A significantly larger number of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members have opted to withdraw part of their retirement savings for investment in unit trusts.
In a statement today, EPF said the amount withdrawn under Members’ Investment Withdrawals in the first quarter of 2010 rose 43.26 per cent to RM911.15 million from RM636.01 million (Q4 2009: RM896.66 million) withdrawn in the corresponding period last year.
Total applications approved under this withdrawal increased to 113,809 (Q4 2009: 114,375) from 87,420 in the same period last year.
“The increase in withdrawals for investments is in tandem with the recovery in the domestic economy that began in the third quarter of 2009 and has since continued to gain momentum,” said EPF Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol in the statement.
EPF said the increase was also attributed to the rise in the number of members who were eligible for investment withdrawals.
Priority towards prudent investing was also reflected in the increasing number of retirees who opted for Flexible 55 Withdrawals to stretch the value of their retirement savings as opposed to Lump Sum Withdrawals, it added.
In the first quarter of 2010, EPF recorded a 52.80 per cent increase in applications from members who had opted for Flexible 55 Withdrawals in which a total of 14,869 applications (Q4 2009: 11,929) were received compared to the 9,731 applications in the corresponding period in 2009.
The amount withdrawn during the quarter grew by 26.05 per cent to RM637.73 million (Q4 2009: RM454.12 million) from RM505.94 million in the corresponding period last year.
“This also signifies the confidence members have in allowing the EPF to continue managing their retirement savings over a longer period,” Azlan said.
This sentiment was again reflected in the marginal 1.99 per cent increase of approved applications for Lump Sum Withdrawals during the quarter to 36,349 applications (Q4 2009: 30,120) from 35,640 in the corresponding period last year.
The amount withdrawn during the quarter also grew by a marginal 0.70 per cent to RM1,632.52 million (Q4 2009: RM1,235.52 million) from RM1,621.15 million in corresponding period in 2009.
Meanwhile, the total number of members who had nominated their beneficiaries was 3,253,721. — Bernama
JUST DROP YOUR question TO ME AT ijampm@yahoo.com ataupun call/sms saya di 012-2676091
Jamian Sarif
klik sini untuk maklumat lanjut pelaburan kwsp
klik sini untuk maklumat lanjut pelaburan kwsp
mari bertindak
ReplyDelete