Women are relatively better prepared for retirement than men, reveals a DBS-Manulife survey titled ‘Planning for a successful retirement.’ Women scored 72 while men scored 66 points in the retirement wellness index, which is a weighted average of three pillars of successful retirement, comprising health, financial and social assets.
Having confidence in one’s abilities/decisions as well as sufficient savings for retirement are the top two reasons for women being better prepared for retirement.
The online survey was conducted among 1,004 respondents - 538 men and 466 women; 642 respondents were in the age group of 40-49 years and 362 in the age group of 50-60 years. The survey was carried out in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Those with personal income of over Rs. 1 lakh per month or AUM of Rs.30 lakh were considered affluent; 322 respondents were from this category and 682 were from the mass or emerging affluent category.
Other key findings of the survey:
- Overall, 89% feel very confident to retire successfully while 12% respondents are not at all confident. The top two reasons for not feeling confident are lack of confidence about the future economic outlook and lack of financial funds/savings.
- While majority of Indians would be pursuing their hobbies/interest or leading an active and productive life during retirement, fewer expect themselves to be engaged in more indulgent activities such as going for shopping, pick up a new skill or live abroad to achieve a higher quality of life. 62% of respondents expect themselves to do more overseas travelling/ holidays with their family and acquaintances.
- Lack of activities during retirement (38%) is the top concern faced by Indians during retirement followed by reliance on others due to limited mobility (30%). Across cities, Hyderabad residents are more worried about relying on others as compared to Mumbai and Kolkata where lack of activities during retirement is more of a worry.
- Saving money for retirement (54%) is the top financial priority for Indians. Ensuring they have money to cover daily expenses and to pay for healthcare expenses (41%) are also important financial goals in addition from ensuring they have money for retirement.
- 93% of Indians have tried to figure out how much to save for their retirement, yet there is a high degree of uncertainty on how much do they exactly need. EPF/PPF savings are the most important source of income, followed by cash savings and investments.
