Only 56% UAE Residents Ready for Retirement
DUBAI: There is no denying the fact that all of us dreamily think about that phase of our life when we would be relieved of the humdrum of a 9-to-5 job, and will have all the time on the earth to do as we please. But not many are prepared enough for retirement, a new survey by Zurich International Life has revealed.
Emirates 24/7 quoted the survey as pointing out that only about half (56 percent) of UAE residents have a retirement plan; either a personal or company pension.
In terms of which nationality is the most and least prepared to foot post-retirement bills, it’s Western expats that are most likely to have a retirement plan (68 percent) while Arab expats are least likely to have one (50 percent), the report said.
According to the Zurich study, retirement aspirations of many residents in the country are under threat due to a lack of retirement planning.
The survey, which was conducted by YouGov, shows that 46 percent of the residents hope to retire before the age of 60 and 36 percent expect to live in retirement between 10 and 20 years with another 39 percent expecting to be retired for over 20 years.
But the desire to stop working earlier does not match with the financial planning that it requires, the report said.
The research reveals that 63 percent of respondents are not confident they are saving enough for retirement; this figure rises to 75 percent for Arab expats who are the most concerned about their pension provision and is lowest among Western expats (52 percent), it added.
The Zurich research also reportedly points to an imbalance between retirement aspirations and the likely reality among many UAE residents.
It also finds 81 percent of respondents are looking to their employers to help them financially prepare for retirement, which may not happen in many cases, the Dubai-based news portal reported.
The report also highlights the over reliance on property to fund retirement savings, which can be skewed at times. Nearly one-third of UAE residents (31 percent) plan to rely on property as their main source of retirement income, it was pointed out.
Western expats (35 per cent) and Asian expats (33 per cent) are most likely to be reliant on property. Emiratis are least likely to require income from their property (25 per cent) and are the only nationality not to state property as their main source of retirement income, reported Emirates 24/7.
Government pension was ranked first (40 percent) by them, the report added.