KUALA LUMPUR: Private Pension Administrator Malaysia (PPA) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) are collaborating to raise awareness among Malaysians on the importance of retirement planning.
Both parties entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday as they seek to improve the level of financial literacy among UTAR students and staff, as well as the wider community.
PPA Chief Executive Officer Husaini Hussin said it is important to empower Malaysians to take control of their retirement plans by encouraging them to build savings for their future.
As the central administrator of Private Retirement Schemes (PRS), PPA has continuously organised talks and seminars, as well as engaged Malaysians digitally on retirement planning to save more for their future.
“With this MoU, we want to take it a step further. By establishing strong working relationships with educational institutions such as UTAR, we will be able to delve deeper into the subject of retirement planning,” he said.
Aside from talks, PPA and UTAR will also collaborate to undertake research projects on the retirement landscape. Selected UTAR students will also have the opportunity to join the internship programme at PPA.
“Our message is always consistent. It is never too young to start saving for your retirement. Start now, save regularly,” said Husaini.
He also called on youths to take up the PRS Youth Incentive, in which those aged between 20 and 30 who save a total of RM1,000 in PRS would receive a one-off RM1,000 in PRS units from the government. This one-off incentive is available until December 31, 2018.
As at July 31, 2018, there were 342,730 PRS Members with 32.7 percent of them aged 30 and below.
UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik concurred with Husaini on the importance of having sufficient retirement savings.
“We should start thinking of retirement savings from the moment we start work. Through this collaboration with PPA, we hope to instil these values in our students. As an educational institute, we are preparing our students for their entire life. We want them to be ready to join the workforce, but we would also like them to be prepared for life after retirement,” said Prof Chuah.
As part of the MoU, he said UTAR is also looking at injecting retirement planning into their curriculum. This may include the conducting of workshops, seminars and lecture series for UTAR students on financial and retirement planning. – Bernama
Through UTAR’s Centre for Extension Education, PPA will facilitate to hold public talks for the community living around the UTAR campuses in Sungai Long and Kampar.
“This collaboration is not just about PPA or UTAR. We want to also extend the benefits to the community around us,” Prof Chuah added.
