I got the chance once again to watch one of my favorite shows “Kwentong Disyerto” in TFC (The Filipino Channel). This show is hosted by Mickey Ferriols and TJ Manotoc. I used to watch this show before every Friday but it’s been months since the last time that I watched it.
Anyhow their topic yesterday is about retirement. Their topic is so timely because we got a lot of OFW’s who is about to retire in the near future. I am also planning to retire from being an OFW and start a new career in the Philippines.
One of the things that inspire me is the program of Philhealth. Majority of us OFW may not have the knowledge of the Philhealths’ program. All we know is we kept on paying the Philhealth of P900.00, an amount that covers one year of medical insurance and we get nothing from it. Besides who wants to be sick, just to enjoy the benefit from the agency? No one would be willing, right? I consider my contributions to Philhealth as my thanksgiving because I am not getting sick as well as my beneficiaries. That alone is enough for me. But yesterday Philhealth announced that there is a pension that an OFW can enjoy provided they met the two requirements by the agency. First requirement is if an OFW reaches the age of sixty. Second is, the OFW must have completed the 120 monthly contributions. As I understand it, Medicare contribution is counted.
The 120 monthly contributions is equivalent to ten years of religious paying of your contribution. If you are working abroad for more than ten years now then you already got one of their requirements. All you need to do is to wait till you reach the age of 60. That’s good news for everyone, isn’t it? After all it is at this age that one start to become a frequent visitor of the hospital. According to Philhealth, it is through this program that they can return the benefits that the contributor did not enjoy when he is paying his contribution while he is young and energetic. For more information about the program, you can email them at owp@philhealth.gov.ph Also Mr. Ringo Danao, Philhealth representative, will visit Saudi Arabia this September to talk about the Philhealth program among the OFW.
For the younger generations of OFW’s their advice is to start planning for their retirement on day one of their career and I agree to that. Lessons must be taken from previous generation in which majority of our OFWs don’t have a retirement plan. One reason for this is the belief that when we grow old, the younger generation will take good care of us. This is because Filipino have a very close family ties. So we tend not to plan for the future retirement and concentrated all of our resources to our immediate and present needs.
Another reason is most of us are “SSS” (Social Security System) members. We are contended to live our golden years on SSS pension. But come to think of it. How much is your SSS pension when you retire? Is that enough for your needs? I know a lot of senior citizen today and they are having a hard time with their small pension to cope up with today’s standard of living. If an OFW is paying the highest amount of contribution today, then he can expect around ten thousand pesos (P10,000) up to eleven thousand pesos (P11,000) pension when he retires. If that amount is not enough to sustain your monthly needs today, then how do you think it can sustain you in the future. In order to supplement the pension benefits of their members, SSS offer another product, the SSS Flexi-fund. This is a voluntary, provident fund for OFWs. For more information on flexi-fund, feel free to visit their website, www.sss.gov.ph
OWWA and Colayco foundation have their own programs for the OFWs as well. OWWA is providing different kinds of assistance to an OFW retiree while the Colayco foundation offers seminar about financial literacy to help an OFW where they can invest their hard earned money. You can know more about OWWA and the Colayco foundation by visiting their website, www.owwa.gov.ph and www.colaycofoundation.com
So if you are planning to retire in the near future or had just started your career abroad, then this is the right time. As Mr. Armand Bengco, Colayco foundation representative, says “it is never been too early, from day one of your career you must think of your retirement”. Given the proper instrument, the right agency and organization like OWWA, Philhealth, SSS and Colayco foundation, an OFW can prepare for himself a better retirement plan in the future.
