FAQ Beneficiaries

Variations in your monthly benefit amount are most likely due to one of the following reasons:

Your monthly After Service Health Insurance (ASHI) premium deductions

If you have opted for After Service Health Insurance (ASHI) premiums to be deducted directly from your monthly pension entitlement, variations in your monthly benefit amounts can be due to fluctuations in the monthly premium amounts deducted by ASHI. As the Fund has no authority and no insight into ASHI matters, which are handled by the UN Health and Insurance Section (not the UNJSPF), we are unable to provide detailed information on how such premiums are constituted. Therefore, we invite you to directly contact ASHI and inquire about details. Please address your ASHI email communications to: ashi@un.org. Or, you may wish to contact ASHI directly through a ‘Contact Us ticket’ available on the UN Health and Life Insurance website at the following link: http://www.un.org/insurance/inquiries.

Your Bank charges

There may be charges applied by your bank. These charges are beyond the control of the Fund; therefore, the UNJSPF cannot accept responsibility for them. You may wish to discuss this matter with your bank for clarification on the exact nature of the deductions made from the amount transmitted by the Fund; you may wish to try and negotiate with your bank and request them to waive any charges given the nature of the payment, i.e., pension benefit. The levying of service fees has become an internationally accepted practice amongst banks, and this practice can be expected only to increase. While the Fund absorbs all fees levied as remittance fees, we regret that we have no control over any fees that have been contractually authorized by your bank with its correspondent bank.

Discontinuation of child benefit

If you were in receipt of a child’s benefit from the Fund, paid together with your own pension benefit, and your child reached the age of 21, you will notice a reduction in your monthly pension benefit amount, as of the month following that during which your child turned 21. Indeed, a child’s benefit is normally payable until the end of the month during which your dependent child turns 21 and is discontinued effective the following month. Click here for more information on child’s benefit.

Quarterly Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

Your monthly pension benefit amount can change every quarter due to the application of the quarterly cost of living adjustment (COLA). The Fund issues Quarterly Statements in which retirees and beneficiaries are informed of changes in their entitlement amount due to COLA. Click here for more information about the Quarterly Statements.

Your initial benefit is adjusted over time for movements of the consumer price index in the United States or for your country of residence. This means that if the consumer price index moves by 2% or more, the amount of your pension benefit will be adjusted based on the cost of living in your country of residence. For more information, click here or continue reading.

For retirees/beneficiaries who opted for After Service Health Insurance (ASHI), premiums are deducted directly from their monthly pension benefit. As ASHI matters are not handled by the Pension Fund, please contact your employers ASHI focal point. If you work for the UN Secretariat you should direct your query to the email address ashi@un.org or use the “Contact Us ticket” at the ASHI website.  The ASHI Unit has moved to a service-oriented architecture and all in-coming emails to personal email addresses must be routed through ids@un.org or ashi@un.org to be assigned a service request number. For more information, click here.

If your benefit is already established, a delay could be due to the Fund not receiving your annual Certificate of Entitlement, a change in your bank information, or a banking error. The Fund issues periodic pension payments at the very end of each month for which they are due. It can take up to 10 business days for the monies to reach your account from the date the payment was issued by the Fund. If this is your first benefit payment, a delay could be due to missing forms from your employing organization. Check with your employing organization to make sure they have submitted the Separation Personal Action Form (SEPPA) indicating your official date of separation and the original Separation Notification form PF4 issued and submitted to the Fund by the Payroll Office of your employing organization and signed by an authorized payroll or finance officer, and detailing your pensionable remuneration and contributions since the end of the previous year.

The UNJSPF makes every effort to process benefits within 15 days of receipt of all required documentation. Your pension payment may be delayed because your employing organization has not yet submitted the necessary documents. Check with your employing organization to make sure they have submitted the Separation Personal Action Form (SEPPA) indicating your official date of separation and the original Separation Notification form PF4 issued and submitted to the Fund by the Payroll Office of your employing organization and signed by an authorized payroll or finance officer, and detailing your pensionable remuneration and contributions since the end of the previous year. Your pension payment may also be delayed because you have not submitted or have been delayed in submitting your original Payment Instructions. Please check with your member organization before contacting the Fund about delays in pension payments.

Your Unique Identification Number (UID) is a nine-digit number given to all Fund members as a personal pension number forever. Always reference your UID in communication with the Fund. You must always include all nine digits and use the UID number in its entirety on the IPAS system, even if your Unique Identification Number starts with zeroes (for example, 001234567). If you are unsure what your UID is in the new system, you can request your UID from the Fund by emailing RequestUIDonly@unjspf.org.

Member self-service provides annually up-to-date information about members’ accounts with access to Annual Pension Statements, estimation tools, and Certificate of Entitlements (CE), and much more. To create a Member Self-Service account you need to have your UID, your last name as it is written in official documents and is registered at the UNJSPF, your date of birth, and an e-mail account. You can access the set-up process at this link or get more information at our Member Self Service Site. For step by step instructions, check out our video “Setting up your Member Self Service Account”.

The Emergency Fund is set up to provide financial assistance for beneficiaries, who are in receipt of a small pension, and are facing temporary hardship. If you are temporarily unable to meet your basic expenses due to an emergency situation, such as exceptional medical expenses, you may seek assistance from the UNJSPF Emergency Fund. The Emergency Fund cannot be used to replace or augment medical insurance plans, completely reimburse medical expenses, or supplement income considered too small by its recipients to face day-to-day expenses. For more information, download the Emergency Fund booklet or continue reading.

Information on your own contributions and those of your former employing organization is provided to you in the benefit entitlement letter that is sent to you as soon as your first benefit payment has been processed. If you should misplace the letter, you may request a copy of the letter to be sent to you. Please note that each country determines, based on its own relevant national tax legislation and policies, whether and to what extent UNJSPF pensions are subject to national taxation.

The Fund makes no tax reimbursements to its beneficiaries under any circumstances. Any reimbursement of national income taxes that may be payable on certain UNJSPF benefits is done by the former employing organization. For authoritative advice on tax issues, you should consult your local tax authority or an attorney or accountant who specializes in such matters, or, possibly, consult with the UN Tax Unit where colleagues may be in a position to provide answers. We cannot address tax-related queries because taxation is not within the UNJSPF’s scope or authority. Fiscal periods and national tax laws relating to pensions are exceedingly complex and subject to frequent changes. As a result, the Fund is unable to maintain up-to-date familiarity with this field and unable to give advice to participants regarding taxation. However, the UN Office of Legal Affairs does provide general information about taxation of UNJSPF benefits in our Guide to National Taxation of United Nations and Tax Qualification Letter issued by the US Department of Treasury.

The Fund does not provide financial advice. Please seek the assistance of a qualified specialist.

No, the Fund does not accept “powers of attorney” or affidavits (even if the affidavits were approved by national courts). Additionally, the Fund does not accept third parties appointed by means of powers of attorney or affidavits. For more information on legal guardianship and estate, check out our comprehensive page on legal guardianship and estate.

To change your payment instructions you must submit a completed, original PF.23 form to the Fund. Please note the Fund must receive the PF.23 form with your original ink signature and cannot accept photocopies or email scans. Your pension record will be updated and the change reflected in the next payroll, provided the original PF.23 form is received at least a week before the payroll closes (which is usually around the 10^th day of the month). For more information click here, or continue reading.

For detailed information about the two-track system, which is a feature of the Pension Adjustment System whereby your pension is calculated and maintained both in US dollars and in the currency of the country where you actually reside, please see the Fund’s informative page on Two Track or our Two-Track tutorial.

In essence, the Two Track is an option made available by the Fund so that beneficiaries living in high cost of living countries can receive a periodic benefit that can adapt to the local cost-of-living changes. It has little to do with the choice of currency in which you wish to receive your periodic benefit and is more dependent on the differences in the cost of living between your preferred country of residence and the cost of living in the United States.

The following should provide you with, hopefully, a better understanding of the Two Track System.

What is it?

The Two Track system is composed of two elements, the dollar track and the local track.

Dollar Track:

All pensions are initially calculated in the dollar track which is based on the cost of living of the United States. Therefore, should you decide NOT TO switch to the Two Track, your benefit shall be based on the cost of living of the United States (U.S.), regardless of where you choose to live or whatever currency you would like to receive your benefit. The adjustments made to the amount of your benefit shall be based on the CPI (consumer price index) of the U.S. and if you choose to receive it in a currency other than the dollar, it would simply be converted on the basis of the average UN conversion rate of the preceding quarter.

Local Track:

The local track pension is calculated by converting the value of your dollar track (see above) on the first day of your retirement, at an average exchange rate between the United States Dollar and the currency of your country of residence (this average is computed over the 36 consecutive calendar months up to and including the month of your separation from service). Once established, it will be adjusted, based on the cost of living of your country of residence.

How does it work?

Once you elect to switch to the Two Track, you would now have two pension values, i.e., Dollar Track and Local Track. Each quarter, the Fund shall compare these two values and pay you the higher amount, subject to a maximum amount (which is 110% of the value of the Local Track value) and a minimum (which is 80% of your Dollar Track Value). Such feature provides stability as it avoids fluctuation of the monthly pension in local currency terms.

To find out whether the two-track system may be advantageous, you may wish to contact the Fund at any time after you separate from service to obtain an estimate that would contain the 36-month average exchange rate applicable to you. To request an estimate for the Two-Track/Local Track contact the Fund by sending an email.

If you are getting married after separation from service, there is no eligibility for a widow(er) benefit unless you elect to purchase an annuity within one year of the marriage (Article 35 ter of the Fund’s Regulations). Such election will be effective 18 months after the date of your marriage. For more information about the option to purchase an annuity for a spouse you married after separation from service, please contact the Fund or check out our comprehensive booklet on Survivor’s Benefits.

If you have separated from the service of a member organization and did not opt for a Withdrawal Settlement (which extinguishes all other rights to future benefits from the Fund), you are entitled to prospective survivor benefits. Firstly, before you retire, provide the Fund with a copy of your birth certificate or valid passport, a copy of your government issued photo ID, a copy of your marriage certificate(s), a copy of your divorce decree(s), a copy of the birth certificate or valid passport of your current and/or former spouse, a copy of your spouses’ government issued photo ID, a copy of the birth certificate(s) of your child(ren) under 21 years old, and a copy of death certificate(s) of your spouse(s), ex-spouse(s), or child(ren), if applicable. It is recommended that you also provide a copy of these documents to your prospective survivors so that the necessary documentation is available when the Fund processes the survivors’ benefits. Secondly, before you retire, verify that your pension annual statement (elsewhere referred to as “Pension Statement”) accurately reflects this information (and that your employing organization has reported your dependents accurately to the Fund). Lastly, ensure that your prospective survivor(s) are aware that if you die, the Fund will need to be notified as soon as possible and be provided with a certified copy of the death certificate and a payment instruction form (PI) from the prospective survivors as soon as possible.

Remember, after the date of your separation from service you will not be allowed to request changes to your prospective beneficiaries, your date of birth, or the date(s) of birth of your prospective beneficiaries.

For more information…

Survivor’s Benefit

Child’s Benefit

Everyone should complete the Designation of Recipient for a Residual Settlement A2 form to assure a Residual Settlement is paid as a one-time lump-sum to the person or institution you chose if you should die in service or after service. The Fund will make such a payment if

1. You have no prospective survivors (meaning a spouse, ex-spouse, a child under the age of 21, a disabled child, or a secondary dependant) at the time of your death in service or after service; and
2. In the case of death after service, you did not elect to be paid the maximum lump-sum commutation of the benefit allowed, and the total amount of the benefit paid to you or to your survivors is less than your own contributions to the Fund.

In these cases, the Fund pays a residual settlement to your designated beneficiary at the time of your death. The benefit is equivalent to your own contributions to the Fund with compound interest, minus any payments already made to you or your respective survivor(s). The residual settlement is payable to the person or institution designated on your A2 form.

Download the A/2 Form

If there is no duly filled out, dated and signed A2 Form in the Fund’s records, an amount will be paid to the late participant’s/retiree’s estate as a residual settlement. For more information, check out our comprehensive Legal guardianship and estate page.

Upon the death of a retiree or beneficiary, a family member or other representative must notify the Fund as soon as possible and provide a certified copy of the retiree’s official death certificate. The Fund will then determine what survivor’s benefits are payable. A late notification of the death of a retiree receiving benefit payments can lead to overpayments that will need to be recovered from the retiree’s estate or from benefits payable to his/her survivors. Click here for more information about Survivor’s Benefits.

For more information:

You must notify the Fund as soon as possible and provide a death certificate so that your family situation can be updated in your Pension Fund records and appropriate action can be taken.

If you are re-employed for 6 months or longer, you will automatically become a participant of the Fund once again and payment of your benefit will be suspended. When you separate from this re-employment, payment of your previous benefit will resume but you will not receive any additional payment for the period during which your benefit was suspended. You may opt for a withdrawal settlement or a second periodic benefit in regard to your re-employment and second period of participation, even if the period of additional employment was for less than 5 years. Click here for more information on re-employment.

If you have already submitted payment instructions and have sent an official death certificate, contact us.

Information you submit exclusively to the Fund for pension benefit purposes (e.g. medical information, designation of beneficiary forms or payment instructions) is confidential and will only be disclosed to third parties if your written consent or authorization has been received, except in response to a court order or a request from a judicial or civil authority in the context of divorce or family maintenance obligations.

Quarterly statements, also known as Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) letters, are informational statements provided to beneficiaries in receipt of a UNJSPF periodic benefit. These statements provide the quarterly exchange and COLA percentage applied annually to your benefit entitlements. They also detail the established monthly payable amount per quarter and the After Service Insurance Deduction, and the Total Net Payment Amount.

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) letters, also known as Quarterly Statements, are informational statements provided to beneficiaries in receipt of a UNJSPF periodic benefit. These statements provide the quarterly exchange and COLA percentage applied annually to your benefit entitlements. They also detail the established monthly payable amount per quarter and the After Service Insurance Deduction, and the Total Net Payment Amount.

All beneficiaries are required to complete and return the Certificate of Entitlement (CE) once a year in order for the Fund to verify your continued entitlement to UNJSPF benefit payments. If you fail to submit your CE, your benefit will be suspended. Click here for more information about the Certificate of Entitlement (CE).

Certificates of Entitlement (CE) are normally mailed out in May and September of each year. If the Fund does not receive your returned CE from the May mailing, a second CE will be mailed to you at the end of September. You can check our CE tracker on the MSS website to see if the Fund has received your most recent CE. If you do not see your CE-related information, please check back periodically as the Fund is in the process of registering thousands of CEs. Please note, if your CE is not returned to the Fund your benefit will be suspended until you return your CE or provide the UNJSPF with acceptable proof that you are still alive. Therefore it is recommended that if by the end of December you have NOT received your CE, you may consider sending a letter to the Fund, with your full name, your official mailing address, your Unique ID (UID) or/and retirement number(s), the date and your ORIGINAL ink signature; please include the subject line “CE Exercise” at the top of the letter. Such letter would be scanned to your file to alert the Fund of the situation and to allow the Fund to take action to prevent a potential future suspension in case of non-receipt of your CE by the end of December of the relevant year. Click here for more information about the Certificate of Entitlement (CE).

The Fund requires that beneficiaries affix an original signature on all Fund forms. Therefore, if you are unable to sign or manage your financial affairs, the Fund requires the appointment of a legal guardian to act on your behalf. In order for the Fund to recognize a legal guardian to act on your behalf, you must submit a full copy of the appropriate judicial authority’s decision to appoint a legal guardian for the management of your financial or pension related affairs, the contact details of the legally appointed guardian, and a copy of the passport or official identification document of the legally appointed guardian that bears the owner’s photograph and signature. All documents must be in English or French or accompanied by a professional translation. For more information on legal guardianship and estate, continue reading or check out our booklet on Legal guardianship and estate.