By Hadassah-Esther Osimen
I have already mentioned the importance of investing because it makes your money grow and do more for you. However, I want to take particular look at pension as an investment poption. Sometime in 2004 and 2014, the Federal Government created a robust pension scheme that enables employers and empoyees take better advantage of the employees retirement earnings after some years in employment. The scheme saw the proliferation of pension Custodians, pension fund administrators and the Pension Commission to enable an effective pension systembv for Nigerians. Employers with up to five employees were required to enroll their workers in the pension scheme. The system also made it possible for private individuals to be able to register for the pension scheme by themselves. The participation of several banks at the time, increased trust for the scheme because several such pension custodians sprang up as bank subsidiaries thus taking away the insecurities that people may have associated with buying insurance. Fast forward 18years, it may be time to review but still appears to be a safe way to plan your retirement income.
The idea is to set aside a percentage of your monthly income, deductible at source. Both your employer and yourself make contributions towards your pension. Hence the name, Contributory Pension Scheme. This is then put in in the hands of the Pension Managers who , help make your pension secure and grow according to a preset ratio of your investment to earnings.
As this is taken out before your salaries are paid, it is easy on your pocket being that the value relative to income is reasonable. Where you are self employed, you can find some of the existing Pension Managers or even approach the Pension Commission for advice. Colleagues and business associates can offer useful information, plus you could of course, google it.
If you were a contributor to the National Social Insurance Trust Fund, now called Trust Fund, you would be able to continue with the contribution if you can provide your policy number but make sure you get them to give you appropriate information about your balances and if I were you, I would attempt to make a withdrawal from my account to validate it. Personally, I do not know how effective the Trust Fund is because I have not been paid any pension or social insurance since I became visually impaired but I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon since I am still on it.
What happens when you have a pension is that, upon retirement or incase of a disability or ailment, the commission begins to pay you a monthly income in line with your contribution.
I have decided to send a simple overview for today. Please visit the National Pension Commission website for more.
Have a splendid weekend.
