MANILA, July 22 (Mabuhay) — President Aquino announced in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) that he is pushing for a slight increase in the Social Security System (SSS) contribution rate. Aquino noted that the SSS had 21 across-the-board pension increases from 1980 to 2012, but the contribution rate has only been raised […]
MANILA, Philippines – More than 32,000 qualified overseas Filipino workers with active accounts at the Social Security System’s (SSS) provident fund earned P12.54 million in additional income last year, or three times the amount of earnings on their Flexi-fund savings in 2012. SSS senior vice-president and international operations division head Judy Frances See said nine out of every 10 SSS Flexi-fund members qualified for the first-ever release of the annual incentive benefit (AIB) which is based on OFW-members’ personal Flexi-fund equity as of end of the applicable year. “Flexi-fund members with no full early withdrawal claims or benefits filed in 2012 qualified for the AIB. They do not need to file an application for availment because the SSS automatically posts the AIB amount to their flexi-fund accounts.The more Flexi-fund savings a member has, the higher the AIB amount will be,” See said. For 2012, the member with the biggest Flexi-fund equity received an AIB amount of P106,498. According to See, the total AIB is taken from the Flexi-fund’s actual investment income at the end of the year minus the total guaranteed earnings already credited to the accounts of flexi-fund members. The SSS approved higher interest rates as basis for flexi-fund guaranteed earnings effective July 2012. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The prevailing low-interest environment encouraged SSS to revise the program’s policies last year to help OFW-members earn higher from their flexi-fund savings. Previously, the computation of guaranteed earnings was solely based on the 91-day T-bill rate, Read More …
MANILA (Mabuhay) — Two lawmakers are pushing for the grant of subsidy to persons with disabilities (PWDs) to encourage them to become members of the Social Security System (SSS). Under House Bill 1685 authored by Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro) and Maximo Rodriguez Jr. (Party-list, Abante Mindanao), PWDs shall be granted 70 […]
Need to enroll for college but short in cash? You may avail of the Social Security System or Government Service Insurance System education loans as long as you are an active contributing member with a monthly income of P25,000 or below, a television report on Friday said. SSS can provide up to P20,000 educational loan in one semester for a college student taking up a four-year course, Sherrie Ann Torres reported on GMA’s “24 Oras” on Friday. For those taking up vocational course, SSS can extend P10,000 loan. “After the four-year course plus the one year grace period, so our member starts paying or amortizing for six years. Three percent lang lumalabas ‘yung loan sa SSS so very affordable ang loan repayment,” said Luz Generoso, assistant vice president at SSS Loans and Assets Management Department. In April, SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros Jr said members earning P25,000 and below per month are now eligible for Educ-Assist loans from the previous P15,000 maximum monthly income requirement. Meanwhile, for GSIS members, the state-run agency provides one-time educational loan for its members worth P4,000, the “24 Oras” report said. GSIS also provides scholarships to 200 incoming college freshmen, whose parents are from low to middle ranking regular government employees. A scholar with a four-year college course will receive P20,000 per semester and a monthly allowance of P2,000. “Dapat incoming freshman ka, so dapat magsimula tayo sa umpisa. Basta po ang bata ay nakapasa doon sa eskuwelahan na kanyang napupusuan [pwede Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS), the state-run provident fund for private employees, has signed an agreement with a local irrigators association in Nueva Ecija to subsidize farmers’ contributions to the agency. In an agreement signed last month between Deep Well Sumulong Irrigators Association of Nueva Ecija and SSS covering 185 farmers, the association would provide a counterpart amount that would match its members’ monthly SSS contribution. As a result, the monthly contributions of member farmers to the SSS would double, SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros Jr. said. “In effect, the subsidy will double the amount of the farmers’ SSS contributions,” De Quiros said. SSS contributions range from P104 to P1,560 every month depending on the member’s monthly earnings. If, for instance, the farmer saves P156 as SSS contribution a month, the association would add P156 as counterpart subsidy, for a total of P312 that will be credited to the farmer’s SSS account. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The subsidy serves as additional motivation for farmers to save up for their future. The more they save, the more they will receive in counterpart funds for their contributions,” De Quiros said. Furthermore, the SSS chief said the arrangement with the association ensures convenient and regular remittance of the farmers’ SSS premiums because the association will do it for them. The association will use the cash incentives granted by the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to associations that have shown efficient collection of Read More …