EPF's RAS gains attention in Penang

The Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) Retirement Advisory Service (RAS) at its branch in Seberang Jaya, Penang has attracted the interest of a hundred members per month on average since its introduction in 2015.

Its officer, Wan Nur Hafizah Chik Wan Ismail said many members were seeking advice and detailed information on the EPF savings withdrawal at age 55 and other products.

"There are also members who come for advice on the pre-retirement withdrawals like the housing withdrawal and members investment withdrawal," she told Bernama in an interview, here, recently.

She said there were members who wanted EPF personnel to help them solve their financial problem, other than seeking advice on retirement investment.

"The members comprise people of different backgrounds, ages and professions, and have different wants, which are a challenge for the RAS officers in providing advice to them," she said.

However, Wan Nur Hafizah said, the officers would use a variety of techniques to serve their customers, so as to achieve the objective of raising awareness on the importance of retirement planning.

"RAS helps EPF contributors to make the best decision before making any withdrawals.

"It also provides guidelines to help them manage their EPF savings so that they can generate monthly income, the savings will last long and enough for their retirement," she said.

She noted that RAS was the first of its kind in Malaysia and was part of EPF's long-term plans to enhance service delivery and help members achieve sustainable retirement.

"RAS is useful for members who are approaching retirement age or have retired but still have savings in EPF," she said.

According to her, among the challenges that EPF contributors had to face in managing their financial and retirement plans were the low income and high cost of living as well as high inflation rates for medical and education costs.

In addition, she said, EPF contributors in the northern region including Penang had a poor level of financial literacy and lack of awareness about retirement planning.

She added that members in the state also faced job uncertainty due to the global economic downturn which forced many factories to close down. - BERNAMA