Pag-IBIG just announced this year's MP2 dividend rate. Here's how it stacks up against a regular savings account.

Originally reported as: “Pag-IBIG Fund declares annual dividend rate for MP2 voluntary savings program”

The Pag-IBIG Fund announced the dividend rate it will pay this year on its Modified Pag-IBIG II, or MP2, voluntary savings program, a rate that has consistently outpaced what most regular bank savings accounts offer. MP2 is a separate, optional savings track on top of the mandatory Pag-IBIG contributions most employed Filipinos already make, and it is open to anyone, including OFWs and self-employed individuals, who wants to save for at least five years in exchange for a government-backed dividend. Unlike a bank's advertised interest rate, which is typically fixed and guaranteed, Pag-IBIG's MP2 dividend rate is declared annually based on the fund's actual investment earnings, so it can move up or down from year to year, though it has historically landed well above typical savings account rates. For long-term savers willing to lock money away for five years, MP2 has become one of the more popular low-risk options in the Philippines precisely because of that gap.