Since the revised Cayman Islands National Pensions Law took effect last November, officials have approved 137 applications from people seeking to withdraw money from their private pension plans in order to purchase homes, build homes, pay off existing mortgages or buy residential land.
The amount withdrawn totals about $2.65 million, or about $19,343 per applicant, according to statistics from the Cayman Islands Department of Labour and Pensions.
The maximum amount of money a person can withdraw from his private pension fund under the programme is $35,000.
The cash amounts released by the department elaborate upon numbers cited in August by George Town Member of the Legislative Assembly Ellio Solomon, who championed the proposal in the Legislative Assembly.
Since November, 137 of 143 applications were approved. Of the 137 approved, 17 were for construction of new homes, for a total withdrawal of $294,218 (or $17,307 per person); 36 were to pay off existing mortgages, for a total withdrawal of $934,383 (or $25,955 per person); 78 were to buy existing homes, for a total withdrawal of $1.325 million (or $16,987 per person); and six were to buy land, for a total withdrawal of $98,205 (or $16,368 per person).
Mr. Solomon noted that for home construction, home purchase and property purchase, those dollar amounts would apply to deposits of around 10 per cent of the value of the property.
Director of Labour and Pensions Mario Ebanks said, “In furtherance of the department’s mission of being a ‘one stop shop for private sector labour and pensions services and support’, the National Pensions Office (which is currently a unit within the Department of Labour and Pensions) is committed to improving its systems, databases, and other methodologies to ensure the timely and accurate delivery of information and technical support to its stakeholders.”
He said, “Accordingly, statistics such as these, dealing with withdrawals from pension plans for worthy socioeconomic causes in accordance with the Law, will be released regularly and at least on a quarterly basis. Subject to funding, the department will enhance its databases, website, and generally leverage technology in order to achieve high quantitative and qualitative outputs.”
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