April 2011 - Oceana Group

MANAGING YOUR RETIREMENT
FUND INFORMATION
Employees who are members of the company’s retirement funds
are responsible for ensuring that their beneficiary information is
updated on their Beneficiary Nomination Form, in the event that
the member dies before retirement. The death benefit amounts
to the member`s accumulated benefit in the fund (all contributions
plus their growth), plus the life assurance payout, which in
many cases is three times a member`s annual “normal” wages or
salary. Making a considered and sensible nomination of who
should receive the money is a very helpful guide to those dealing
with the aftermath of death.
Adjusting the information is often necessitated by the birth of
children, if a beneficiary is no longer dependent on the member,
or if someone has become dependent on a member, for example,
an aged parent.
In the event of death, South African law gives first priority to
a member`s dependants, who are essentially those people to
whom the deceased member owed a duty of support, typically
young children, and/or a spouse. Following a member`s death,
the fund`s trustees are required by law to confirm the existence,
and degree of dependency, of such people. Only after completion
of this exercise will they approve the allocation of death benefits,
before any money can be paid out. Thus a member cannot seek
to exclude someone whom the law says must be given or
considered for support.
Here are two tips to bear in mind when reviewing and updating
a Beneficiary Nomination Form:
TIP 1 Know and understand to whom you owe a duty of support
– your children, your wife or husband? Decide what portion of
the death benefit should in your view go to each, such as half/half,
a quarter to each and state this clearly on your Nomination Form.
If you exclude or ignore someone whom the law says is entitled
to support, the trustees will have to follow what the law says,
which may be different to the allocation expressed in the Nomination
Form.
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TIP 2 Provide several contact addresses and phone numbers for
the dependants, especially is they live far away from where you
work. In this way, trustees can trace beneficiaries and dependants
with minimum delay, and get the money to them as soon
as possible.
Indlela yokuGcina imininingwane
yakho yeSikhwama
soMhlalaphansi
Kungumsebenzi wabasebenzi abangamalungu esikhwama somhlalaphansi
ukuthi baqiniseke ukuthi yonke imininingwane ephathelene
nabahlomuli babo ihlala ivuselelwe kwiFomu Yokukhetha aBahlomuli,
(Benficiary Nomination Form) ukuhlinzekelela uma kwenzeka ukuthi
umsebenzi ushona engakawuathathi umhlalaphansi. Imali ekhokhwa
uma umsebenzi eshona ilingana nemihlomulo yomhlalaphansi
umsebenzi azobe eseyikhokhile ngalesosikhathi (konke ekukhokhile
kanye namankonyane akho), kanye nemali ekhokhelwa ukufa,
okuyimali engaphindwa kathathu kwimali ebingumholo “ojwayelekile”
kamufi. Ukukhetha ke okuhlusile ukuthi ngubani ozohlomula uma
ushona kulusizo olukhulu kulabo ababhekana nezindaba zakho uma
usushonile.
Ukuvuselela imininingwane kwenzeka uma kubekhona ukuzalwa
kwengane entsha, uma umhlomuli omdala engasincikile ngokwempilo
kwilungu, uma kwenzeka kubekhona omunye umuntu oba ngoncike
kwilungu, njengokuthi umzali osemdala oncike ngokwempilo
kulelolungu.
Uma kuvela ukufa, umthetho waseNingizimu Afrika uthi abantu
ababhekelwa kuqala yilabo abekade bencike kumufi, labo okungathiwa
umufi ubebondla, njengezingane zakhe ezisencane noma umuntu
ashade naye. Uma ke umsebenzi eseshonile, abagcinimafa besikhwama
balindeleke ngokomthetho ukuthi bakhiphe isiqiniseko sabahlomuli
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