Taipei, April 24 (CNA) The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said Tuesday a 61 year-old man will become the first beneficiary of a 2005 retirement pension scheme when he receives his first monthly payment of around NT$16,000 (US$542) at the end of April.

The retired man has NT$3.84 million in his retirement pension fund and will receive the monthly payments for an estimated 22 years, taking into account the average life expectancy in Taiwan, the council said.

He will be the first beneficiary of the plan that was introduced in 2005 to replace an earlier system.

Usually, only people who have been in the pension scheme for at least 15 years are eligible for the monthly payments, the council said. However, the man settled his retirement terms with his former employers and was able to accumulate a certain amount of funds in his account, the CLA said.

In addition, he will also receive labor insurance payments of around NT$23,000 per month, said Chen I- ming, head of the council's Bureau of Labor Insurance. With the pension scheme and labor insurance, retirees will be able to live better, he said.

A total of 39 participants in the 2005 scheme have applied to start their monthly payments, Chen said.

Under the system, retired workers 60 years and over can choose whether to collect their pensions in one lump sum or in monthly payments until death.

The previous system only allowed for lump sum payments, which risked being eroded by inflation and bad investments.

(By Wei yun-ling and Maia Huang)
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