Provident Fund

Provident fund is another name for

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

. Its purpose is to provide employees with

lump sum A lump sum is a single payment of money, as opposed to a series of payments made over time (such as an annuity). The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development distinguishes between " price analysis" and " cost analysis" by whether ...

payments at the time of exit from their place of employment. This differs from pension funds, which have elements of both lump sum as well as monthly pension payments. As far as differences between

gratuity A gratuity (often called a tip) is a sum of money customarily given by a customer to certain service sector workers such as hospitality for the service they have performed, in addition to the basic price of the service. Tips and their amount ar ...

and provident funds are concerned, although both types involve lump sum payments at the end of employment, the former operates as a

defined benefit plan Defined benefit (DB) pension plan is a type of pension plan in which an employer/sponsor promises a specified pension payment, lump-sum, or combination thereof on retirement that depends on an employee's earnings history, tenure of service and Ag ...

, while the latter is a

defined contribution plan A defined contribution (DC) plan is a type of retirement plan in which the employer, employee or both make contributions on a regular basis. Individual accounts are set up for participants and benefits are based on the amounts credited to these a ...

. Specific provident funds include: *

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is one of the two main social security agencies under the Government of India's Ministry of Labour and Employment and is responsible for regulation and management of provident funds in India, ...

, India's statutory retirement plan *

Mandatory Provident Fund The Mandatory Provident Fund (), often abbreviated as MPF (), is a compulsory saving scheme (pension fund) for the retirement of residents in Hong Kong. Most employees and their employers are required to contribute monthly to mandatory provident ...

, Hong Kong's retirement plan *

Central Provident Fund The Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB), commonly known as the CPF Board or simply the Central Provident Fund (CPF), is a compulsory comprehensive savings and pension plan for working Singaporeans and permanent residents primarily to fund their ...

, Singapore's retirement plan *

Employees Provident Fund (Malaysia) Employees' Provident Fund (EPF; Malay: Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja, KWSP) is a federal statutory body under the purview of the Ministry of Finance. It manages the compulsory savings plan and retirement planning for private sector workers in M ...

, Malaysia's retirement plan *

Employees Provident Fund (Nepal) Employees Provident Fund (Nepali:कर्मचारी सञ्चय कोष) Nepal is the pension fund/provident fund for employees of government and private sector of Nepal. The Fund is currently managing provident funds of 600,000 employe ...

, Nepal's retirement Plan * Central Provident Fund (South Africa), a retirement trust * Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores, Mexico's public pension fund and largest mortgage lender *

National Social Security Fund (Kenya) The National Social Security Fund is a Kenyan government agency responsible for the collection, safekeeping, responsible investment and distribution of retirement funds of employees in both the formal and informal sectors of the Kenyan Economy. ...

* , China mainland's retirement plan {{SIA Pension funds Broad-concept articles