Los Angeles

(“PFG”), the general partner of Provident Funding Associates, L.P.. Mr. Pica has been the president and CEO of PFG and PFA since the inception of both companies in 1992.

Provident Funding is a nationwide direct mortgage lender and servicer. Founded in 1992, we have created a customer-oriented culture with an experienced team of highly trained mortgage experts.

A provident fund is a retirement fund run by the government. A pension plan is a retirement plan run by an employer. Provident funds operate more like 401(k) or savings accounts.

The employee contributes 12 percent of his or her basic salary along with the Dearness Allowance every month to the EPF account. For example: If the basic salary is Rs. 15,000 per month, the employee contribution shall be 12 % of 15000, which comes to Rs 1800/-. This amount is the employee contribution.

Pension funds offer better tax benefits to the worker. A worker’s contributions to a pension fund are deductible for tax, while contributions to a provident fund are not. No tax is payable on a lump sum of R30 000 or less (at March 1998) paid out by a provident fund.

You must be a member of the EPFO. You must have attained the age of 58 years. In case you defer the pension for 2 years (until you reach the age of 60 years), you will be eligible to receive the pension at an additional rate of 4% per year. You must have completed at least 10 years of service.

Answer: Zolani, In theory it does not prescribe; however the money will be transferred to an unclaimed benefits fund in due course, and the fund rules may provide that the amount is written back after a set period (although National Treasury wants to prohibit this). However, even then, you can still claim your money.

Under the new pension regulations, can you borrow money from your provident fund? You can borrow funds to buy a property, renovate a property, pay off a housing loan, or to guarantee a housing loan. You cannot use the funds for any other purpose.

Unfortunately, while you are still employed by your employer, the legislation does not permit you to access the funds in your pension or provident fund. If you resign or are retrenched from your employment, you will be able to access any money invested in your pension or provident fund.

You can avail the EPF emergency advance by filing the online claim form, if your UAN is validated with Aadhaar and KYC of your bank account. Moreover, your mobile number should be linked to your UAN to complete the withdrawal process.

You can withdraw your entire PF corpus only after you retire. You will be allowed to retire only after you are 55 years old. If you retire before you attain this age, you will not be permitted to receive your entire corpus. However, you are entitled to obtain 90% of your EPF corpus 1 year before you retire.