MS BANGA spent 22 years at Hindustan Lever Limited before becoming chairman of the company.

Some of us know about how his loyalty reaped him rich dividends in terms of respect, position, salary, etc. But not many know of the benefit that Banga and other long runners like him have garnered, that of an unbroken Employees' Provident Fund.

Your company PF could build you a small fortune over the years. That is, if you let it.

In our fast forward world, no job is for keeps. You and I probably don't know many people who have had the same job for 22 years. Nowadays, even two years in the same company is considered a record. The result, more often than not, is a broken PF.

It is so much easier to withdraw the PF than transfer it to your new employer. Who will fill up Form 13, get it attested and follow up constantly?

We are, after all, the easy-way-out generation. So we withdraw the money.

But let me give you a monetary argument: 28-year old Amar quit his first job after four years for another. When he moved out to his new job, he withdrew his EPF balance (nearly Rs 1 lakh) to buy a car. At the new company, his EPF started at zero.

At 33, he changed his job. This time, too, he withdrew his PF balance, nearly Rs 1.5 lakh (Rs 150,000). Again, he was back to zero.

Thereafter, he did not withdraw his EPF. Whenever he changed jobs, he kept transferring his balance. When Amar retired, his PF was Rs 79 lakh (Rs 7.9 million).

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e-mail: Team@Wealth

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