The Golden Providence - Your Lasting Legacy

IMPORTANT: This is the draft summary for a working proposal formerly code-named Project "P" that has NOT been finalized for submission to the government. The author makes no representation that this proposal is in any way associated with the Government of Malaysia and only offers information to solicit public feedback in an effort to achieve transparency on a potential national policy that could possibly shape the future of the nation. Details and progress of this working proposal along with information on how you can be a part of it will follow suit.

As promised, here is a sneak preview of Project "P" I promoted earlier. Having shared a preview, in person, with a select group of audience recently, I can now reveal to the public that the project is essentially of the magnitude of impact equivalent to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in Malaysia, which has in excess of RM500 Billion in total investment assets as of 2012. Apart from the tantalizing prospect of converting some or all of this amount to real money, there is no reason why Project "P" could not achieve the same (or more!) in terms of value. This summary gives you an idea of what the project is all about and how it compares to the EPF (I deliberately used the summary format of EPF from their web site), and details of the benefits of this project will be detailed in future postings, insha Allah. Feel free to comment on any point so that I get feedback to improvise it, where appropriate. So here goes...

(NOTE: The language I will use henceforth in this post will be more formal to better articulate the proposal.)

Project "P": "P" is for Providence

Golden Provident Trust (GPT) - A PROPOSAL

The Golden Provident Trust is a PROPOSED government policy to establish a complementary social security institution to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) formed according to the Laws of Malaysia (with a PROPOSED new Act and amendments to existing Act) which provides retirement and other benefits for members through management of their savings in the form of contributions that are convertible into qualified asset classes comprising of physical gold or other precious metals in a trustworthy and responsible manner. The GPT also provides a convenient framework for employers to meet their statutory and moral obligations to their employees.

Who Are The Targeted Members?

Private and Public Sector employees as well as self-employed individuals. All members of the EPF will automatically be entitled to become members of the GPT. Provisions in the PROPOSED new Act will allow for Public Sector employees the option to participate as members in the GPT as an alternative to government pensions.

Mandatory Contributions

A contribution becomes mandatory if a member opts for GPT in part or in total as an alternative to EPF contributions or government pensions. Contributions remain optional for self-employed individuals. Contributions constitute the amount of money convertible into qualified asset classes obtainable from providers authorized by the GPT and stored in trust to members' individual register at designated repositories recognized by the GPT. The amount is calculated based on existing EPF regulations and approximated to the current value of the minimum asset class unit valuation as required. A formulated mechanism will allow existing contributions made by members to the EPF to be moved to the GPT.

Asset Class, Providers, Repositories and Members' Rights

Your monthly contributions in the form of qualified asset classes obtained from authorized providers are stored in trust at any designated recognized repositories of your choice and remains your sole right. The rights of members include, in part or in total of amounts stored in the individual's register, the right of conversion into other qualified asset classes of authorized providers, the right of delegation in the management and use of stored asset classes, the right to transfer to any other recognized repositories, and, the right of withdrawal either for statutorily allowed purposes or at statutorily allowed scheduled periods or upon the statutory age of retirement. The rights to amounts stored in an individual's register will automatically pass on to member-nominated or statutorily named beneficiaries with immediate withdrawal rights upon demise of the member.

Withdrawal

The GPT ensures that your savings in the form of qualified asset classes from authorized providers are securely held in trust in recognized repositories and that members have the right to receive their statutorily allowed withdrawal amounts at their designated recognized repositories in the form of their choice either as any qualified asset classes from authorized providers or converted into money at current valuations of such asset classes.

To be continued...