Nasfund members told to make wise savings

THE life expectancy of Papua New Guineans has improved and members should be aware of that when making financial decisions for the benefit of their retirement, says Nasfund.
Chief financial Rajeev Sharma said at the employers’ conference in Lae last week that with better health care and economic development, Papua New Guineans were living longer.
“Comparing the life expectancy movement between 1975 and 2015, the life expectancy of Papua New Guineans has increased from 49 years to 63 years,” he said.
“This means that members must take into account that, if or when they retire at the age of 55, they will need to survive financially for the next 10 years when they withdraw their retirement savings.
“This raises the concern of members not having enough funds to be financially independent for the next five years after retirement,”Sharma said.
The fund is encouraging members to:

• Increase their member contributions through voluntary contributions;
• increase their employer contribution through salary sacrifice;
• not withdraw funds before their retirement age; and;
• Make use of the benefit of compound interest by investing more of their funds during their superannuation life span to cater for this concern.

Sharma encouraged employers’ representatives to promote the benefit to their workers.