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Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent

The Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) has joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Pensions Awareness Day which is observed on September 15 annually.

The day was set aside to remind people on the importance of saving for retirement.

In a statement, IPEC said the last two national census surveys conducted by the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency (Zimstats) indicate that Zimbabwe’s life expectancy increased from 44.2 years in 2002 to 60.7 years in 2012.

The Commission said that implied that there were higher chances that retirements were likely to last longer hence the need to plan for life after retirement.

“As the pensions regulator, IPEC acknowledges that confidence in the pension sector is arguably at its lowest owing to the loss of insurance and pension values due to hyperinflation and the unintended consequences of the 2009 and 2019 monetary reforms.

“The Commission is implementing measures to mitigate the effects of these losses in line with its statutory mandate of protecting the interests of policy holders and pension scheme members,” reads the statement.

The Commission is running a pensions awareness month campaign to sensitise the public about pensions.