Tag: pensions
Christmas bonus and pension rise cleared for payment
(CNS): Cabinet has approved a $250 Christmas bonus for those who receive long-term financial assistance through the Needs Assessment Unit (NAU) and recipients of the Seafarers and Veterans Ex-Gratia Benefit. Officials have also confirmed that the increase from $950 to $1,250 for former public sector workers receiving the ex gratia pension, promised by Premier Juliana […]
Locals get more access to pensions to buy property
(CNS): Caymanians with private sector pensions can now gain access to more of their funds in order to pay down mortgages, raise deposits to buy a home or land, or pay off strata debts, after an amendment to the National Pensions Act was steered through parliament Thursday. Minister Dwayne Seymour, who has returned to the […]
Bill to allow more pension raids goes public
(CNS): The National Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2023 has been published and is now open for public consultation. The legislation provides for more people to take out more cash from their pensions in relation to buying a home. It increases the maximum amount of withdrawals from plans for deposits on buying or building a house, or […]
Pensions holiday continues for three more months
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has extended the mandatory payment of pension contributions in the private sector for another three months, despite concerns that this long-running holiday will present the country with a significant problem in the coming years. While the opposition had been pressing for an extension of the pension payment freeze until the […]
Health insurance help ends as costs rise
(CNS): The Health Insurance Premium Payment Assistance Programme, the freeze on private pension payments and the tourism stipend programme are all due to come to an end this month. Government has not yet confirmed that employees and workers must start paying into pension funds again next month or what will happen to tourism stipend recipients […]
Pensioners to get $35 more per month from funds
(CNS): People receiving a private sector pension under the Retirement Savings Arrangements (RSA) will be getting a 3.3% cost of living increase on the funds they can access each year. Director of Labour and Pensions Bennard Ebanks authorised an increase in the annual maximum disbursement amount from CI$12,480 per annum to 12,900, resulting in a […]
Final extension made for pension holiday
(CNS): The government is extending the private pension payment freeze for the last time. The holiday on the mandatory payments by employers and employees was rolled out to help people navigate first the lockdown and then the border closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now that Cayman is moving towards lifting all restrictions, the […]
Cabinet approves extension to pension holiday
(CNS): The suspension of the mandatory requirement for employers and workers in the private sector to pay into a pension scheme has been extended again. In a press release from government on Wednesday, officials said that, in accordance with the National Pensions (Amendment) Act 2020, a Cabinet Order has extended the national pension holiday for […]
Pension break rolls on after $400M fund ‘raid’
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government is extending the freeze on mandatory pension payments until June next year to help ease the strain for employers and workers, as they continue to navigate the difficulties of the COVID-19 economy. Pension holders can no longer withdraw funds from their accounts, but officials revealed this week that more than […]
Gov’t rejects MLA review of pension regime
(CNS): Problems with the Cayman Islands private sector pension regime became a political football on Thursday, when the government rejected a call to establish a committee to take a deeper a look at what can be done with it. Opposition MLA Chris Saunders (BTW) had presented a motion to the Legislative Assembly calling for members […]
Over $400 million taken from pensions
(CNS): With just a few more weeks to go before the emergency pension fund withdrawal opportunity ends, Caymanians and residents have already taken over $400 million from their funds. Almost 34,000 successful applications were made to take money from pensions and over 71% asked for the full amount, which was $10,000 plus 25% of the […]
