Society: Could you briefly describe the Pension Administration staffing and how the office works?
PENAD: Sure. PENAD has two principal offices in DC and Chennai, with staff split about 60/40 between them. From a client service perspective, generally, Chennai handles the pension service desk emails and DC handles the calls to the pension hotline. However, the process is pretty seamless. Staff are experienced and trained to handle all types of enquiries. If they get a request or question they can’t handle, they will make sure to pass it on to a subject matter expert who can handle it whether in Chennai or DC.
The DC office tends to see more walk-ins or phone calls as many retirees reside within close proximity to DC or the time zone. The first quarter of the year is typically when we have the most walk-ins as more than one-third of the life certificates are “drop-offs” in the pension kiosk.
And, of course, throughout the year, most staff who are considering retirement schedule to see a pension counselor for a one-on-one counselling session on pension benefits. Similarly, most retirees or beneficiaries with specific pension related questions either write to the pension service account or call the pension hotline for a response.
Society: Can you give us a flavor of what the day-to-day interactions with retirees are like? What are the most common questions that come up?
PENAD: We have about 10,000 eligible pension recipients, consisting of retirees and family members. On a day-to-day basis, there can always be questions about things such as taxes, survivor benefits and spousal support. Other common queries relate to currency or bank changes. Questions are often due to a change in a retiree’s life circumstances.
As I mentioned, we also do one-0n-one counselling throughout the year with people who are about to retiree to ensure they have all the pension related information to make an informed decision.
Society: A big part of serving retirees must be communication. How do you manage communication across so many countries and across so many different individual circumstances, including their access to computers, phones, quality of internet services, time differences, etc?
PENAD: It’s true that our retirees are dispersed across the globe. And, electronic communication has greatly increased the ease and efficiency of communication. But some retirees still prefer to communicate with us through traditional methods, such as mail or fax. We intend to keep expanding the electronic services by having more information available on the retiree portal and making these as convenient as possible to use, while preserving different means of contacting us, so that we can serve everyone’s needs. It’s important to keep one’s contact information up-to-date with us so we know how to be in touch.
Society: From your experience, what is the most important thing for retirees to appreciate about managing their pensions?
PENAD: Retirees should take comfort in the fact that pension administration staff are always approachable; either in-person, by phone or by email. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that pension payments are made on time to the rightful individual. This makes the Life Certificate process the most critical aspect in retirement to ensure uninterrupted pension payments. Our recommendation is to maintain the mindset that you will do the Life Certificate as soon as you get it, then it is out of your mind until the next year. This timely action will allow the team to minimize out of cycle activities like email reminders, phone follow-ups, suspension/resumptions of pensions and so on. It is equally important to ensure that PENAD is informed of any life events in a timely manner.
The pre-retirement seminar is also very helpful. More than just pensions, it also covers pertinent matters like estate planning and wellness–as well as what the 1818 Society does. We recommend attending the seminar, even as early as a few years before a staff makes the decision to retire. We are careful to provide information without offering a specific solution because each individual’s circumstance and resources are unique and they have to make decisiokns based on what they believe is best for them. Forward planning helps a lot to ease the financial, personal and even geographic transition.
Society: If there were a dispute on an individual pension matter, what is the process for resolving it?
PENAD: Begin by writing to PENAD. We address each and every question that comes to us. We also look for patterns where services can be improved. And, if it is not within PENAD’s area of responsibility–for instance, insurance questions–we’ll pass it on the right office for a response. Also, there is a Pension Benefits Administration Committee (PBAC) that can take up particularly difficult or unusual cases.
Society: Retirees often have questions about the financial health of the pension fund. Does PENAD deal with those questions? Where should retirees look for information?
PENAD: The best source is the annual report of the Staff Retirement Plan, which is sent out by email and also posted on the Pension website. It provides an in-depth analysis of the composition of the Fund’s assets, financial soundness, and investment strategy. As you know, the pension team also carries out a seminar at the 1818 Society’s annual meeting in the fall, which all retirees can attend [n.b., the 1818 Society website also provides a link to the annual report and posts a video of the seminar].
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Some helpful links on the pension and other human resource issues are:
PENAD https://pension.worldbank.org
Human Resources https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/unit/human-resources/For-appointee-checklist-for-new-open-term-or-special-assignment-staff-in-headquarters
In a recent 1818 Society Pension Committee meeting, members discussed ways in which the 1818 Society could be helpful to retirees working with PENAD. Among the ideas discussed were:
- PENAD is welcome to use the 1818 Society as a sounding board for new developments and initiatives to refine PENAD services.
- PENAD’s participation would be welcome as a resource at the 1818 Society’s fall meeting.
- Retirees are reminded to keep their contact information up-to-date (with PENAD and the 1818 Society) and are advised to have up-to-date powers of attorney and other life documents (such as living wills) to ease difficulties for spouses and family if necessary later in life.
- A number of the 1818 Society’s resources may be helpful to retirees, including Society subject briefs and “members-helping-members” services (see 1818 Society website for more information)
- The Pension Committee also discussed outreach of various kinds, including feedback surveys and liaison with other retirement groups in other organizations such as the Fund and IADB, which the Committee will continue to explore.
