Voluntary fully funded pension insurance – third pillar

A voluntary pension fund member can be any person who has reached 15 years of age but not more than 70 years and is a voluntary individual account owner or any person who is a professional pension scheme participant and owns a professional account.

The member can pay

• Voluntary contribution for theirself,
• Third party to pay voluntary contribution (that is payer) on his behalf and for his account, or
• An insurer or financier to pay for him on a professional pension scheme.

A person becomes voluntary pension fund member:

• By signing a voluntary pension fund membership agreement between the person and the company and by opening a voluntary individual account
• By signing an voluntary pension fund membership agreement between the person, the payer and the company and by opening a voluntary individual account or
• By participating in a professional pension scheme and opening a professional account.

The company opens a voluntary individual account or professional member account, immediately after the first contribution payment.

The member, the payer and the insurer are entitled to freely determine the voluntary contribution paid amount  and the payment dynamics, and the payment amount change or the payment termination do not affect the right to voluntary pension fund membership, that do not imply membership termination.

A pensioner cannot be a third pillar member.

The professional pension scheme is organized by the employer for his employees, thus:

• The employer adopts rules for the profesional pension scheme and signs an agreement for organizing and financing a profesional pension scheme with a representative of its employees or members. Each participant in the profesional pension scheme should sign a statement of consent for participation in the profesional pension scheme and submit it to the employer.
• The employer signs an agreement with the company they have chosen to manage the voluntary pension fund which will include the profesional pension scheme.
• The employer can determine whose employees or members can participate in the professional pension scheme and determine the contribution rate they will pay for each of them.

There are currently three pension companies that manage one voluntary pension fund each:

Sava pension company a.d. Skopje
Mother Teresa st,  No. 1 Skopje,
tel. 02-15-500, www.sava-penzisko.mk

KB Prvo penzisko drustvo AD Skopje
Metropolitan Theodosius Gologanov st, no. 6 Skopje,
tel. 02-3243-777, www.kbprvo.mk and

TRIGLAV PENSION COMPANY AD Skopje
September 8 boul. no. 16 Skopje,
tel. 02-5102-190, www.triglavpenzisko.mk

For more information on their work and easier choice among pension companies you can:

• Visit their websites:
• Review their financial operation statements, investment strategies and achieved income, as well as the fees they charge;
• Find out what services they offer to their members and what reputation the companies have;
• To visit the MAPAS website: mapas.mk

Talk to the pension companies agents before deciding which voluntary pension fund you will join and ask for the ID of the agent you are talking to.

To contact an agent you need to contact the pension companies or their business associates.

Sign a Membership agreement with the selected voluntary pension fund and carefully fill in the data in the agreement. The agreement contact data will be used to submit regular reports on your savings to your contact address.

If you are not satisfied with the services of the company that manages the voluntary pension fund in which you are a member and you have a voluntary individual account, you can transfer to another voluntary pension fund managed by another pension company.

To make a transfer from a voluntary pension fund where you are a member (existing voluntary pension fund) to another voluntary pension fund managed by another company (future voluntary pension fund), you need to sign a Membership agreement with the company that manages the future voluntary pension fund and sign transfer consent form.

At the same time, if you are a member for less than a year, you need to pay10 euros fee, and if you are a member for more than a year, the transfer is free. During the transfer, the total funds from the member’s account are also transferred.

As an exception, a voluntary pension fund member as a participant in a professional pension scheme may not make a transfer to another voluntary pension fund during the period while they are employed or they are insurance member.

However, in case of transfer of a participant in a professional pension scheme from one insurer to another, they have the right to transfer the funds saved in the professional scheme to a professional account or to a voluntary individual account, if the other insurer has not organized an professional pension scheme or does not include the person in it. The member, who is a participant in a professional pension scheme, has the right to transfer the funds to a voluntary individual account, if they are not employed or are not an insurance member.

The voluntary pension fund funds can be withdrawn ten years before the age for acquiring the right to old age pension in accordance with the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, at the earliest, which currently would mean the earliest age of 52 for women and 54 for men. In the same time, the funds can be withdrawn in case the member is diagnosed with general work incapacity by the Commission for working capacity assessment at the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund of North Macedonia, regardless the age. In case of a member death, the assets are subject to inheritance.

The third pillar funds are used at the member choice in the following types of pension benefits:

• Single or multiple payment of funds;
• Pension annuity paid by an insurance company authorized for that purpose;
• Programmed withdrawals provided by the company managing a voluntary pension fund, or
• Combination of the above options.