At Freisenbruch, we educate our members with up-to-date information that will directly impact decision-making. When it comes to members managing their pension and electing their retirement options, we firmly believe information is key to choice.

With so many changes going on at the moment, there’s a lot of confusing information being circulated, specifically when it comes to pensions and what you can and can’t do. Therefore, to take the guesswork out of deciphering the legislation, here is the latest update regarding your pension.

Firstly, you might be thinking, “What happened with the $12,000 Temporary Refund Withdrawal that started mid last year?” Well, it’s important to note that this piece of legislation expired on June 30^th, 2021 and was replaced with a new piece of temporary legislation: the $6,000 Temporary Refund Withdrawal.

The $6,000 Temporary Refund Withdrawal allows pension members the ability to withdraw an additional $6,000 from their pension account from July 1^st, 2021 until June 30^th, 2022.

The criteria for eligibility is as follows:

• Must be applied through a registered defined contribution pension plan, or local retirement product.
• The maximum withdrawal amount is $6,000 from vested contributions
• It can only be applied one time
• You must be under the age of 65
• Must be applied and approved on or before June 30^th, 2022

The application is available online on our website by simply clicking on the link, completing the application, and uploading 3 pieces of supporting documentation.  Once the application is completed with the supporting documentation, click “submit”—our pension task force responsible for processing these applications will respond to you quickly.

Now, perhaps you are questioning why it was originally introduced to begin with. Well, the purpose of the temporary refund withdrawal was designed to allow residents of Bermuda who were financially struggling due to the impact of COVID-19 the ability to access a small portion of their pension funds to temporarily cover shortfalls in their personal finances.

This initiative was well-received and certainly provided the majority of pension members who needed to cover expenses during the earlier stages of the pandemic some form of financial relief. However, as we all well know, this pandemic is far from over and there are a lot of residents in Bermuda still feeling the tight squeeze on their finances. Therefore, the Government of Bermuda, in conjunction with the Pension Commission, agreed it was essential to implement another round of temporary refund withdrawals, but for a lower amount: $6,000.

The great news is, should you need some extra financial help, all you need to do is simply apply! If you meet the criteria and are approved, you will receive the funds within 20 business days of the approval.

For more information regarding the withdrawal, or any pension related information, please contact Carla Seely, Vice President of Pension, Life and Investments at cseely@fmgroup.bm or call her on 441 297 8686.