Ministry rejigs conditions of retirement lottery

The Finance Ministry has adjusted the conditions for the retirement lottery project, allowing retirees to purchase tickets for this lottery as a means of continuous savings for another 10 years.
The proposal is set to be submitted for cabinet approval within this month, according to Deputy Finance Minister Paopoom Rojanasakul.
Mr Paopoom said the savings lottery for retirement, or retirement lottery, would be presented to the cabinet meeting within this month.
The National Savings Fund Committee has so far approved amendments to the National Savings Fund Act to accommodate this project and has forwarded the issue to the Finance Ministry for consideration.
Regarding the details of the amendment to the National Savings Fund Act, it has been revised from requiring participants to be aged from 15 to 60 to allow people aged over 60 to be able to purchase retirement lottery tickets.
However, they must maintain their retirement lottery account for a continuous period of 10 years before being able to withdraw the funds.
Members aged 15 to 60 can continue to accumulate savings through the retirement lottery.
Once they reach 60 years of age, they can choose to withdraw their savings from the retirement lottery or continue for another 10 years, after which they can withdraw the funds again at age 70.
If someone withdraws their retirement lottery funds at age 60 but wishes to save with the retirement lottery again at the age of 62, they can purchase them again but must hold them for another 10 years, meaning they can withdraw the funds when they reach 72, said Mr Paopoom.
According to Mr Paopoom, those who are insured under the social security system or government officials are currently not eligible to participate because they are in a system that already provides retirement savings.
However, when they reach the age of 60, retire or leave the social security system or government service without any conflicting status for National Savings Fund (NSF) membership, they can join the fund and purchase the retirement lottery.
A source from the Finance Ministry who requested anonymity said the NSF will issue digital scratch tickets priced at 50 baht each for sale to NSF members, workers under the social security system under Section 40 (independent workers) and informal workers, with a purchase limit of up to 3,000 baht per month.
Tickets can be purchased daily, with drawings held every Friday at 5pm. The money from purchasing a ticket will be held as savings, regardless of whether a ticket is a winning ticket or not.
There will be two prizes every Friday: the first prize of 1,000,000 baht, with five prizes available; and the second prize of 1,000 baht, with 10,000 prizes available.
All ticket purchase money will be savings for the buyer, which will be deposited into their individual savings account with the NSF.
The NSF will manage this amount, and once the ticket buyer turns 60, they will be able to withdraw the entire amount along with yields earned.