Dear Editor, I want to talk about the Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund. I am 63-year-old Cook Islands pensioner.

I have contributed as a government worker and worker in the private sector to the Super Fund when it was introduced in 2000, almost 25 years. I now want to access my superannuation money so I can build a small rental unit to provide me with an income in my retirement. But I can’t. I can only access 15 per cent of my total super savings. That might be enough to build a toilet. I can’t rent out a toilet. The Super Fund pays me $230 a month, $115 a fortnight.

I am sure there are others in the same boat as me who want to do something useful and smart with their super money, to provide a good income for retirement but we are not allowed. To me, this is my money that I paid each pay day for almost 25 years but I can’t use it for a good purpose to look after me in my old age so I do not have to rely on my family. This is very unfair to us.

To me, it is very wrong that we are not allowed to collect our super money to do something good with it. I don’t want to buy a flash truck or go on a cruise. I want to put my money into a unit that will provide me with an income as I get older. People should be allowed to do this. It is our money.

The government talks about wanting a good life for the elderly. Combining my super and pension would be $375 a fortnight, $187 a week. This does not provide a good, easy and nice life. Food is expensive. Living in the Cook Islands is very expensive. People should be allowed to use their super money for good reasons. Not keep it locked away and give us only crumbs.

Worrying Pensioner

(Name and address supplied)

Reply – Kia Orana, thank you for the opportunity to reply.

This question has been raised before by an individual at our public meeting and addressed. The CINSF was established for the purpose of providing a pension to members in retirement, its purpose was clear from the outset, is explained at every presentation, and it continues to perform and grow to meet that purpose. It is a part of our country’s social security system, which is a three-pillar system. The three pillars represent three separate forms of income a person receives in retirement, the Government Pension, the CINSF Pension, and a person’s separate savings or investments, businesses, or properties, that together helps provide security in retirement.

Under the third pillar, which is the savings and investing a person does on their own is where this proposal sits. Considering the writer is building a rental property, assumes they already own their own home, and have access to more land to build, which is not the situation for many of our members, so they are very fortunate. Social security policy is about ensuring the protection and financial security for all our people. Based on our experiences, presentations to members, discussions, and feedback with them, they agree that paying all of a member’s money to them in one lump sum will see a lifetime of savings spent in less than a few months. The policy preserves their life savings and returns to them as an income for life.

Instead, our programme promotes a voluntary savings account they can make additional contributions into and can access and withdraw that in full when need for such things as a rental property or other needs. Members Voluntary contributions have grown to $2 million in the last year demonstrating this is working for such purposes.

There is still no reason your writer cannot do their rental, however a pension of $230 per month from CINSF suggests that their balance is in the range of $40,000, which I would not think would be enough to build a house for rental, and must assume they will either have more cash or are intending to borrow from the bank, either way that would be a decision for them.

We will be having another public presentation this year and look forward to seeing more members join us for our updates.

Meitaki,

Damien Beddoes

CEO

CINSF