NO SALES CHARGES FOR THOSE AGED 30 AND BELOW
Plan under Securities Commission, Youth and Sports Ministry launched yesterday
NEW private retirement scheme (PRS) subscribers aged 30 years and below will now enjoy zero sales charges with selected PRS providers when they sign up via PRS Online.
The plan is under the TN50 PRS Youth Incentive partnership between the Securities Commission and the Youth and Sports Ministry, which was launched by minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, yesterday.
He also launched a new mobile application for PRS members to manage their accounts.
PRS Online is a one-stop online platform that allows direct subscription for PRS schemes through the Private Pension Administrator (PPA) website.
The new additions aimed to increase awareness on the importance of early retirement planning and to encourage participation in PRS among youth.
“PRS serves as a critical voluntary avenue to accumulate retirement savings given the increasing life expectancies and the intent to achieve better living standards upon retirement.
“Stemming from the various initiatives, we are heartened by the encouraging outcomes of the overall PRS industry, which has seen steady growth year-onyear,” said Securities Commission chairman Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh during the launch here yesterday.
He said when the incentive was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the 2014 Budget, it was a conscious move to increase youth participation retirement planning.
The incentive is geared towards youths aged between 20 and 30, and initially involved a RM500 one-off government topup with a minimum contribution of RM1,000 in any PRS.
The incentive was further enhanced in the 2018 Budget, where the amount was doubled to RM1,000, in the government’s effort to capitalise on the momentum of youth enrolment in PRS. On the numbers, Ranjit said 2017 was a record year for PRS, with the highest number of new members since its launch more than five years ago.
He said the total number of members grew by 36 per cent to 301,279 last year, from 221,235 in 2016.
Total asset under management of the 56 existing PRS funds rose by 47 per cent to close the year at RM2.23 billion, from RM1.51 billion the year before.
The youth segment accounted for seven per cent of total PRS membership in 2013, but the figure increased significantly to 28 per cent as at December last year.
He said this was reflected by PPA’s achievements, coupled with the government’s initiatives as announced in its federal budgets, to educate and encourage Malaysians to invest in PRS as a critical voluntary savings avenue.