Employees fear they will run out of money in retirement

Pre-retirees in Singapore are concerned about funding and maintaining a comfortable standard of living during their retirement period.

Over four in five (81%) of working age people in Singapore are afraid of running out of money in retirement, and 78% worry about having enough money to support their day-to-day expenses.

Those were among the key findings of HSBC’s latest report titled The Future of Retirement: A balancing act.

Polling over 16,000 people worldwide, the report also found 81% of working age people in Malaysia are worried about a shortage of money during retirement. This was followed by 80% in Brazil and 77% in Hong Kong.

Almost nine out of 10 (88%) of pre-retirees in Malaysia and 83% of those in Hong Kong stated they were worried about having enough money to live on day-to-day in retirement.

Worldwide, women (74%) were generally more concerned than men (66%) about running out of money once they stopped working. The survey attributed these findings to women typically living longer than men and therefore having more years of retirement to fund.

The survey found while most retirees in Singapore believe the minimum household income for a comfortable retirement is SGD54,000 a year, 43% of retirees currently live on a household income of less than SGD48,000 per annum.

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“The outlook for the next generation is even less optimistic: 15% of working age people believe they will never be able to fully retire,” the report stated.

“More than half (53%) say they cannot afford it and 39% believe they will not be able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.”

The survey stressed these percentages suggest pre-retirees in Singapore fear that life after work may be less comfortable than they might have hoped. A third (33%) of respondents believed their standard of living in retirement will be worse than their standard of living today. Additionally, 58% expect to have to cut down on everyday spending, while nearly half (48%) said they will have to eat out less and 43% believed they will move to a smaller home, once they retire.

Despite these concerns, 40% of respondents admitted their preparations are inadequate for a comfortable retirement. A third (33%) of pre-retirees stated they are either not currently saving for their retirement or do not intend to start. Even among pre-retirees nearer to retirement - those aged 45 and over - almost a third (30%) acknowledged they are not saving or do not intend to start saving specifically for retirement

“For the majority (82%) of working age people, saving for retirement was not their main priority. Other priorities include saving for children’s education (19%), saving for a rainy day (17%) and paying off other debts (13%),” the report stated.

READ MORE: Singaporeans still haven't started saving for retirement

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