PNB offers PERA for a comfortable retirement

Philippine National Bank (PSE: PNB) is offering the Personal Equity and Retirement Account or PERA starting September 2021 through its Trust Banking Group. The Lucio Tan-led bank has secured the approval of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to offer this investment instrument.

“Through PERA, we are making it easier for Filipinos to save and build their retirement fund,” says PNB President and CEO Wick Veloso. “PERA supplements our national government’s pension programs like the GSIS or SSS as well as the retirement programs of private companies. We support the BSP in offering this savings plan to help Filipinos live comfortably in their sunset years.”

Any person with the capacity to contract and possesses a Tax Identification Number (TIN) can invest in PERA. They will also be entitled to generous tax incentives, such as a 5% tax credit on annual contributions and exemption from investment income taxes. Established via Republic Act 9505 (PERA Act of 2008), PERA is a voluntary retirement program that allows investors to accumulate additional funds for retirement.

PNB is part of the PERA ecosystem through its PNB PERA Bond Fund. Interested investors can subscribe through the digital PERA platform, https://pera.seedbox.ph. The minimum initial placement is one of the lowest in the market. One can start investing for as low as Php1,000.

PNB Chief Trust Officer Jiah Santos explains, “Even if you are employed and are entitled to receive retirement benefits from your employer, you may invest in PERA to gradually build funds that you can use when you retire. If you are an employer, you can use PERA as an option to augment your employee benefits. As an investor or contributor, you can redeem your PERA contributions once you’ve reached 55 years old and have contributed for at least five years. In addition, qualified distributions made upon the death of the contributor are not subject to estate tax, making it an ideal estate planning tool.”

An investor can open up to a maximum of five PERA accounts. The maximum allowable contributions per year is Php100,000 for resident Filipinos and Php200,000 for overseas Filipinos. Contributions to PERA are not mandatory and clients can invest any amount at any time as long as the annual limit is not exceeded.

Investors can learn more about PERA and the PNB PERA Bond Fund by visiting the website www.pnb.com.ph.