Consumers are always advised to save enough money they could use when they stop working, however, only 7 per cent of residents in the region prioritise saving for retirement, the Towers Watson survey revealed.
Towers Watson noted in its report that it is “concerning” to see that retirement savings ranked low among respondents. Employees’ savings motivation in the region tend to focus more on immediate needs.
About 25 per cent of respondents in Mena region said they save primarily for housing needs, while 19 per cent focus on precautionary savings and 16 per cent on children’s education. This makes housing, children’s education and precautionary savings the top three priorities, while saving for retirement comes in seventh place.
“This suggests that retirement is not an immediate worry for employees and comes only after more current concerns,” said Towers Watson.
Steve Gregory of Holborn Assets said it is important that people start saving for retirement because “things may be worse in the future than they are at the moment”.
“Across the world, certain groups suffer the same problems generally. For example, new parents may find one partner not working when children are born. Single people may be happy to repay debts created by university costs or spend on entertainment and fast cars rather than save,” said Gregory.
