What do Irish people really think about pensions?

A new European survey takes a look at what Irish people really think about pensions and what is most important to them when planning for their retirement.

A new European pensions survey has found that only one in three Irish people are confident their public and occupational pension can ensure their standard of living in retirement. The pension survey, carried out by Insurance Europe, involved nearly 16,000 participants across 15 European countries.

The survey also found that Irish people have a strong desire for security over high risk in their investment. Eight in ten Irish survey respondents said they would prefer “the certainty to get back at least what [they] invested and possibly an additional sum” over higher returns and the associated risk.

43% of Irish people said, when they are thinking about their retirement savings, they are looking for safety, with affordability (34%), tax relief (29%) and payment flexibility (28%) also important to them. Only one in six Irish people said they are looking for investment performance.

When asked if they were willing to pay more for certain security features, 46% of Irish people said they would be willing to pay more for protecting their loved ones in case they die before or after retirement age. While 45% of Irish respondents were willing to pay more to protect themselves from outliving their savings.

When looking at Europe, the survey found one-third of Europeans are not saving for their retirement, and with 40% of people indicating that the current economic circumstances had negatively impacted their pension contributions. The survey results found that nearly two-thirds of people (58%) recognised that they would need supplementary savings to maintain a decent standard of living during their retirement.

The survey also exposed a gender gap, with women tending to not only save less for their pensions, but also being more often lacking confidence that their pension would be sufficient for retirement (27%) in comparison to men (18%).

The survey results were published as part of European Retirement Week, which takes place annually in the last week of November. European Retirement Week provides a platform for a wide range of stakeholders to debate the future of pensions in Europe and raise citizens' awareness of the need to save for retirement and achieve pension adequacy.

The important thing to remember is you are never too young or too old to start a pension. No matter what your aims and objectives for your life in retirement are, saving for your pension will be indispensable to ensure that you can fulfil your wishes. Starting early, even with the smallest sum gives you a head start and a foundation you can build on.

If you would like to learn more about pensions, you can visit our dedicated pension section here.

What do Irish people really think about pensions?

A new European survey takes a closer look …