The Modified Pag-IBIG II or Pag IBIG MP2 is an optional savings scheme for members who want to save more and earn higher dividends on top of their regular Pag-IBIG savings.

The HMDF invests the funds collected from the Pag-IBIG MP2 mostly in its housing loan program, as well as its short-term loan programs. Funds grow through interest payments from borrowers. The rest is invested in corporate bonds, time deposits, and government securities.

Whether you’re a first-time investor or an experienced one who wants to add Pag-IBIG MP2 investment to your portfolio, this guide should get you started.

READ: Pag-IBIG Contribution Table (with Detailed Computations and Explanations)

Who Can Save Under MP2?

You can open a Pag-IBIG MP2 account if you belong to any of these groups:

• All active Pag-IBIG members, regardless of monthly income.
• Former members or pensioners, regardless of age, have paid at least 24 monthly contributions before retirement.

If you’re not a Pag-IBIG member, you must register first and pay your monthly contributions to be considered an official member.

If you’re a former member qualified for the MP2 program, you can proceed with your MP2 enrollment.

What Is the Latest Performance of Pag-IBIG MP2?

The pandemic hasn’t stopped Pag-IBIG Fund members from investing their money in Pag-IBIG MP2. If anything, it even motivated them to save more.

A staggering 721,980 Filipinos saved money in Pag-IBIG MP2 by the end of 2021¹. This is 42% higher than the record 508,522 MP2 savers in 2020.  Total Pag-IBIG MP2 savings in 2021 is a record-breaking PHP 25.95 billion, which is about 95% higher than the previous record of PHP 13.23 billion in 2020. 

With a record-high net income of PHP 34.73 billion, the Pag-IBIG MP2 dividend rate for 2021 is 6%² which is still an above-market rate. Savers are expected to receive their dividends in the second quarter of 2022.

Why Should You Open a Pag IBIG MP2 Account?

MP2 enrollment is not required for Pag-IBIG members, but doing so will benefit you in the long run.

Here are five good reasons to start saving under the Pag-IBIG MP2:

1. Above-market dividend rates

The most compelling reason to save under MP2 is its above-market annual dividend rates.

In the past few years, MP2 dividend rates have grown steadily, averaging 6.96% from 2015 to 2017.

For 2021, the announced Pag-IBIG MP2 dividend rate is 6%. Meanwhile, the MP2 dividend rate in the previous year is 6.12%

The MP2 is more profitable than the regular Pag-IBIG savings program. MP2 dividend rates surpass the average interest rates of investment products from commercial banks in the Philippines.

With the HDMF’s record-breaking financial performance year after year, it’s expected to maintain the MP2 program’s remarkable dividend rates.

2. An easy, affordable, and flexible way to save

Under the MP2, you need to save only PHP 500 as an initial deposit and a monthly one should you decide to remit every month thereafter.

It makes saving money easy on the budget, especially for low-income earners.

The MP2 also offers flexibility on how often you want to save. 

You can choose to save every month if your budget is tight. Alternatively, you can deposit a higher lump sum into your MP2 account, so you don’t have to remit monthly. For example, you can pay PHP 30,000 as a one-time remittance instead of paying PHP 500 monthly for five years.

You also have the option to receive your dividend earnings through either annual payout or compounded savings. 

If you receive your dividend via annual payout, it will be credited yearly to your enrolled bank account with Pag-IBIG. But with compounded earnings, you’ll have to wait until the five-year maturity period before receiving all your dividend earnings.

3. Government-guaranteed and tax-free earnings

Unlike other investment vehicles, there’s little risk of losing your savings under MP2 because the government fully guarantees them. 

However, dividend rates change yearly, depending on the HDMF’s financial performance.

The worst-case scenario would be getting back only your principal (the actual amount saved) without a profit, according to Pag-IBIG Fund President and CEO Acmad Rizaldy Moti³.

On the flip side, if your investment performs well, you can withdraw your total capital and earnings upon maturity without paying any withholding taxes.

4. Short-term to medium-term investment

The MP2 program allows you to access your funds more quickly (with a five-year maturity period) than the regular Pag-IBIG savings program and other long-term investment vehicles (with maturity periods ranging from 10 to 20 years). 

This means the Pag-IBIG Fund will hold your MP2 savings for five years. After that period, you can withdraw all your savings or keep them earning dividends for another two years.

5. Save as much as you want

There’s no limit on the amount you can save under MP2.

Just remember that the minimum amount you can save is PHP 500. You may increase this during the next few months (e.g., Month 1: PHP 500; Month 2: PHP 5,000; Month 3: PHP 10,000; and so forth).

There’s no penalty for no deposit so long as your total savings averages at least PHP 500 per month.

Because there’s no penalty for no deposit, you can save anytime, whether monthly, twice a month, quarterly, or once, by paying a one-time lump-sum deposit.

You may also deposit a million pesos! You’ll have to issue a personal check or manager’s check, though, if you’ll save PHP 500,000 or higher.

You can also enroll and maintain as many MP2 savings accounts as possible. This feature is excellent for meeting various financial goals. For example, you can have an MP2 account for starting a small business, another account for funding your child’s college education, and so on.

How To Enroll in the MP2 Program

Two ways to open an MP2 savings account are: by applying directly at any Pag-IBIG office or using the online MP2 Enrollment System.

Option 1: Walk-in MP2 registration at a Pag-IBIG branch

1. Submit a completed Modified Pag-IBIG II Enrollment Form at the nearest Pag-IBIG branch.
2. After encoding your information, the officer will issue an account number for your MP2 accounts. You’ll use the MP2 account number/s to remit your savings.
3. If you want to pay your first monthly MP2 savings immediately, inform the Pag-IBIG officer. You’ll be given a queue number for the payment.
4. When your number is called, proceed to the cashier and pay the amount you indicated on your MP2 enrollment form. Receive your official receipt.

Option 2: Online MP2 enrollment

Online registration for MP2 is quicker than enrolling manually, as you won’t have to fill out the form at the Pag-IBIG office.

Here’s how to enroll in the MP2 program online:

1. Go to the Modified Pag-IBIG 2 Enrollment System.
2. Type your Pag-IBIG MID number, surname, first name, and birthdate in MM/DD/YYYY format. Then enter the code as it appears on your screen. Click the Submit button.
3. Fill out the online form. The fields for Pag-IBIG MID No., Name, Date of Birth, Present Home Address, and E-mail Address are already pre-filled, so there is no need to fill them out.
4. Enter your Desired Monthly Contribution in the field provided. Note that payment frequency is flexible; this field is more for those who opt to pay via salary deduction. If you’re an employee who wants to remit every month regularly, make sure your HR has enrolled your account to automatic payroll deduction. Otherwise, your desired amount won’t be automatically deducted from your monthly salary.
5. Provide your answers to the following: (a) Preferred Dividend Payout – whether you’d like to receive the MP2 dividends annually or by the end of the five-year term; (b) Mode of Payment – how you want to pay your MP2 contributions, which can be through salary deduction, over-the-counter, or via one of the Pag-IBIG-accredited payment channels; and (c) Source of Funds – how you earn your money from which MP2 contributions are derived from. Once you’re done selecting from the drop-down menus provided, click the Submit button.
6. Review all the details on your unprinted MP2 form, including the terms and conditions. Take note of your MP2 account number in the upper right corner.
7. Click the link at the bottom of the page to print your MP2 enrollment form. You may save it first as a PDF file for printing later. If you’re an employee, print an additional copy and submit it to your HR staff or employer so you can remit your MP2 savings via salary deduction.
8. Optional: If you want to open another MP2 account, repeat steps 1 to 7.

Go back to the main article: How to Compute Your Pag-IBIG Contribution: A Complete Guide to Contribution Table and Payment

How To Compute Pag-IBIG MP2 Dividend

A dividend is an amount the Pag-IBIG Fund pays its members who invest in the MP2 program.

Dividend earnings are tax-free, meaning you’ll receive the total amount without paying the 20% final withholding tax.

To compute your MP2 dividend, multiply the dividend rate for the applicable year by your average monthly balance.

Here’s the formula for MP2 dividend computation:

Dividend = Dividend rate x Average monthly balance

Calculating the MP2 dividend is not as simple as it looks, though.

Before proceeding with the computation, it’s essential to understand first what the dividend rate and the average monthly balance mean.

The dividend rate is the interest rate based on the Pag-IBIG Fund’s annual net income. The Fund usually announces the dividend rate for a particular year in the first or second quarter of the following year through a news release on the Pag-IBIG website.

For instance, the dividend rate for 2018 is 7.41%, which the Pag-IBIG Fund declared in April 2019.

Meanwhile, the average monthly balance refers to the average of the MP2 savings you’ve accumulated by the year-end. To determine your average monthly balance, get your total cumulative savings for the year and divide it by 12 (months).

For easier calculation, record your monthly MP2 savings into an Excel file or Google Spreadsheet and then get their average.

Let’s say you’re saving PHP 500 monthly from January to December 2020. Plotted on a spreadsheet, your cumulative savings look like this:

The total cumulative savings for 2020 is PHP 39,000. Divide that by 12, and you’ll get PHP 3,250. That’s your average monthly balance.

An easier way to compute the average monthly balance is to use the AVERAGE function in Excel or Google Spreadsheet, which yields the same amount: PHP 3,250.

At this point, you can already compute the dividend for the year 2020 based on a dividend rate of 6.12%.

0.0612 (dividend rate) x PHP 3,250 (average monthly balance) = PHP 198.9 (dividend for 2020)

If you avail of the compounded savings option, don’t forget to add the dividend amount from the previous year to the cumulative savings in January of the following year.

But if you avail of the annual dividend payout option, don’t add the dividend amount from the previous year to the current year because it’s paid out to you yearly.

Why Is the Dividend Rate of Pag-IBIG MP2 So High?

Historically, MP2 dividend rates have been on an upward trend. From 2013 to 2017, the rates were between 4% – 8%.

While these figures seem too good to be true, there’s no reason to worry or doubt why the Pag-IBIG MP2 dividend rates are “too high.”

The Pag-IBIG Fund’s strong financial performance has pushed the MP2 rates over the years. The government agency attributes its solid financial standing to its operational efficiencies and substantial housing loan payment collections.

Because the Pag-IBIG Fund invests 70% of its investible funds in its housing loan program, people investing in MP2 earn from the interest payments of housing loan borrowers.

Also, MP2 dividends come from at least 70% of the Pag-IBIG Fund’s annual net income, which has seen steady growth for the past six years. In 2021 the Fund recorded a net gain of PHP 34.73  billion—its highest ever.

An impressive annual financial performance translates to higher dividend earnings for MP2 accountholders.

Is It Safe To Invest in Pag-IBIG MP2? The Risk of Putting Your Money in Pag-IBIG MP2, Explained

Yes, it’s generally safe to invest in Pag-IBIG MP2, but it has drawbacks.

Although it is government-guaranteed (and tax-free), it only guarantees your capital, not your returns. This is because the dividend rate is not fixed. It is highly dependent on the yearly earnings of Pag-IBIG.

For instance, 2017’s recorded rate of dividend (8.11%) is higher than 2018’s (7.41%).

Pag-IBIG MP2’s five-year maturity period also limits your money’s liquidity. If you are to invest in stock markets, you can buy and sell stocks anytime you want. This is not possible with Pag-IBIG MP2.

If you wait for the five-year maturity period, ensure you’ll only invest the money you won’t mind touching within the said period. 

However, Pag-IBIG does allow complete withdrawal before the five-year maturity period, but it depends on the reason for pre-termination.  

In conclusion, the stock market can beat Pag-IBIG MP2. But, if you accept the risks and focus more on the advantages, Pag-IBIG MP2 can be worth investing in.

How To Make the Most Out of Your MP2 Investment To Achieve Important Life Goals

Here are the different ways to maximize your MP2 investment based on your goal.

1. For long-term investment (10+ years)

If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you have more than ten years to invest your money for any long-term financial goal, like building your retirement fund or buying your dream home.

For this, your strategy should be to grow your money over time. Here’s how to do it through Pag-IBIG MP2 savings:

• Open an MP2 account with the compounded dividend option.
• Make a one-time MP2 contribution (ideally not less than PHP 30,000).
• Withdraw your earnings at the end of the five-year maturity period.
• Re-invest your profits by opening a new MP2 account.
• Repeat the process for another five years, and so on.
• Withdraw your total cumulative savings and dividends when you’ve reached your target earnings.

2. For capital preservation

You can’t take investment risks if you’re in your retirement age (or approaching it). So instead of investing in the long-term, your goal is to preserve your capital so your money doesn’t lose its value to inflation.

Pag-IBIG MP2 can help you achieve that goal through the annual dividend payout option, which allows you to receive dividends per year while keeping the value of your investment. Here’s how to do it:

• Open an MP2 account with the annual dividend payout option.
• Make a one-time MP2 contribution (The higher the amount, the higher your return).
• Receive your dividend yearly through your Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card Plus or your registered bank account in your MP2 account opening.
• Withdraw your cumulative savings once your MP2 account reaches the five-year maturity period.
• Re-invest your earnings by opening a new MP2 account.
• Repeat the process for another five years if you need a steady income stream.

3. For multiple medium-term investment goals

The Pag-IBIG Fund allows the opening of as many MP2 accounts as possible. Take advantage of this feature if you have several goals for the next five years.

The optimal number of accounts will depend on the expenses you’re preparing for. Each account will be created for a specific purpose, such as a travel fund, tuition fund, wedding fund, home/vehicle purchase, etc.

Here’s how to maximize your MP2 investment for your medium-term goals:

• Open two or more MP2 accounts simultaneously with the compounded dividend option. If your budget is limited, you can open one account annually for the next two or more years.
• Make a one-time contribution per MP2 account.
• Withdraw your earnings upon maturity of each account.

Tips and Warnings

• If you save monthly, the minimum amount you can remit monthly is PHP 500. Since there’s no limit to how much you can save, you can send anything higher than PHP 500 initially and during the subsequent months. For example, you can save PHP 500 during the first month, remit PHP 20,000 during the next, PHP 10,000 in the third month, and so forth.
• Payments don’t need to be consistent. You can save once a month, twice a month, every quarter, or just once through a lump-sum deposit.
• You can even skip a payment without incurring any penalty. To be clear, the PHP 500 mentioned is the minimum amount you can contribute. But if you forget to remit or have nothing to remit at all, rest assured your account will remain active as long as the total amount of your savings averages at least PHP 500 a month.
• The 5-year lock-in period starts when you make your first deposit, not when you generate your Pag-IBIG MP2 number on the website.
• Upon application, you can receive either annual dividends or leave your savings untouched for the next five years to earn more through compounded savings. The annual dividends are paid to members through the Pag-IBIG Loyalty Card Plus.
• To quickly check whether your latest payment is already reflected in your Pag-IBIG MP2 account, create a Virtual Pag-IBIG account. Once you have an account, you can view your updated contributions record or MP2 deposit history. It takes 3-5 days for the payment to reflect in your account.
• If you’re paying through a third-party payment channel, always keep proof of your transaction, like the receipt or screenshot showing your payment has been received (if you’re using a mobile wallet like GCash).
• Pag-IBIG MP2 savings should not be considered an emergency fund. If you’re trying to build an emergency fund, do so in a savings account. Although banks offer relatively lower interest rates, they offer the convenience of withdrawing your money anytime you need them.
• Pag-IBIG MP2 is perfect for people with a low-risk appetite. In other words, don’t expect high rewards when investing in Pag-IBIG MP2. If done right, investing in the stock market or a business can yield significantly higher returns. So if you’re more drawn to higher-risk investment avenues and are prepared to deal with potentially bigger losses, Pag-IBIG MP2 may not be for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1. Pag-IBIG Fund. (2022). Pag-IBIG members save record-high P26 B in MP2, up 95% in 2021. Retrieved from https://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/2022news.html
2. Pag-IBIG declares record-high P31.79B as 2021 dividends. (2022). Retrieved 20 June 2022, from https://www.bworldonline.com/spotlight/2022/03/11/435444/pag-ibig-declares-record-high-p31-79b-as-2021-dividends/
3. Takumi, R. (2017). Pag-IBIG offers members new modified-savings program. Retrieved 17 May 2020, from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/personalfinance/620739/pag-ibig-offers-new-savings-program-at-higher-rate-than-regular-contributions/story/