adminthat period one may lose entitlement to the benefit.
In the case of late claims for a retirement pension, one will only receive payment from the date of the application rather than from one’s retirement date.
For retirement and invalidity pensions, the claim should be made within 12 months of retirement or invalidity.
Retirement, invalidity, survivors or funeral grants should be claimed within five years of date of event.
Survivor’s pension should be claimed within 12 months of the death of the contributor.
The NSSA general manager may allow the pension to be backdated provided the claim is submitted to the authority within 12 months of retirement or invalidity.
If the claim is submitted later than 12 months after retirement or invalidity, it will still be considered but will only be paid from the date on which the claim is received by NSSA.
No application to backdate payment to the date of retirement is entertained where the claim is submitted more than a year after retirement, even if there is a good reason for the late application.
Retirement benefit is paid to contributors who have attained 60 years of age for normal retirement, or 65 years for late retirement, and are no longer employed or contributors who have attained the age of 55 years and have been in arduous employment.
Anyone who retires at an earlier age than 60, unless employed in an occupation classified as arduous, must first attain the age of 60 years before claiming a retirement benefit.
Those employed in arduous occupations such as agricultural work or some mining or quarrying jobs, can retire at age 55 and claim their retirement benefit, provided that during at least seven years of the last 10 years immediately prior to attaining the age of 55, they were in arduous employment.
If one is still in employment at the age 60, one should wait to claim one’s pension until one is either no longer employed or reaches the age of 65, whichever comes first.
When an employee attains the age 65, contributions to the NSSA pension fund should cease and one should apply for a retirement benefit whether or not one is still in employment.
Anyone over 65 years who continues contributing to the NSSA scheme shall have the extra contributions refunded. These contributions are classified as erroneous.
For those aged 60 who are still able to work and have the opportunity to do so, it may be advantageous to continue working and contributing to NSSA until age 65.
There are two reasons for this. One is that the longer one contributes to the National Pension Scheme the better one’s pension will be.
One must have contributed for at least 120 months to be eligible for a pension. So anyone who has not yet contributed for this period could increase the contributory period by continuing to work until the age 65.
The other reason why it may be advantageous to continue working and contributing until age 65 is related to the insurable earnings issue.
Anyone earning more than US$200 who retires now or while the current insurable earnings of US$200 is still in place will receive the same pension as a person earning US$200, since only US$200 of the income is insured.
That is the pension they will receive for life, unless there are any cost of living adjustments or the minimum pension is raised to a level that is higher than their pension, in which case they will receive the minimum pension.
It might be wise, therefore, for anyone who turns 60 while the US$200 insurable earnings limit is in place to continue to work and contribute to the NSSA pension scheme.
This will be in the hope that the insurable earnings limit will be raised or removed before he or she reaches the late retirement age of 65, at which age contributions to the scheme end.
The contribution period and the insurable income determine the pension rate on retirement.
Those earning more than US$200 per month who reach 65 while there is still a US$200 insurable earnings ceiling in place will unfortunately have to accept that their pension will be a percentage of US$200 rather than a percentage of their basic income.
Alternatively it could be a percentage of whatever new insurable earnings ceiling may be established subsequently.
If the ceiling is raised, then the monthly contribution will go up as well. There is always a link between the contribution paid and the pension rate, in the same way that there is a link between the amount of money insured and the benefit.
Whatever pension scheme benefit is being claimed, therefore, whether it be a retirement benefit, an invalidity benefit or a survivor’s benefit, it is important to lodge the claim within the laid down time periods.
l Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service. There is also now a weekly radio programme, PaMhepo neNSSA/Emoyeni le NSSA, discussing social security issues every Thursday at 6.50pm on Radio Zimbabwe. Readers can e-mail issues they would like dealt with in this column to [email protected] or text them to 0735 041 278. Those with individual queries should contact their local NSSA office or telephone NSSA on (04) 706517-8 or 706523-5.
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