Of the 15 countries surveyed, India ranks first in the retirement readiness survey conducted by Aegon Insurance. India achieved a retirement readiness rating at 7.3 which is higher as compared to last year’s ranking.
Also, 19% Indians rely on professional advice apart from family and friends (21%). This is followed by bank advisor and personal finance websites (7%). When asked what would encourage them to save more for retirement, the respondents said advisors (23%), simpler products (31%), better information on retirement and easy to track and manage savings (34%) apart from a hike in their salary (35%).
The survey shows that India is the country with the youngest population – more than half of its population is below the age of 25. However, life expectancy is expected to rise to age 73 in 2050 which is currently between the age group of 60-66 years.
The survey found that respondents in India are happy post retirement, “I am in a relaxed mood and getting enough time to look after my family,” says one of the survey respondents.
The survey shows that Indian workers place much importance on employer contributions to retirement plans. Globally, the survey found that just 41% of workers are offered a retirement plan with employer contributions. However in India, around 61% of employers offer a retirement plan as compared to one in five workers in Spain, Hungary, and Poland.
Another interesting fact is that Indians want automatic default features on pension plans. Designing retirement plans that automatically enroll workers into a workplace retirement savings plan and automatically increase annual contributions over time can make a big difference in translating good intentions into actual saving. For example, the introduction of automatic enrolment in the United Kingdom has pulled an additional five million people into the retirement savings market.
Around two-thirds of workers globally (65%) find the idea of automatic, default arrangements that enrolls them into a retirement savings plan based on a contribution level of 6% of annual salary to be very or somewhat appealing. In India, we still do not have extensive coverage of automatic occupational pensions but 84% Indians find this system to be appealing.
The findings of the survey are based on the responses of 14,400 employees and 1,600 retired people from 15 countries.
