Investors are expecting to retire three years earlier than non-investors on average, according to a survey by YouGov and ADDX.
The survey, which polled members of the YouGov PLC panel individuals from Singapore, London (UK), Hong Kong and Frankfurt (Germany), added that the gap is more pronounced. In this case, investors with allocations to private market assets expect to retire nine years earlier than non-investors.
According to the poll, investors expect to retire at around 59.2 years of age while non-investors expect to retire at 62.1 years. Investors who invest in private markets expect to retire at 53.5 years of age.
Within the survey, 31% of those who invest expect to retire before 60 years old, compared to 19% of the non-investors polled. For private market investors, 47% of those polled expect to retire before they turn 60.
The survey also found that there is a significant gender gap in investment behaviours with 37% of women saying they do not invest. This is compared to the 21% of men who said the same.
The gender gap translates into a difference between the retirement expectations of men and women – with 76% of women expecting to retire after the age of 60, compared with 68% of men. The gender retirement age gap exists in both Europe and Asia. On average, women expect to retire at 61.1 years of age, compared to 59 years for men.
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Both men and women also tend to invest differently with 81% of men investing entirely or mostly on their own, compared with 64% of women who said the same.
Women and men also value different sources of investment advice. Most women (or 51%) of them tend to value investment advice from financial advisors while 39% of women value advice from their family members, compared to 41% and 29% for men respectively. On the other hand, a larger group of men are more likely to value advice from online forums and social media at 22% and 15% respectively compared to 19% and 12% for women.
On a geographical basis, Asian investors tend to look for safer options with about one in two investors for Asia seeing fixed deposits as a core component of their investment portfolio. About 46% of investors from Singapore and 47% from Hong Kong said that they would choose fixed deposits as one of their top three investments.
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Respondents from Hong Kong also leant heavily toward stocks, with 60% choosing that option as one of their top three investments.
In contrast, investors from Europe say that they prefer a more balanced allocation across asset classes. In London, interest was consistent across fixed deposits (28%), stocks (30%), bonds and fixed income (27%) and funds (21%).
Investors from Frankfurt had 40% of respondents indicating that they were keener on funds. Another 24% of German respondents chose fixed deposits, 35% chose stocks, while 19% chose bonds and fixed income products.
Among the regions covered in the survey, Singaporeans were the most future-oriented with 39% of them indicating that they would set aside 90% to 100% of US$100,000 ($133,733.50) if they had inherited the amount unexpectedly. This is compared to the 22% of Hong Kong investors, 33% of investors in Frankfurt and 32% in London doing the same.
ADDX CEO Choo Oi-Yee notes that not investing has “serious consequences [as] it reduces your buying power and lifestyle options”.
“In the long run, it might also mean you have little choice but to extend your working life in order to adequately fund your retirement. Women are less likely to invest than men, and that has a negative impact on their ability to retire earlier, should they want to. Early retirement is also topic of growing interest, especially among the younger generation – and increasingly, retirement is being defined as achieving financial freedom and independence, rather than just ‘stopping work,” she says.
“The implications of this YouGov-ADDX survey are clear: young or old, women or men, every individual and household need to think about channelling some of their savings into investments, so that they can secure their well-being in the long term,” she adds.
“Almost a third of global respondents (29%) said they do not invest. That means we still have a way to go in our education efforts. We believe investing should be a level playing field, and eventually, investors should get full access to any and every asset class – including private market investments. By access, we don’t just mean the ability to subscribe to investments, but also the knowledge to understand how such assets can play a role in portfolio diversification and wealth creation,” says Choo.
