KWSP Roadshow Arrives in Taylor’s

The Taylorian community gained awareness from on-the-spot services by KWSP professionals at the two-day event involving EPF member and I-Akaun registration, Retirement Advisory, Education Withdrawal Services, Nomination Checking and Statement Printing.

Deputy Manager of Retirement Advisory Services at KWSP, Mohd Yazid bin Ramli, said that most Malaysian students do not actually know their scheme whereby they can start to contribute even though they are not employed, starting at the age of 14.

Ramli oversees the roadshow

Perhaps, this is because most of them still depend on loans and their parents’ income, but “they can contribute as low as RM 10,” the Shariah Registered Financial Planner explained i-Saraan, a voluntary contribution initiative, “we want to make sure that they at least start with a small amount.”

He emphasized on the 15 percent incentive from the government on any contribution per year.

“If they want to receive the maximum amount of RM 300, they will need to put at least RM 2000.”

The incentive is on top of EPF dividends. “Let’s say if we declare a dividend at 5% for the year and your balance is at RM1,000, you will be entitled to get RM 50 and another 15% for i-Saraan incentive.”

“We cannot compare with banks as both institutions have different objectives,” he added. However, for the past 10 years, EPF’s rates have been higher with low-risk investment strategies.

The EPF officers were from the Petaling Jaya branch. They aimed to reach roughly 200 people per day with their ‘Jom Tambah’ campaign.

Taylor’s staff, students and parents visited the roadshow

“Taylor’s and Sunway are within our area and we find that the number of students is quite big … we want to have a touchpoint,” Ramli said.

Khong Joey, a full-time student said that she was ignoring the roadshow at first but she said they were very proactive in approaching people with an interesting brief so she managed to learn from them.

From a scale of one to ten, she said her awareness on EPF has increased from three to six or seven.

“I believe that everyone should be more open-minded to contributing because it’s a good strategy for our retirement … This money is invested in asset classes which may help our country to develop more, so it’s a win-win situation.”

RinggitPlus reports that the campaign tackles recent concerns of insufficient retirement funds. Chief Operating Officer of the EPF, Sazalina Zainuddin said that if there are no actions taken especially with the youth, people will face financial issues when they reach retirement age.”

EPF can financially aid everyone in their life cycle before they reach retirement age. “They can withdraw for the purpose of education, buying a house and medical,” added Ramli.

Participants were quick to verify their MyKad and receive their EPF member number

Martyn Lim, a student with a part-time job said that EPF is forcing him to save up for his future.

“I don’t really have savings, I feel like Jom Tambah is a very good initiative that’s important for most employees like me.”