An independent, online survey conducted by iReach on behalf of Standard Life of 1,000 adults aged 18+ to Jan 5, 2017 has found that the average person has saved a retirement income of €3,400 p.a. This represents roughly 10% of their desired €32k p.a. retirement income. This excludes the contributory state pension of up to almost €12,400 p.a.
The survey finds that almost two thirds (62%) of Irish people would like a winter sun holiday in the cold months when they retire on an average retirement income of just €3,400 p.a. Furthermore, 68% of 45 to 54 year olds said they wanted a winter sun holiday when they retired.
Men (64%) are more likely to want a sun holiday than women (60%) and are more likely to want a city break (46%) than women (41%). Women are more likely to want to spend the cold months with family and friends than men, 51% vs 39%.
Standard Life’s Pensions Technical Spokeswoman, Sinead McEvoy says, "Even if you include the contributory state pension of up to almost €12,400~p.a. in addition to the €3,400 p.a., you’re still under €16k p.a. which is not a realistic amount to expect to holiday in the sun, or holiday anywhere not to mention live comfortably,” said
She added, “People have high expectations from retirement and want to enjoy it. A sun holiday is achievable and some financially comfortable retirees go to the sun for 2-3 months (typically Jan–March) but you need to save adequately for it. My advice is to calculate how much income you need to live on comfortably. Sit down with a financial adviser and work out how much you need to save between here and your retirement. Then you can look forward to it."
Source: www.businessworld.ie