When you leave the Columbus Retirement Fund, your Withdrawal Benefit in the Fund becomes payable. This is your Fund Credit less any allowable deductions.

  • Your Fund Credit is calculated as follows:
    • Your employee contributions towards the Pension section
    • Your employer contributions towards the Pension and Provident sections
    • Less: any administration fees and other expenses
    • Less: any risk benefit costs
    • PLUS: any investment returns earned

Please note: Your investment returns can be negative in certain years depending on market conditions and the portfolio(s) in which you are invested.

  • Certain amounts may be deducted from your Fund Credit before your withdrawal benefit is paid. These include:
    • Amounts awarded to an ex-spouse via a divorce order
    • Arrear maintenance payments awarded via a court order
    • Losses suffered by the employer as a result of fraud and theft by the employee, and in respect of which the member admitted liability in writing, or judgement has been obtained against him / her.
  • When you leave Columbus Stainless, you have the following options:
    • Take a portion of your money in cash (See the Two-pot withdrawal information below)
    • Transfer your money to your new employer's Pension and / or Provident Funds
    • Transfer your money to a Retirement Annuity Fund
    • Transfer your money to a Preservation Fund

  • Click here for more information Two-Pot Retirement System which starts on 1 September 2024.

Take your money in cash

This is a tempting option for some of us. Who doesn’t like having some extra money to spend, or to help pay off excess debt? However, this might mean the difference between a retirement of leisure, or one filled with financial worries. If you take the portion available to you in cash, you will be taxed on the full benefit that you take in cash and only a small portion which is transferred will be tax free. (For more information, see the Taxation section.)

Transfer your money to your new employer's Pension and / or Provident Funds

When you transfer money between two registered funds, it is transferred tax free. The same goes for transferring money between two provident funds. However, if you transfer your money from a pension fund to a provident fund, tax is payable. However, from a provident fund to a pension fund transfers tax free. There might be some reasons why you elect not to transfer your money to your new employer's funds, but not to worry, you have two other options.

Transfer your money to a Retirement Annuity Fund

There are a range of retirement annuity funds to choose from with an assortment of different investment options. Speak to your financial advisor regarding the different options available to you. A retirement annuity works exactly like a pension fund, in that at retirement you will only get one third in cash and the balance must be used to purchase a life-long pension from a registered insurer. You may make monthly contributions towards a retirement annuity, and a certain amount is tax deductible. This is a tax-free transfer.

Please note:
You do not have a withdrawal benefit in a retirement annuity fund.
Therefore, you can only get your money out at retirement, between the ages of 55 and 70 years.

Transfer your money to a Preservation Pension or Preservation Provident Fund

There is a range of preservation funds to choose from with an assortment of different investment options. Speak to your financial advisor regarding the different options available to you. There are preservation pension and preservation provident funds, so you may decide to transfer your benefit in the Columbus Retirement Fund: Pension section to a preservation pension fund and your benefit in the Columbus Retirement Fund: Provident section to a preservation provident fund. This is a tax-free transfer.

When you retire from a preservation pension fund, you may only take one third in cash and the balance must be used to purchase a life-long pension from a registered insurer. At retirement from a preservation provident fund, you can take the entire amount as a cash lump sum.

You can retire from a preservation fund between the ages of 55 and 70 years. You may not make monthly contributions towards a preservation fund.

Please review the information in the Two-Pot guide to assist you through the withdrawal process.

It is imperative that you consult with your financial advisor before making any decisions regarding your withdrawal.