Please note that this article aims only to educate and enlighten employees about their pension entitlements,also to know whether it is being invested so they can have returns that will provide a means of livelihood during retirement.

It is not news that it is mandatory for every organisation with employees from 4 and above to make contributions for their staff on a monthly basis. This contribution is called pension contribution and it is made available for withdrawal after retirement or if and employee is out of a job for 4 months. The law requires that your employer pays 10% of your basic,housing and transport and then contributes 8% of same from your salary.

Now when your employer makes this payment, it is paid into the contributions account of your Pension Fund Administrator and then your employer sends a schedule containing the breakdown of the employees that constitute that payment so that your PFA can credit your account and start investing it.

But its sad what some employers do, they ignore the regulation and try to not make remittances on behalf of their employees until they are visited by recovery agents or maybe they require a certificate of compliance from PENCOM with up-to-date payments being the pre-requisite.

When this happens, they hastily make payments and all is well...or is it?

Payments made isn't enough apparently, it doesnt mean your account is credited...it doesnt mean your money has started accruing interest. Why? - because they do not send schedules to the PFA and PFC. Recall i explained what a schedule is,now without the schedules the PFA wont know what account to credit and as such the money won't be invested as they need to be sure of who the money belongs to.

Most employees don't know this, most people don't care. But the truth is, your money is there hanging somewhere. It might not be useful today but when you retire, it would all make sense. Maybe not for you but for your kids, wife or other people that might depend on you. Imagine saving up money for 30 years only to find out..it has just been there and not accruing interest,quite disappointing huh?

And when your time comes,there is nothing for your.kids to fall back on because nobody looked into these payments and nobody identified the beneficiaries of the payments and who knows where the money might end up.

Please lets all be aware,ask your PFA for your statement. Make sure your payments are up to date and nothing is left out. Tell your friends,family members etc. Lets all be aware. Remember,the future belongs to those who plan for it today.
PFAs have billions in their accounts and they dont know who these monies belong to,what might happen to those funds is anybody's guess.

A word is enough for the wise.