7th July, 2014
The Lagos State government has warned the 1,200 civil servants that will retire from the public service in the next six months to be wary of the antics of fraudsters who may want to defraud them of their pensions.
Director General, Lagos State Pension Commission, LASPEC, Mr Rotimi Hussain who gave the advice at the 6th Pre-retirement Seminar for the retiring workers, said the seminar was organised to broaden the knowledge of the workers in order to prepare them for retirement and access their retirement benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.
Speaking at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, Hussain stated that the retiring workers must ensure that they ventured into a business they were familiar with so as not to become victims of fraudsters who might approach them over business ideas.
According to him, the intending retirees should ensure that their Retirement Savings Accounts, RSAs were up to date with payment of statutory monthly contributions and also highlight two exit options of Programme Withdrawal approved by the Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, and the Annuity, provided by the insurance companies as provided by the Lagos State Pension Reform Law 2007.
“A lot of people begin to process their retirement benefits months after retirement. But what we wanted was that they could leave office with their retirement bond. For them to know what to do and how to process their retirement benefits six months before their retirement date so that between that time, we would have completed the documentation and the retired civil servants can collect their benefits.
“With this exercise, there will be improvement. There are 1, 200 intending retirees from the civil service,” he said.
Speaking on Retirement Benefits Documentation under the Contributory Pension Scheme, the Executive Director (Technical), LASPEC, Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, said the main objective of the CPS was to ensure that retirement benefits were paid as and when due, saying that the amount stated in the bond certificate issued the retirees was not paid to them directly as it was meant to provide their regular monthly retirement benefits and a lump sum.
“You have a choice on how to receive your monthly pension. You can receive the income for life, in which case you opt for a Life Annuity which is an insurance product or for a Progammed Option, which is a pre-determined period which is a programmed withdrawal arrangement provided by you PFAs,” she explained.
Speaking on Healthy Living at Retirement, Mrs Ada Duggan said the ability of the retiree to plan for physical, mental, economic and social changes is critical to ensuring sound health in retirement, urging them to engage in regular physical exercises, drinking lots of water, among others.
“Managing health in retirement is a critical component of retirement planning. Just as we engage in financial planning for retirement, the same principles should be applied to health planning to ensure a healthy and satisfying retirement,” she said.