VM Pensions Management has formed an alliance with Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services, TODSS, to serve as the official pension provider for transport operators in its network.
The individual pension scheme, which was launched on Thursday, will target some 5,000 TODSS-registered transport operators, then expand beyond that later to another 30,000 people who make up the public transport services sector.
TODSS, whose members include taxi service providers, operates as a lobby and promotional organization for the transportation industry, focusing primarily on research, training, logistics, road safety, and member representation. The association has existed for 19 years.
The TODSS pension scheme is the first specifically for operators in the transport services industry, 75% of whom enter retirement age without sufficient savings, said TODSS Chairman Egerton Newman. financial gleaner.
VM Pensions Management Limited entered into the pension deal almost a year after working closely with the transport group. The two, for example, partnered on a business and investment seminar for TODSS members last July.
“This group is very critical. We put our families in their hands on a daily basis, but when they reach retirement age, they have little to look forward to. And so, it’s more than just a business for us, it’s a contribution to national development,” said VM Pensions CEO Conroy Rose. The annualized return of the VM Pensions schemes is around four to five percent.
Persons eligible for participation in the VM-TODSS pension scheme include bus drivers, conductors, taxi operators, public transport owner-operators and “loaders”. Participants can contribute up to 20% of their annual salary, payable at least once a year.
At retirement age, or when the contributor suffers a permanent disability, if this occurs, VM Pensions will pay a monthly sum for the purchase of food and general expenses.
“We have a lot of young people coming into the industry now who will benefit from this initiative, among other things that VM Group will offer the industry,” Newman said.
Once in the database, VM Pensions will seek to aggregate life insurance, savings and investment products across the VM group for self-employed and contract workers. British Caribbean Insurance Company, BCIC, an affiliate of the VM Group, will serve as the official insurer for TODSS.
“There are special offers for these operators across the group, including discounted services at VM Money Transfer and an attractive savings option with the Victoria Mutual Building Society, once they have signed up for the scheme. retirement,” Rose said.
The VM Pensions and TODSS teams will start an awareness campaign around the pension scheme in Ste Catherine from next week, before moving to other parishes.
“We want to demystify retirement myths. People often confuse pension plans with insurance contracts, and they think if they stop paying, they’ll lose their money,” Rose said.
karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com
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