Belgians are starting increasingly early to save for their retirement, the average monthly sum set aside for this purpose being €148. This emerges from a survey carried out among 2,050 Belgians by consultants Gfk.
Consultancy Gfk Significant was commissioned by bancassurance specialist Fintro, in conjunction with weekly newspapers Humo and Moustique, to conduct an enquiry into the pension plans and expectations of Belgian citizens. The majority of the 2,050 people polled do not expect their statutory pension to enable them to maintain their current standard of living once they retire. It is hardly surprising then that two out of every three working Belgians are making financial preparations via supplementary pension funds such as Group Insurance, private pension savings plans or by building up their own personal fortune. Although the respondents felt that banks should not play a very significant role in the debate over the retirement age, a majority nevertheless said banks were the best source of advice on pension matters.
“From 2030 onwards, fewer than one Belgian in two will be in active employment and the number of retired people will go on rising,” pointed out Fintro Chief Executive Michael Anseeuw, adding: “To be on the safe side, people should be looking to supplementary instruments in order to keep them comfortable in old age. At Fintro we saw in 2012 a 2% growth in pension or long-term savings plans.”
Belgians are starting early
On average, Belgians begin to save for their pension when they are 29 years old and set aside every month 8.3% of their net income, equivalent to some €148, in a bank pension fund or a pension insurance plan. As the retirement date comes closer, they tend to save more. Those responding to the Gfk poll who were not yet saving for a pension most frequently gave as the reason a lack of resources. According to the survey, these people are usually (79%) single parents with dependent children.
Nearly half of all Belgians expect to have to tighten their belts in later life
The survey also revealed that while most Belgians are making financial preparations, a majority (59%) do not know how much they will be receiving from their pension and so cannot work out how much they need to save in order to maintain their current standard of living when they come to the end of their working lives. Only one person in three said they kept themselves fully informed about all the financial aspects. In the 55-60 age-group, just one in two respondents had had a calculation of his/her pension made.
Only a minority of the Gfk respondents said they had no worries about their future financial situation. Close to half of all Belgians therefore expect that they will have to economise, mainly on car expenses and clothes. The average Belgian thinks that s/he will need €1,600 per month to live on in retirement.
The majority are in favour of keeping the early retirement arrangement
Some 61% of the respondents think that 45 years is too long to have to work to obtain a full pension. Only 29% agreed that 65 or older is an appropriate retirement age and 40% said they would like to retire at 60. It is perhaps astonishing to discover that only 1% see themselves working until 67 years old, an age which is often put forward in the current debate over the future retirement age. Today only half of all Belgian citizens actually work through to their 65th birthday and the average working life for a Belgian spans 32.5 years.
Finally, 70% of those polled by Gfk do not think that the authorities are prepared to bridge the pension gap. At the same time, 56% think that the Federal Government is doing too little to keep pension provisions up to the required level and 51% want to see the early retirement rule maintained.
For answers to all the key questions on retirement and pension matters, consult the FSMA’s Wikifin site, the national pension department’s mypension.be site, or go to the website.