Questions about when benefits can be claimed continue

“I have been contributing to NSSA from its formation until now. My age is 41. I want to leave work. Am I going to get my monthly pension?” one reader asked.
The answer, as regular readers of this column will know, is that you will be entitled to a monthly pension only when you turn 60, if you are unemployed at that age, or 65 if you are still in employment up to that age.
The pension is an old age retirement pension payable when one reaches retirement age, which for a NSSA pension is normally 60, although it is at 65 if one is still employed up to that age. In a few employment categories considered to be arduous, such as farm labouring and some mining and quarrying occupations, an early retirement age of 55 applies.
At the age of 41, most people would still have a considerable part of their working life ahead of them. Leaving one job at that age generally means one is likely to obtain a new job.
NSSA pension scheme contributions will continue in that new job, unless the job is in the informal sector. If the new job is in the informal sector, it is possible to continue making voluntary contributions to the scheme if one arranges to do this soon after leaving formal employment.
If one does not continue contributing, a pension will still be payable when one reaches retirement age based on one’s last insurable earnings, which is the earnings amount that one’s contribution to the pension scheme is based on.
A similar response is applicable to the reader who wrote: “I was retrenched in 2006 after contributing for 11 years. I am 50 years old now. I didn’t get anything from NSSA.”
No, you would not receive anything from NSSA, since you are not yet old enough to receive a retirement pension.
Both of these readers will be eligible for a pension when they reach the requisite retirement age, since they have contributed to the scheme for more than 10 years, presuming the contribution period was unbroken or constituted at least 120 months.
Those who have contributed for less than 120 months but more than 12 months are entitled to a once-off retirement grant when they attain retirement age.
On reaching the prescribed pensionable age it is necessary to obtain from NSSA a P9/P10 claim form, complete it, have one’s employer complete it as well and submit it to NSSA, along with proof of identity.
“I have worked for 14 years in government and 13 years in the private sector and I want to retire. I am 46 years old. How can I get my benefits,” another reader wrote.
As far as NSSA retirement pension scheme benefits are concerned, the answer is that he or she will need to wait until at least age 60 and then apply on form P9/P10 for the appropriate retirement benefit, which will depend on how many monthly contributions to the scheme have by then been made.
If this person contributed to an occupational pension fund then it may be possible to obtain a refund of contributions to that scheme from the particular pension fund, because of its link to the job.
However, with the NSSA scheme the situation is different, because contributions are not tied to a particular occupation but continue no matter what job one is in, provided it is in the formal business sector.
It may turn out to have been worthwhile keeping one’s salary slips as proof of contributions having been deducted, when it comes to claiming benefits from NSSA, just in case an employer has failed to remit these contributions to NSSA. It is also wise to claim as soon as one is eligible for the benefit.
One person who wrote to this column is having difficulty having a survivor’s benefit claim accepted because the company the contributor worked for has closed down and there is no payslip available since it is eight years since the contributor died. One wonders why the claim, which was made in 2010, was made so long after the contributor’s death.
A retirement pension should be claimed within 12 months of retirement and a retirement grant within five years. The same time periods apply to invalidity pension, where a contributor becomes incapable of working as a result of a medical disability.
Survivor’s benefit should be claimed within 12 months of the death of the contributor.
NSSA does not reject claims submitted after these periods have been exceeded but only pays from the date the claim is lodged.
If years have passed before the claim is lodged, it may be difficult to prove one’s entitlement in the event of contributions not having been remitted to NSSA by one or more employers, since pay slips may no longer be available and a previous employer’s business may have closed down.
l Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service. 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.