From Personal Money (Jan 2009 issue), I came to Aviva.com, world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK. Aviva is one of the leading providers of life and pensions products in Europe and have substantial businesses elsewhere around the world, including Malaysia.
I am very interested in their Consumer Attitude Survey – Understanding Consumer Attitude To Saving Survey which they conducted throughout 2004-2008. The survey covered more than 100,000 individuals from 25 countries including Malaysia. For the 2008 survey, it was based on interviews with 28,525 individuals in 25 different countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.
Some of the interesting findings from the survey (Malaysian respondents):
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34% believe that ‘Save or invest money regularly each month’ is the most practical way to accumulate enough wealth to live comfortably in retirement compared to 29% believe ‘Save or invest whatever money I can when I can’ is the most practical way
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64% said that ‘I am worried that I won’t have enough money when I retire to provide an adequate standard of living’ and 55% regularly set money for use whey they retire
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only 24% agree that they have enough savings/investments to cope with the unexpected
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40% wish that they had done something earlier to provide enough for their retirement
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47% feel that they have all the information they need to make well informed decisions about their personal finances
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67% rely mostly on partner, family, friends, colleagues/co-workers for advice on financial services
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37% think that the government will provide them with an adequate level of pension/retirement savings for their retirement
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65% think that it is the responsibility of the government to provide for the elderly
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43% would like to work either full time or part time after the usual retirement age
The survey is important to understand ourselves and our fellow Malaysian better. At the same time, it’s time to think and plan ahead for a meaningful and wonderful retirement journey. You don’t want to be old and broke, right?
