Children as young as six-years-old will be able to become Fiji National Provident Fund members from today.

Chief Executive, Jaoji Koroi says the decision to extend membership to children is part of the fund’s plan to extend its social security agenda to allow the younger generation to also save for retirement.

The age eligibility for membership into the Voluntary Scheme has been reduced from 16 to six years and allows Fijians up to 54-years-old to sign up for this scheme.

Koroi says anyone who is not employed by a registered employer can also join as a voluntary member.

He says this means that market vendors, taxi drivers, domestic workers, farmers, operators of small and medium enterprises as well as students who are six-years and above are potential voluntary members.

He adds, members who had fully withdrawn their funds under migration, marriage and medical incapacitation, and are below 54-years-old, can also sign up as re-entrant voluntary members but only once.

Koroi says the fee required to open a new Voluntary Membership account is $10 and the minimum monthly contribution payment is also $10.

The maximum deposit allowed for a financial year is $200,000 with any transaction over ten $10,000 to be reported to the Fiji Intelligence Unit to prevent any intention of money laundering.

Koroi says these changes to the voluntary scheme are part of their strategies to offer financial security and independence to many Fijians who do not have retirement savings.

The changes to the scheme are also effective from today.