Accessing pension benefits with ease

The following tips could be useful to prospective Retirees towards easy access of their pension contributions at retirement.
The Contributory Pensions Scheme provides a framework for access to retirement benefits on the basis of either of the following: mandatory retirement; compulsory retirement; retirement on medical grounds and death.
In line with the above, contributors must ensure that they have only one Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in the case of changing jobs, they should provide same PIN to their new employer rather than open a new RSA. Only the first registered PIN is valid and this is based on the premise that multiple registrations are illegal. The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has discovered a lot of workers with multiple RSAs and this is affecting the integrity of the system which is one of the factors delaying the launching of the transfer window. Where multiple RSAs are not detected until retirement, it brings about delay in payment process as reconciliation would have to be done on both PINs first to ascertain the correct PIN as well as the valid contributions for the contributor.
In the case of unfunded/under-funded accounts, the onus lies with the client to ensure his pension deductions are remitted into his or her RSA on a monthly basis. PenCom has advised contributors to always report employers who refuse to remit their pension contributions to their PFAs as and when due. In the event an employee keeps quiet, upon retirement, it will give rise to delays especially in the case of public sector clients as their RSA accounts will not be fully funded.
It should be noted that PFAs also write to the employers who have not been remitting to ensure compliance.
The National Pension Commission organises enrollment exercises on an annual basis for prospective Retirees under the Federal Public Service. This allows the Commission to process all accrued contributions for the client as well as ensure full reconciliation of the RSA in a timely manner. Thus, participation in the enrollment exercise is mandatory for public sector clients, as it facilitates smooth and quick access to retirement benefits.
Of significance also is that, customer data such as Date of Birth, Signature, Employer Details, Addresses and Next of Kin details are all extremely important for the purpose of processing retirement benefits and hence need to be regularly updated and accurate before and after retirement.
Kindly visit any of the Sigma Pensions Offices today for completion of your Know Your Customers (KYC) and update of existing records.