page 25 Pension / Insurance

page 25 Pension / Insurance

Page 24

How pensioners spend retirement benefits

By Francis Arinze Iloani

In Nigeria, there seems to be more emphasis on where and how pension benefits of retirees come from than where such benefits go to.

Retirement may no longer mean tiredness going by the increasing number of workers around the world, including Nigeria who no longer collect their pension benefits and end up in obscurity.

The involvement of pensioners in post-retirement economic activities have given rise to the concept of ‘Third Age Economy.’

There is no available data in Nigeria on the number of retirees who continue to work after retirement or even how their pension entitlements are spent but in the United Kingdom the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that around 1.4 million people now continue to work beyond 65.

Both under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) and the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), retirees, who had put in specified number of years in service are entitled to lump payments in addition to programmed monthly pension payments.

PenCom guidelines indicates that where an employee disengages or retires from active service upon, or after, attaining the age of 50 years old and the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balance is less than N550,000, the employee would be paid the total balance in his or her RSA in a single payment also known as en-bloc payment.

However, if the RSA balance is above N550,000, the employee receives a lump sum payment of the amount payable after sufficient provision have been made to procure a programmed withdrawal or an annuity that will produce an amount that should not be less than 50 percent of his/her annual salary as at the date of retirement.

For workers who retired under the DBS, they also receive lump payments as determined by the respective arms of government.

Daily Trust set out to find out how retirees spent thier pension entitlements, which is usually up to 25 percent of thier total pension savings.

A retired civil servant, Abdulkadir Usman, revealed that he invested his benefits in procuring a house in Kaduna after he retired from active service.

Usman, who retired in 2006, said he had hoped that his monthly pension payments would sustain him afterwards.

“I was working and living in Kaduna with my family in a rent place. The only house my family had was in my village. When I got the money, I bought a house in Kaduna because we didn’t want to return to my village,” he explained.

He justified the action further, “the house has appreciated in value and my family is still living there.”

Usman, who now works with a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Abuja, expressed regret for the action, saying if he had better financial advice he would have invested the money in a trade.

Another pensioner, Mr. Samuel Echetalu, said he spent his lump sum payment on “family problems.”

When asked to give details on the problems, he said, “family problems are very many, my son,”

Echetalu now runs a provision store with his wife at Apo axis of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He told Daily Trust that his son funded the business after he had spent some years doing nothing after retirement.

Echetalu’s involvement in petty business after retirement lends credence to Malcolm Forbes’ popular quote that “retirement kills more people than hard work ever did.”

IEI-Anchor Pension managers tasked on service delivery

By Chris Agabi

IEI- Anchor Pension Mangers Limited, has tasked its relationship executives and business development officer on good customer relationship and quality service delivery to its clients.

Glory. O. Etaduoive, the Ag. managing director /CEO of IEI-Anchor Pension Managers Limited gave the charde during the Company’s Quarterly Business Review held at the Corporate Head Office, Abuja.

He also charged the Company’s Business Development team to sustain the corporate culture of Excellence, Proficiency, Integrity and Professionalism as Business Relationship Managers of the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) while delivering quality service to its clients.

As Pension Fund Administrator, he emphasized on the statutory provisions which guides and encourages the company as a PFA to ensure its corporate activities are geared towards providing excellent services to its customers, noting that the PFA’s concerns for happy future, quality livelihood and welfare of its clients during retirement is the critical philosophy behind the existence of the PFA.

Insurance clients can now compare policy rates

By Chris Agabi

TopCheck, an online platform that provides insurance customers’ opportunity to compare insurance policies prices has debuted in Nigeria.

According to Christian Wiesner, the Founder/MD of TopCheck Internet Services Ltd said using the platform is for free.

He indicated that TopCheck is adding new products besides insurance in the upcoming months.

He explained that TopCheck is the „Moneysupermarket of Africa“, a price comparison platform for financial services like insurance, banking, or loans.

TopCheck, which was founded by techentrepreneurs Christian Wiesner and Thomas Pilar earlier this year, provides an innovative internet platform, where Nigerian internet users can compare and buy insurance policies directly from insurance companies from their mobile phone or their computer.

“We offer a platform that set the standards of buying insurance by providing the fastest, most secure and most comfortable way to do so. We connect insurance companies directly with

insurance seekers on our website topcheck.com.ng . Additional product categories will be innovated soon.” says Thomas Pilar.

NAICOM boss tasks government to invest in technology

By Chris Agabi

The Commissioner for Insurance/ CEO, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Alhaji Mohammed Kari has called on the government to step up investment in technology for economic growth and sustainable competiveness.

He made the call at the maiden conference on Management, Technology and Development of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Bauchi State.

He said Nigeria must invest hugely in technological development and its management if the economy will witness accelerated and sustainable development.

He said he rate technology and its application as one of the main drivers of meaningful development of a country.

The NAICOM boss added that there is no denying that the changes in technology have affected most industries worldwide, adding that globalization, which dominates the world today, was influenced mainly by information technology.

For instance he said, Information technology (IT) has transformed the process of production, product design, raw materials sourcing, transport, manufacturing, health care, marketing, service delivery and even general management.

“Industrial competitiveness has enabled countries to increase their presence in international and domestic markets whilst developing industrial sectors and activities with higher value added and technological content. The question is how did the developed countries attain the successful mix they enjoy today?” he said.