According to Etiqa Insurance Singapore Retirement Survey 2022, 48% of Singaporeans are not confident in retiring comfortably.
This is observed in how younger Singaporeans are more worried about retiring comfortably by the age of 65 than their older counterparts. From the survey, one in five Singaporeans have also started retirement planning from the age of 24 or younger.
The subject of retirement is an increasingly burgeoning issue amongst Singaporeans, given that the city-state has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, where at the age of 65, the Singaporean female is expected to live for another 23 years and a male for another 19.3 years. As such, Singaporeans do see the need to prepare for about two decades of post-retirement living.
At the top of the list of concerns post-retirement are that of finances and health, with 84% of the survey respondents indicating financial independence to be of utmost importance and 73% of respondents seeking to be physically independent. Other worries among the respondents include failing health at 42% and running out of funds at 23%.
Source: Etiqa
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With a significant proportion of time spent working, 70% of Singaporeans are looking forward to spending time with their family after retirement with 74% of men and 66% of women expressing this desire.
Meanwhile, 83% of Singaporeans also intend to stay in the country after they retire, the survey finds. For those who plan to migrate, the main reason amongst the respondents is to seek a lower cost of living for housing and expenses.
Additionally, most Singaporeans plan to spend their time wisely by continuing to contribute to society. One in two respondents plans to continue working part-time post-retirement while one in four respondents intends to devote time to volunteer work.
See also: Millennials more prepared for retirement than their older peers: Prudential Singapore
The survey was conducted by Kantar, which studied over 1,000 Singaporeans on their attitudes toward retirement, readiness, fears and attitudes towards planning for their golden years.
“To truly get the most out of their later years, Singaporeans need to have the wealth and health to do what they want after retirement. Amassed savings resulting from early financial planning can help to ensure that retirement needs are met later in life,” says Raymond Ong, CEO of Etiqa Insurance Singapore.
