State-run Social Security System (SSS) is encouraging overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Singapore to avail of the Voluntary Provident Fund Program or the Worker’s Investment and Savings Program (WISP) Plus.
During the First SSS Kapihan sa Singapore, SSS President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said that the program would increase the members’ retirement pension among the other benefits they will receive from the pension fund.
Macasaet told the OFWs that investing through WISP Plus would return to them along with the earnings by the retirement age of 60.
The WISP Plus contributions would create tax-free investment earnings for the applicants.
“The program was an affordable and flexible savings scheme as SSS members could contribute as low as P500 whenever they wanted,” he added.
The SSS chief reported that the return of investment (ROI) reached 6.86 percent in 2023, which is higher than the average 1-year Treasury bill rate at 6.01 percent.
“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,” he elaborated.
The total member savings collection from the program went up to P386 million last year, generated by 30,000 members since its launch.
“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 one percent or only P100,” Macasaet said.
The voluntary retirement savings for WISP Plus can be accessed through the My.SSS account.