Indians most prepared for retirement
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 18 June 2009, 14:55 IST   |    8 Comments
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Indians most prepared for retirement
Bangalore: Indians are the most prepared financially for their retirement and claim to have the best understanding of their long-term finances. 42 percent of the Indians surveyed felt well prepared, ahead of the Britons who stood second at 25 percent, as per a global survey on pensions and savings. The other 15 countries surveyed, produced a global average of around 13 percent. At the other end of the scale were the Japanese; 79 percent of them had never accessed any financial advice and only 13 percent claiming to understand their finances. The survey, conducted by Cicero consultancy in both, developed and developing countries, surveyed 15,000 people having internet access. It was sponsored by HSBC Insurance. It was found in the study that the financial crisis had a big impact on retirement plans, with less than 20 percent of respondents leaving their plans unchanged and one in 10 expecting delay in retirement. The results also highlighted important questions about how people around the world see the necessity to provide for retirement and the role of education. Lack of preparation for retirement is driven by a number of aspects like low or zero income, high household debt, lack of incentives to save and general apathy. However, high levels of uncertainty about retirement coincided with low levels of financial advice. For instance, 87 percent of Indians surveyed said that they had accessed financial advice and 50 percent claimed to understand their long-term finances. "The report reveals that in many cultures the family is an important source of advice on financial matters. With the attitudes and financial behaviour of parents shaping many younger people, improvements in financial education within the family should be a priority," said Clive Bannister, Head, HSBC's insurance business. More than 90 percent of people globally were changing their finances in response to the economic crisis, as one of the major revelations of the survey. Around one-fifth say that they use savings to pay down debt and almost one-quarter saw cutting debt as a priority.

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