The National Savings Fund (NSF), a voluntary pension fund for self-employed workers, managed to add a mere 60,000 new members this year, for a total of 600,000, short of its target of 1 million.
However, the NSF is confident the 1 million mark will be reachable next year, said Jaruluk Ruangsuwan, secretary-general of the fund.
To attract more members to the fund, the NSF has joined hands with Southeast Insurance and Finance Group to offer free accident insurance for the 120,000 members whose contribution exceeds 5,000 baht.
Heirs of members who are covered by the insurance policy will receive 100,000 baht upon the member's death from an accident.
The insurer will pay 50,000 baht for death from a motorcycle accident or permanent disability from an accident.
The insurance policy will provide coverage from Jan 31, 2019 to March 1, 2019.
The NSF, which was set up in August 2015, is a retirement safety net for self-employed workers who are not covered by a pension fund, social security or provident fund. People aged 15-60 are eligible to apply for membership.
The current structure requires voluntary pension fund members to make a minimum contribution of 50 baht a month, up to a maximum of 13,200 baht a year.
The government makes a matching contribution of up to 50% of whatever those aged 15-30 choose to pay, up to 600 baht a year.
For those aged 31-50, the government will match up to 80% of their contributions, up to 960 baht a year. Those over 50 can have their contribution fully matched by the state up to 1,200 baht a year.
The NSF has tried to increase its membership in recent years, recently allowing state enterprise officials who are not provident fund members to join.
The low membership tally could be attributed to low matching contributions from contributors and the government, said Ms Jaruluk.
She said NSF members will receive a regular pension of 840 baht a month until their death for those who contribute 13,200 baht a year to the fund for 10 years. The pension will be 7,380 baht per month if they contribute 1,100 baht a month for 45 straight years.
In terms of return, the NSF performed better than fixed deposit accounts, with a range of return of 4-9%, while the timed deposit account offers an interest rate of 1.25% to depositors.
