CABANATUAN CITY (PIA) — The Social Security System (SSS) Cabanatuan Branch is urging Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and self-employed individuals to take advantage of the MySSS Pension Booster to enhance their monthly pension upon retirement.
This program aims to help members save for retirement, providing an additional benefit alongside the monthly pension from the regular SSS retirement benefit program.
SSS Cabanatuan Assistant Branch Head Maria Fe Abraham stated that the MySSS Pension Booster offers mandatory and voluntary retirement savings schemes for SSS members.
“This is an addition to their future pension. The more they contribute, the more their pension will be in the future,” she emphasized.
Under the mandatory scheme, employees with a monthly salary credit that exceeds P20,000 and who have not yet made any final claims such as Total Disability, Retirement, or Death Benefit, are automatically enrolled in the program.
The voluntary scheme, on the other hand, is open to all types of SSS members with the financial capacity to invest more, including self-employed individuals and OFWs, among others.
“In this program, members may contribute as low as P500 per payment, but they can increase the amount depending on their capability,” Abraham said.
SSS invests the contributions according to liquidity, safety, security, and yield requirements.
With this, Abraham assured that the agency has many security measures for investments, involving the careful selection of safe investment options.
Contributions for the MySSS Pension Booster earn compounded interest as the investment income distributed annually becomes part of the total accumulated savings of the member which will also earn appropriate interest.
SSS highlighted that the fund in the voluntary retirement savings scheme reached P386 million from 38,000 members in 2023, with a return on investment of 6.97 percent.
“This year, the agency aspires to provide a 7.2 percent interest,” Abraham underscored.
Payment of contributions can be facilitated online through the SSS website, SSS Mobile App, or Collection Partners’ app using a Payment Reference Number, or over the counter through SSS branches or collection partners.
Abraham noted that contributions to the voluntary scheme of MySSS Pension Booster can be made at any time, either alongside regular SSS contributions or separately, as long as there is a contribution to the regular SSS program for the applicable month of payment.
She also mentioned that members can easily monitor their contributions through their individual My.SSS accounts, as the posting of contributions is in real-time.
Furthermore, in terms of withdrawal, partial or full withdrawals can be made in the fifth year and beyond.
For members in the second to fourth years, partial or full withdrawals are allowed but with reduced income depending on the year of membership.
In the first year, no withdrawals can be made unless the member is facing extreme hardship situations, such as critical illness, involuntary separation from employment, repatriation from the host country (for OFWs), and other similar situations determined by SSS.
For those interested in enrolling, SSS members can log in to their My.SSS account, click “Enroll to MySSS Pension Booster (Voluntary)” under the Services tab, then read and accept the terms and conditions of the program.
However, those who are not yet SSS members can enroll in the program while applying for an SS Number on the SSS website.
The mandatory scheme of MySSS Pension Booster, formerly known as the Workers’ Investment and Savings Program (WISP), was launched in January 2021.
Meanwhile, the voluntary scheme, previously known as WISP Plus, was launched in December 2022. (CLJD/MAECR, PIA Region 3-Nueva Ecija)
