I Want To Empty My Pension Fund Account!

[size=13pt]Good day to NL members in the financial industry especially the pension administrators. I have a question for you. Can someone knowledgeable please explain to me exactly how the pension thing works. My company opened an account for me with one of them when I was employed. I didn't bother with how it worked then.

At the moment things have really gone south and my bail-out package seems to be my pension savings. Is it possible to withdraw this money, as in EMPTY the account but still run it in the future? If the administrator refuses, is legal action feasible? I haven't gone to the administrator to verify nor have I made any other form of inquiry. I just need to arm myself with enough info before meeting them. Please I need expert comment on the subject or topic. Thank you.[/size]

1. How old are you ?

2. Where are you located ?

3. If you spend this money, how much time will it take you to replenish it ?

4. Do you have children ?

5. What do you intend to use the money for ?

I suggest you seek proper financial advice from an expert. There are quite a few questions and reasoning at play here.

1. Your pension is an investment into your future
2. MBA is an investment into your immediate future.
3. Do you have immediate funds to sustain the Pension in the meantime.
4. There is an issue or interplay of money and time here.

Thus it will be worthwhile to sit down with a financial adviser to do an Options Appraisal with you and then do a Cost and Benefit analysis on the key Options chosen. At the end of the day the final decision will rest with you.

I am not pointing you in any direction, but I did my MBA years and years ago and must be honest with you that it opens up your thinking to a higher level and increases your chances in life.

I wish you the best.

i just asked someone in d pension scheme provider i use in lagos she said u cant withdraw your pension early until a certain age.

OK DIS IS D BEST ANSWER YOU CAN GET,
IF U WERE SACKED U CAN ACCESS 25% OF YOUR RSA BALANCE IF YOU APPLY
IF YOU RESIGNED YOUR JOB THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU SO DONT BOTHER AND THERE IS NO LEGAL ACTION YOU CAN TAKE

DIS GUY WORKS IN D INDUSTRY SO HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS SAYING

what do you guys understand by PENSION?
I am in the same situation as the poster.
you keep my pension and I will not take any thing out and I am dying ,what nonsense.Give me the dam money and let me run my retirement plan.
A friend has a pension of almost N1,600,000.00 and he can,t withdraw his fu-cking money.This money can go a long way in his current project that will even yield better retirement stuff than the IBTC fu-cking pension savings.

DECEPTION I CALL IT

According to Pension Act, you can only access the fund at the age of 50 or on retirement whichever is later.that means you still need to wait for 20 years to access it,look for alternatives,cos the amount deducted monthly together with your employers contribution cannot be much or the total will be small.some senior colleagues in m office jus crossed accumulated total of about a million naira.how are you even sur your employer is remitting your contribution,do u have access to check your pension balance or receive statement/alerts when working?

@OP THIS MONEY IS INVESTED AND THE TRUTH IS YOUR MONEY IS STILL YOURS AND KEPT FOR YOU TILL YOU GET ANOTHER JOB ANYTIME, WHEN YOU GET ANOTHER JOB THE SAVINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL YOU CLOCK 65 GBAM*, THEN THEY WILL VOMIT ALL TO YOU AS YOUR PENSION, PART WILL BE PAID AS GRATUITY AND SOME WILL BE PAID AS QUARTERLY PAYMENT OF ANNUITY OR PENSION, BUT IF U STILL INSIST TO EATEN YOUR FUTURE MONEY AT PRESENT OR FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND MBA FEE, I THINK THE PENSION MANAGEMENT DEPENDING ON THE ONE CHOSEN BY YOUR COMPANY MAY NOT SUCCUMB TO THAT IDEA, I WILL ASK YOU HOW MANY YEARS HAVE U WORK /SPEND? AND WHAT RATE WAS USED FOR YOUR EMPLOYER /EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION SO AS TO KNOW THE ACTUAL AMOUNT U WILL HAVE PRESENTLY.THE AMOUNT CONTRIBUTED BY BOTH PARTY SHOULD BE IN YOUR EMPLOYMENT LETTER, I WILL ADVISE YOU WAIT PATIENTLY COS A NEW JOB WILL SOON COME YOUR WAY BY GODS GRACE, MAY GOD MEET YOUR NEEDS IJN, I FEEL FOR YU.

i work with one of the pension fund administration in abuja.u cannot empty your account but can be paid 25% of your total contribution.if u r unemployed and there should be evidence.

@OP: yes u can withdraw from your account but i guess its only 25% u will get n also u have 2 be unemployed for @least 6mths to qualify.
if you want to withdraw all u av 2 wait till when u r 60 or so.

kunlaxo:

@OP THIS MONEY IS INVESTED AND THE TRUTH IS YOUR MONEY IS STILL YOURS AND KEPT FOR YOU TILL YOU GET ANOTHER JOB ANYTIME, WHEN YOU GET ANOTHER JOB THE SAVINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL YOU CLOCK 65 GBAM*, THEN THEY WILL VOMIT ALL TO YOU AS YOUR PENSION, PART WILL BE PAID AS GRATUITY AND SOME WILL BE PAID AS QUARTERLY PAYMENT OF ANNUITY OR PENSION, BUT IF U STILL INSIST TO EATEN YOUR FUTURE MONEY AT PRESENT OR FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND MBA FEE, I THINK THE PENSION MANAGEMENT DEPENDING ON THE ONE CHOSEN BY YOUR COMPANY MAY NOT SUCCUMB TO THAT IDEA, I WILL ASK YOU HOW MANY YEARS HAVE U WORK /SPEND? AND WHAT RATE WAS USED FOR YOUR EMPLOYER /EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION SO AS TO KNOW THE ACTUAL AMOUNT U WILL HAVE PRESENTLY.THE AMOUNT CONTRIBUTED BY BOTH PARTY SHOULD BE IN YOUR EMPLOYMENT LETTER, I WILL ADVISE YOU WAIT PATIENTLY COS A NEW JOB WILL SOON COME YOUR WAY BY GODS GRACE, MAY GOD MEET YOUR NEEDS IJN, I FEEL FOR YU.

U are right, when i was workinh in naija, i was with IBTC, i called in and was given my pension number and all details.



U just have to clock 50 before you can get the money, so sad. my money is still with them even though am not in naija again.

sayso:

what do you guys understand by PENSION?
I am in the same situation as the poster.
you keep my pension and I will not take any thing out and I am dying ,what nonsense.Give me the dam money and let me run my retirement plan.
A friend has a pension of almost N1,600,000.00 and he can,t withdraw his fu-cking money.This money can go a long way in his current project that will even yield better retirement stuff than the IBTC fu-cking pension savings.

DECEPTION I CALL IT

I ask our HR when i was still working in naija about the pension thing, the respond was your pension is being deposited every months. ok, i check IBTC, and saw that last 3 months was missing, ask IBTC where is the last 3 months, IBTC say my company has not remit the contribution, what i called HR, bla bla bla, what happen, excuse excuse excuse, and i was why is it not there, bros, a week after i sensitise my co workers and aluta is at hand, HR deposited my money sharp sharp. just make sure you call ur Pension fund admin and monitor ur contribution or else, someone is using the money somewhere else and later pay back after if ever.

Somebody is asking how he can get his money at least to feed before another one comes and many are speaking grammar adding to his problem. Ok I have about N3million based on the last alert i received, i have been contributing for several years and you guys dont understand how I feel sometimes when iam broke and I receive alert that I have N3m in my account from IBTC.

My colleague who is over 60 years and have left the job has been struggling to get his money for the past several months that he got so frustrated and abandoned the money after endless come today come tommorrow by IBTC.

This whole pension stuff just like every other Nigerian initiative is like kalo kalo, they even reduced my money sometime in 2009 and blamed it on the crash in the capital market which affected returns that they expected from invested funds.

My guy if I may advise from the experience of my coleague, the amount of time and money that you will spend on transport to their office at this critical time is better invested in taking care of your basic needs until you get something else to do.

The pension stuff for now is not different from GSM lottery, easy to send text with your money and promises of millions. The more text messages you send the more money MTN or Glo makes while they encourage you to wait for the draw date which in this case is 65 years after.

I think u wil be upto a certain age before u can have d money. Dt is if u hav nt yet retired.I think u wil be upto a certain age before u can have d money. Dt is if u hav nt yet retired.

Nigeria Pension fund is a Calo Calo. You pay in but cannot withdraw. The money is gone forget it

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I ask our HR when i was still working in naija about the pension thing, the respond was your pension is being deposited every months[b]. ok, i check IBTC, and saw that last 3 months was missing, ask IBTC where is the last 3 months, IBTC say my company has not remit the contribution, what i called HR, bla bla bla, what happen,  excuse excuse excuse, and i was why is it not there, bros, a week after i sensitise my co workers and aluta is at hand, HR deposited my money sharp sharp. just make sure you call your Pension fund admin and monitor your contribution or else, someone is using the money somewhere else and later pay back after if ever.[/b]

Same thing happened to me, worked for about 1yr 7months cash was deducted on a monthly basis. But at the end of the day nothing was in my account. Called the company, and complained after sometime they stopped picking my calls. A friend advised me to complain to CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL, CPC called them Pension company said they will resolve the issue, back and forth, back and forth, at the end of the day nothing. Now another ARM Pensions took over the company with my empty account and  have been bombarding my phone with SMS  

Conclusion no kobo was deposited in my account even though the amount was deducted. This was done by the No1 German construction company operating in Nigeria.

Hey peeps is there anyone who has withdrawn from this pension of a thing? Wether the 25% or someone who has attained rhe mandatory age, please let such share experience. We know those paying, but who are collecting?

.

Caliente:

[size=13pt]Oh well looks like profiling me? Here we go.
I'm 30 and unemployed over a year. I'm in Lagos. Don't how long it'll take to replenish it, maybe 1-3-6-9, months. Don't have kids, not married. I want to finish my MBA with the money plus I gotta eat.
I'm still stuck with no answer to my question.[/size]

Didn't intend to profile you or make you feel uncomfortable. Just trying to get a sense of how you may be able to create other options, because like someone said, its quite difficult to redeem the funds and its a lot of hassle, time, and energy.

Even redeeming insurance money for dead family members is a hassle.

Get the money if you can ---- it seems your NOW is more important than the future because you need the money for food and for your education --- both of which are important NOW.  Just be sure to create a new timeline for raising funds into the future, esp if you get a new job.

SoRRY to hear that you have been unemployed for over a year. SUCKS!

Honestly, the reality is that your PFA experience is a direct function of what you put into it. I always encourage all my clients to take active participation and closely monitor their remmitances to ensure that they get transferred on time and regularly. Pension funds are diverse investment streams and are unitised; unlike most quoted stocks and shares, will continue to grow steadily till the exit age (50 years for now). While you are unable to withdraw now, your funds still continue to appreciate and grow.

The sad part is many staff get ripped off because their HR deducts at source but sits on the funds (or borrows 'both employee and employer contribution at no interest or even embezzle it outright). If people will start knocking on doors, being out-spoken and getting more involved, the situation will be much improved. It's your future, you should be most concerned.

OP,
Provided you are still single, my sincere advice to you is hunt for something better that can sustain you. Loosing a job, while a painful experience, isn't the end of the world. It could be the spark-plug that will lead to a journey of self-discovery.  Applying for 25% should be a last resort, after exhausting all other possibilities. Take heart.

mjay:

Hey peeps is there anyone who has withdrawn from this pension of a thing? Wether the 25% or someone who has attained rhe mandatory age, please let such share experience. We know those paying, but who are collecting?

It usually takes about 1-2 months from processing, provided all necessary docs are fully enclosed. The checklist is as follows;
letter of last employment
letter of disengagement (must be over 6 months)
last pay slip
current account number
letter of indemnity from your last employer (stating they are not owing you and have paid all your entitlements)
standard application letter
your bank account number

coolkaboom:

It usually takes about 1-2 months from processing, provided all necessary docs are fully enclosed. The checklist is as follows;
letter of last employment
letter of disengagement (must be over 6 months)
last pay slip
current account number
letter of indemnity from your last employer (stating they are not owing you and have paid all your entitlements)
standard application letter
your bank account number

I told you earlier that my colleague who retired has not been able to access his fund and got so frustrated from visiting their offices that he left his money with them.
The issue is that its very easy to open a PFA account but very difficult to get your money when needed or when due; our retrenched driver has been coming to the office everyday asking for one document or the order requested by IBTC to get the 25% that I feel for him wasting money on transport with no result.
Pension Fund in Nigeria is equivalent to Kalo Kalo (jackpot machine) what goes in can come out but very dificult.

i beg to disagree. PFAs are bound by very strict PENCOM guidelines, so incomplete applications will be declined by the regulator. If you bring the itemised submissions (usually sourced from a competent admin or HR dept), there is no excuse for denying access to your funds.

PENCOM is a civil service organisation and it may not yet be able to match the speedy request of the client or the PFA, but it still works (eventually). Provided you have everything on the checklist, you will get your funds within 2 months max).

Guys i have recently collected my 25% from stanbicIBtc pension when i supplied all that was requested of me. i was paid within 6weeks of sending in my application. believe me it works when you have you provide all that is in the checklist. i was affected by the oceanicbank tsunami of 2009 and once i got the information but i could access 25% of my almost 3million i had saved.

furthermore i was also advised to go for the pre-act which am recently pursuing. i was told the pre-act is any savings you had before the pension act kicked off in 2006 or so. you will be able to access that too ennbloc. i applied some 5 weeks ago for that and am expecting a credit to my account after the holidays. i can say this about stanbicIbtc but not sure of other pension managers.

which is your pension managers? at least you can access the 25% which can assist you. also ask for the pre-act. if you can gather the two you should be able to make ends meet.

goodluck.

what of if you resigned and was not sacked, do you still qualify for the 25%?

My wife's pension deductions have not been remitted for the past 19 months by her employer, what options are open to her to ensure these money is forwarded the pension managers.

coolkaboom:

Pension funds are diverse investment streams and are unitised; unlike most quoted stocks and shares, will continue to grow steadily till the exit age (50 years for now). While you are unable to withdraw now, your funds still continue to appreciate and grow.

What happnd when u hit 50? Does any of the requirements change? That is if you resign or lose your job or whatever, wht happns when you re 50?

This becoming more and more ALARMING than i av ever thought, evry other country surrounding us seems to be off any kind of dirt while we re soak in it,to me its not true. Nigeria is a place where d gud bad and urgly set of people dwell,just like evry other country in evry other continent. The fact that they trash us and can still CONFIDENTLY count on us for help, make them c us as there mugun. Well i thank God dat sum of us stil doing clean things to get 30 pa cent ratings for good work,demonstrating cute image for this country.