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| Sunday, 7 November 2004 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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CRA launched An enhanced retirement plan incorporating greater flexibility and additional benefits, has been launched by Ceylinco Life. Among the key features of the Ceylinco Retirement Account (CRA) is its flexibility to adapt to individual customer requirements. Each customer is given the option of deciding what premium he or she should pay, the age of retirement and how the retirement income should be paid back, making each Ceylinco Retirement Account a fully customized, completely customer-driven product, Ceylinco Life's Chief Executive Director R.Renganathan said. "Governments the world over are facing the problem of supporting the ageing population in the future. They are shifting from government sponsored pension plans to privately funded pension schemes. Unfortunately, there is insufficient attention being paid to this problem in Sri Lanka," he said.The CRA is a response to this need. The idea is to make a retirement plan available to the masses at a start-up cost they can afford. All maturity benefits earned from the CRA are tax exempt. Additionally, Ceylinco Life has also extended some of the benefits accorded to life policyholders under the company's 'Life Rewards' portfolio to those who invest in the new CRA. These benefits include '65-Plus' the free critical illness cover when the policyholder reaches the age of 65, free medical check ups through the company's 'Waidya Hamuwa' program, 'Pranama' scholarships for policyholders children who meet the eligibility criteria and housing loans at concessionary interest rates. The extension of Life Rewards benefits to CRA customers represents a huge value-addition at no extra cost, and makes the product even more attractive, the company said. "We are promoting CRA as a safety net in the context of projected demographic changes that could have very serious consequences on the social and economic fabric of the country," Renganathan said. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, the percentage of elderly persons (over 60 years) is expected to reach 27.8 per cent of the total population by 2041. With less than 14 per cent of the working population covered by public sector pension schemes, an alarming number of people would be faced with serious economic problems at the age of retirement. "We believe the Ceylinco Retirement Account will be the most flexible and affordable retirement scheme available to people in the private and informal sectors," Renganathan added. |
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