State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) have today released the findings of their annual Retirement Confidence Monitor (RCM) which surveyed almost 700 defined contribution (DC) savers in the Republic of Ireland, in addition to more than 2,000 respondents in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Retirement Confidence Monitor is an annual survey designed to track changing attitudes and behaviors relative to defined contribution plans.
The RCM found that 80% of Irish respondents favour automatic enrolment of all eligible employees into pension schemes and nearly two-thirds (61%) would also likely take advantage of automatic annual increases in contributions.
Irish respondents emerged as the least confident about their retirement readiness. Thirty nine per cent of Irish defined contribution savers claimed they are not confident that they’re on track to meet their retirement goals (an increase of 4% year on year), compared with only 15% in the US and 28% in the UK.
Exactly half of the Irish sample expects to work past the traditional retirement age, with 42% saying that they would work full-time.
Furthermore, more than half (51%) of Irish respondents say they know how their savings are invested, (a significant increase from 39% in 2015) with the same number stating that they understand their investments. Interestingly 53% feel that they now receive sufficient information from their employer/pension provider to make an informed decision, compared with 35% in 2015.
The Irish are the least confident when it comes to making ends meet; if an unexpected expense or health crisis arose 35% of respondents said they would risk running low on money for basic necessities, and 36% of respondents said they would consider their financial life to be a “mess”. One in 10 Irish people also noted that financial stress keeps them awake at night.
Senior DC Investment Strategist at SSGA, Alistair Byrne commented, "A lot of groundwork is required to ensure that people make proper provision for their retirement, and in our third annual survey of Irish DC members, we continue to see concern about their state of preparedness. Progress has been recorded year on year and there are grounds for optimism."
He added, "However, many people are not saving enough, so introduction of automatic enrolment and automatic escalation of pension contributions should be considered as ways to help more people prepare for retirement."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
