SSS pension booster lets kin get dead member's retirement savings

The Social Security System (SSS)  on Tuesday said that relatives can get in full the retirement savings of a dead member under its reintroduced savings program which can yield an annual return rate of 7.2%.

“Meron din tayong death benefit. So even the survivors will get the pension, yung regular pension at yung accumulated fund nung ating member na namatay doon sa kanyang pension booster. So makukuha naman ng buong-buo yun ng surviving spouse,” said SSS Benefits Administration Division Vice President Joy Villacorta in a public briefing.

(We also have a death benefit. So even the survivors will get the pension, both the regular pension and the accumulated fund of the member under his pension booster. So the surviving spouse can get them in full.) 

The SSS has relaunched earlier its Worker’s Investment and Savings Program (WISP) and WISP Plus into the MySSS Pension Booster program “to reflect the primary goal of the savings program of boosting their retirement funds.”

Members can pay as low as P500 under the retirement savings program or contribute any amount and grow their retirement savings over time.

Members can also withdraw their contributions to the plan as the state-run private sector’s pension fund allows partial or full withdrawal of their savings in the program. 

Moreover, the SSS warned delinquent employers to pay their employees’ contributions. 

“Of course, mayroon tayong china-charge diyan. Nagiging aktibo kami diyan, we really run after the employers na mga hindi naghuhulog. So we give the warning to all our employers, it's your moral obligation, it's your legal obligation,” Villacorta added. 

(Of course, we can file charges for that. We are actively running after the employers who don’t pay their employees’ contributions. So we give the warning to all our employers, it’s your moral obligation, it’s your legal obligation.) —LDF, GMA Integrated News