KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which actively encourages the self-employed to contribute voluntarily, said 60,518 individuals have participated in the 1Malaysia Retirement Savings Scheme with contributions todate totalling RM200.54 million.
Its public relations general manager, Nik Affendi Jaafar, said EPF has embarked on a four-week advertising campaign to inform the self-employed and those without fixed income that they also have a means of saving for their retirement.
“Retirement savings are considered important for one’s well-being in their golden years.
“We hope with this drive many more individuals will be encouraged to join the scheme,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Nik Affendi said the advertising campaign, themed, ‘Self Employed? You Can Still Contribute to EPF and Retire Happy’, would appear in mainstream newspapers, starting yesterday until March 28.
“The ads would also go viral via myEPF website, Facebook and Twitter,” he said.
The scheme, introduced in 2010, provides a platform for the self-employed and those without a fixed monthly income to save for their retirement.
These include taxi drivers, petty traders, farmers, hawkers, entertainment artistes and musicians, fishermen and even housewives.
The savings under this scheme not only benefit from the EPF annual dividend but also the additional contribution of five per cent subject to a maximum amount of RM60 per year provided by the government until 2014.
The scheme is opened to Malaysians below 55 years of age.
For more information, visit the nearest EPF branch or contact EPF Call Centre at 03-8922 6000 from 8.00am to 7.00pm from Monday to Friday or log on to myEPF website at www.kwsp.gov.my. — Bernama