2025, for both Simpanan Konvensional and Simpanan Shariah. That is down a little from 6.30 percent in 2024, and it is still a number most active traders do not reliably beat.
Which raises an uncomfortable question worth sitting with before you open a trading account.
The number, and what sits behind it
EPF has paid above 5 percent every single year since 2009. There is a statutory minimum of 2.5 percent underneath it. The fund is government-backed, professionally managed, and diversified across equities, bonds, property and infrastructure both locally and abroad.
You did not research anything. You did not monitor anything. You did not sell in a panic in March. The 6.15 percent arrived anyway.
A retail investor picking Bursa stocks has to clear that bar, after brokerage and after their own mistakes, before the extra effort and risk paid for itself. Some do. Plenty do not, and it is worth being honest about that before you start.
Side by side
| EPF | Bursa Malaysia shares | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 return | 6.15% declared | Depends entirely on what you held |
| Floor | Statutory minimum of 2.5% per year | None. Capital can fall to zero |
| Access | Locked until retirement, with limited exceptions | Sell any trading day |
| Effort | None. It is managed for you | Research, screening, monitoring, decisions |
| Tax | Voluntary top-ups qualify for tax relief, up to a cap | No relief for buying shares |
| Control | None. You cannot choose the holdings | Total. Every decision is yours, including the bad ones |
The lock is a feature
The obvious complaint about EPF is that you cannot touch the money. That is also the reason it works.
The single biggest destroyer of retail returns is not stock selection. It is behaviour: selling at the bottom, buying at the top, and abandoning a plan halfway through. EPF removes the option to do any of that. You cannot panic-sell a fund you cannot access.
Whether that constraint is worth 6.15 percent depends on how honestly you assess your own temperament.
The tax relief nobody counts
Voluntary EPF contributions qualify for tax relief, combined with your mandatory ones, up to a cap set by LHDN.
That relief is a real, immediate return that gets left out of most comparisons. Buying shares gives you nothing equivalent. Check the current year's cap with LHDN, since the figure is revised periodically.
The honest take
This is not really an either-or, and framing it that way is where people go wrong.
EPF is retirement money you have already decided not to touch. Shares are money you want to control, might need sooner, and are prepared to see fall. Those are two different jobs, and the same ringgit cannot do both.
If you cannot beat 6.15 percent after your costs and your errors, the market is telling you something useful, and the response is not to trade harder.
This page is for education and general information only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security, nor a recommendation to choose one product over another. Dividend rates change and past rates do not predict future ones. Verify current figures with EPF, LHDN and Bursa Malaysia before making any decision.