Glossary

Accumulated Credit
Is the contributions (member and employer) plus any transfers into the Fund plus the net investment growth earned and excludes the amount paid in terms of the risk policy.

Beneficiaries
This is the person or people whom the member has chosen to receive their benefits in the event of their death.

Cash Lump Sum
The portion of your retirement benefit that you would like to take as a cash lump sum. In terms of current legislation you may elect to take up to 100% of your retirement benefit in cash.

SACCAWU Board
The fund is managed by a Board of Trustees who control and oversee the operations of the fund and act in the best interest of the members of the fund.

Dependant
Dependants are the people the member is legally and/or financially responsible for looking after e.g. child, spouse, etc. It is important to realize that for the purposes of allocating the member’s death benefits, the Curator is required to look at factual dependence. This means anyone who was financially dependent on the member will be included, regardless of whether the member had a legal obligation to support that person or not.

Investment risk
In a defined contribution fund, the investment risk is carried by the member. This means the member’s fund credit will grow faster when the investment returns are good, but will grow more slowly when the investment returns are poor. The SACCAWU National Provident Fund makes no guarantees as to the rate at which the member’s fund credit will grow.

Normal Retirement Age
The age at which you may retire. This is according to the age selected by the Participating Employer as set out in the special rules. Such age shall not exceed age 65.

Preservation
If the member elects to invest their accumulated retirement savings when they leave the employment of a company (rather than taking a cash benefit), this is called preserving.
The main options for preserving are as follows:

  • Transferring the benefit to a preservation fund or a retirement annuity fund: this involves transferring the member’s benefit to another fund.
  • Transferring the benefit to the retirement fund of your new employer.


    • Risk benefits
    The fund provides its members with benefits on death and disability. These benefits are provided by paying a portion of the total company contribution to an insurance company. The benefits payable from the insurance company are therefore known as risk benefits.

    Rules
    The legal documents that govern the Fund.