OFWS in Singapore urged to tap SSS fund program
THE Social Security System (SSS) announced that President and CEO Rolando L. Macasaet urged Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS) in Singapore to avail of the SSS’S voluntary provident fund program (VPFP), also known as the “Worker’s Investment and Savings Program (WISP) Plus.
In a statement, Macasaet purportedly told the 83 OFWS who attended an even the SSS organized in Singapore to “put their hard-earned money”in the WISP Plus to build on their retirement savings and augment their pensions.
The SSS chief said on March 10 that the (VRSP) was being offered to SSS members to increase their retirement pension on top of the benefits they will get under the regular social security program.
“Save your money with us through the WISP Plus and we will take care of it. When you reach the age of 60, you can get it back together with its investment earnings,” Macasaet said.
The official explained that the program was an affordable and flexible savings scheme as SSS members could contribute P500 (around SGD11.96 at current exchange rates) whenever they want.
“Members can contribute for as low as P500 per payment whenever they want for this additional layer of social security protection,” he noted. “The members’ pooled contributions under WISP Plus will generate investment earnings, which will be credited to their individual accounts, tax-free.”
“The program is off to a good start with an estimated 6.86 percent return on investment (ROI) in 2023. It outperformed the average 1-year Treasury bill rate, which stood at 6.01 percent in 2023,” he added. “It is an indication that members’ savings invested in the program will generate decent earnings, which will be added to their total contributions resulting to higher benefits when they retire.”
Macasaet said that for example, if a WISP Plus contributor invested P10,000 at the start of the year, he would have already earned P690, which was a reasonable amount considering that if he put that in a bank savings account, he would only earn a little more than 1 percent or only P100.
He said that members can check the status of their VRSP under WISP Plus online by logging in to their MY.SSS account.
In 2023, Macasaet said the total member savings collection from the VPFP reached P386 million from more than 30,000 SSS members in its first year of its implementation.
The 2022 Survey on Overseas Filipinos of the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that five percent of the total 1.96 million OFWS in 2022 or around 98,000 Filipinos work in Singapore. They are mostly domestic helpers, nursing aides, nurses, teachers or IT specialists, according to an article by the National Anti-poverty Commission.