A few weeks ago, I received a call from a former colleague who recently retired from the company where we previously worked together. After talking about developments in our personal lives, she asked me if she can continue paying her Social Security System (SSS) contributions voluntarily since she just turned 58 and she’s not yet qualified to avail herself of the Retirement Benefit Program.
Voluntary SSS membership is open to members who were previously covered as employed, self-employed, or overseas Filipino worker (OFW) with at least one monthly contribution.
I also explained to my friend that there are a few other conditions:
- The member who is 60 years old and above (but not to exceeding 65) with 120 or more monthly contributions may continue to pay his/her contributions to qualify for SSS benefit programs, and
- The member who is 65 years old and above with less than 120 monthly contributions may continue to pay contributions until he/she reaches the required minimum of 120 monthly contributions for retirement pension.
In her case, she still has to wait for two more years to be qualified for retirement. The good thing is, she is willing to pay for additional SSS contributions in case contingencies crop up such as sickness, etc.
As a result of the health, economic, and social effects of Covid-19, social security protection is everyone’s priority nowadays. As we are facing such uncertainties—especially in job security—a safety net such as the one offered by SSS coverage is one of the best decisions a Filipino can make.
This is the primary reason I always encourage our members who are separated from employment or those who have stopped being self-employed to continue paying their SSS contributions as voluntary members.
I explained to my younger colleague that continuous payment of contributions allows members to remain or be qualified for the benefit programs being offered by the SSS such as sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, death, and funeral, as well as loan programs for calamities, among others.
Apart from meeting the required total number of contributions, members must also be able to reach the required number of contributions for a given period preceding a contingency in order to qualify for a specific benefit or loan program.
We have made it easy to become a voluntary SSS member as previously employed, self-employed, and OFW members no longer have to register or submit documents to be one.
To resume payment of contributions, they only need to register or log in to their My.SSS account, which is now mandatory to all SSS members.
Once at the My.SSS account, they can generate a Payment Reference Number (PRN), choose “voluntary” as membership type, and then select the applicable month and monthly salary credit.
Effective January 2021, SSS has increased its contribution rate from 12 percent to 13 percent and adjusted the monthly salary credits (MSC) for members to P3,000 as minimum and P25,000 as maximum. This is equivalent to a monthly contribution of P390/month or P3,250/month, respectively.
As voluntary members, they will now shoulder the entire 13 percent contribution rate, unlike previously when employed members share this monthly contribution with their employer—broken down as 8.5 percent (employer) and 4.5 percent (employee).
Voluntary members who have contributions based on the MSC above P20,000 to the prevailing maximum (currently at P25,000), and with no final claim under the regular SSS program are automatically covered in the Workers’ Investments Savings Program (WISP).
WISP—which we started implementing just this January—offers a safe, convenient, principal-protected, and tax-free individual retirement savings plan for qualified SSS members. This is designed to augment members’ benefits in addition to the regular program. Qualified voluntary members are now assured of higher additional benefits when they retire.
Several SSS payment channels are also made available for secure and convenient remittance of their voluntary contributions. They have the option to make use of over-the-counter transactions in partner banks and non-banks, Internet banking, mobile facility, My.SSS account, and the SSS Mobile App via PayMaya and BPI Online.
Once they pay using the unique PRN for the transaction, they will automatically be registered as Voluntary SSS members.
As of May 2021, SSS has recorded around 1.9 million voluntary paying members. We know these numbers will still increase as we continuously promote to our members who have temporarily stopped their SSS contributions to resume their payments to be able to enjoy the offered benefits.
We often hear our elders telling us: “Kapag may isinuksok, may madudukot.” This age-old adage remains true until this day.
Stay safe and healthy, everyone!
Aurora C. Ignacio is SSS president and chief executive officer.
We welcome your questions and insights on the topics that we discuss. E-mail mediaaffairs@sss.gov.ph for topics that you might want us to discuss.
1 comment
Can you please advise. I want to continue the sss contribution for my Mother but I am not sure if how much should I pay monthly. She already has 28 months of contribution and is now already 53 yrs old does it mean we only need to pay 92 months of contribution to have a monthly pension once she retire? And if that is the case, ho much should we pay? Previously she is paying about 260 per month. Hope you can answer my question.