80% of Pinoy seniors have no retirement fund —BSP

Eighty percent of the 7.6 million Filipinos aged 60 and up do not have a retirement fund, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

According to Ivan Mayrina’s report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said only 20 percent of Filipino senior citizens are covered by either the Social Security System (SSS) or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

“Retirees who are fortunate enough to be covered by state-sponsored retirement systems receive an average monthly pension of P5,123 for SSS and P18,525 for GSIS,” he said.

“Depending on the lifestyle you would like to have in your senior years, this pension may or may not be enough to meet all your needs,” Diokno added.

Financial advisor Celina Magallona said that a lack of financial literacy may be partly to blame for the low number of Filipinos with a retirement plan.

“Lumaki sila na parang walang masyadong financial education, sa financial literacy. I think, culturally din, it’s the ‘Bahala na’ attitude kaya parang medyo live for today ‘yung mga lolo’t lola natin,” she explained.

On Tuesday, the BSP launched the Digital Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) platform, where Filipinos can enroll and invest online.

Banco de Oro and Bank of the Philippine Islands also have PERA available on their online banking channels.

Any Filipino with a tax identification number who is employed, self-employed, or an overseas worker can open a digital PERA account.

Those employed locally can deposit a maximum of P100,000 yearly while overseas Filipino workers have a limit of P200,000 yearly.

“Sinasabi nila wala silang pera at wala nang matitira after [ng] gastusin. Pero tingnan mo kung ano ang cellphone, ‘di ba? Minsan kailangan lang natin tingnan kung ano ang priority,” Magallona said. -MDM, GMA News