'My PF Withdrawal Is Rejected. HELP!'

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amol: Hello Sir/Madam, My PF withdrawal is rejected with following reasons. 1) EPS (PENSION DETAILS) HAS NOT RECEIVED FROM MEMBER ID (basically my previous employer) HENCE YOU ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT TO REGIONAL PF OFFICE BANDRA FOR THE SAME. Can you please explain what this means?

Here it is important to note the need to take EPS scheme certificate when you leave a job.

This -- EPS scheme certificate -- serves as a proof for pensionable years in service, pensionable salary amount and details of family members/nominee of the employee who are supposed to receive pension in the unfortunate event of the person's death.

This needs to be attested by your employer or ex-employer.

Probably there is some discrepancy in your past employment record from the previous employer as a result of which withdrawal claim is rejected.

Please get in touch with the assigned EPFO office. They will guide you suitably.

Avijit: I am a 45 year old man. For some reason I have to withdraw all my GPF money i.e. near about Rs. 8.5 lakhs. I will keep continuing my job till the age of 60. My question is what is the safest option I have to keep that money till my retirement? The interest rate must be equal to or higher than the GPF rate?

You may invest this corpus in NPS and select Auto choice LC50 Moderate Life cycle fund.

As per your age this will have 50 per cent exposure to Govt securities, 20 per cent to corporate bonds and 30 per cent to equity.

By the time you reach 55, your allocation to govt securities will be 80 per cent, 10 per cent each to other asset classes.

While this may not be the safest but with moderate risk you stand to earn better returns.

For higher safety you may select LC25 Conservative life cycle fund but for slightly higher security you will be compromising returns on your investment.

Considering you have 15 years for retirement I feel LC50 fund maybe good auto choice fund for you. Although assurance of particular return cannot be given for equity asset class but it will yield good returns over long term.

Also you should continue contribution to NPS even after this lump sum investment for building your retirement corpus.

BRAHMA: Sir I am working in a company. I am 57 Years old. My boss has told me if you want to work even after the age of 60 years you may continue your service till you wish. My question is can I contribute to EPF and EPS after the age of 60 years? If yes, how it will impact my pension amount?

You may contribute to EPF after 60, without any issue.

EPS closes at 58 years but you may opt to defer it by 2 years with or without contribution.

Your EPS pension will start even if you work after 60.

Anonymous: Hi Sir I am working in private org almost 11 year and having 2 PF account with same UAN, now I left the org and want to withdraw complete PF amount including PF pension: is that possible?

If you have 2 EPF accounts, but only one UAN then you can merge your EPF accounts and withdraw your money by following these steps:

• Transfer the balances from your old accounts to your most recent account.
• Merge your old and new accounts into one account and UAN.
• Complete KYC (Know Your Customer) by verifying your bank account, PAN, and other information.
• Fill out Form 19 to start the EPF corpus withdrawal process.

Anonymous: Dear Sir, I am 58 years and recently retired from my employment. My PF amounts to Rs 1 Cr and i want to invest in Mutual Funds instead of keeping the money in the EPF account. Sir, i will need Rs 45,000 monthly for my monthly expenses and thanks to your education, got to know about SWP. Sir, please advice how do I go about investing in terms of selecting funds and what amount in these funds. Will the corpus last me for 25 years at the monthly withdrawal rate of Rs 45,000? If it can last for 25 years, what will be my corpus at the end of 25 years? Thank you and anxiously look forward to your reply Best Regards & God bless

It would be advisable to invest your corpus lump sum in hybrid conservative (debt oriented) fund type.

I recommend Kotak hybrid debt fund or SBI conservative hybrid fund both from the same category as mentioned above -- suggested based on 5 year returns.

I recommend that you let the corpus compound for 2 years minimum.

Your corpus may grow to 1.17 crore after 2 years assuming modest return of 8 per cent.

Here if you do a 5 per cent SWP then you may expect a monthly payout of Rs 48,750 per month for next 25 years.

At the end of 25 years you can expect a net corpus value of around Rs 3.58 crore (modest return of 8 per cent considered) after deducting monthly payouts.

Other option for you could be to buy immediate annuity from an insurance company. Considering annuity rate of 6 per cent you may expect to receive monthly payment of Rs 50k from the next month onwards. It has various features for joint holding and return of purchase price after the end of annuity period (25 years for eg) or expiry of the annuity holder, to the nominee.

Do your due diligence and choose the best option suiting to your requirement.

Investments in mutual funds are subject to market risks. Please read all scheme related documents carefully before investing.

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Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this QnA or an attempt to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.

Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.