Retirement planning takes a major hit as Indians saving less for retirement: Survey

financialexpress.com:

Retirement planning has taken a major hit this year in India as the percentage of savings towards retirement has shrunk from 45% in 2022 to 38% in 2023, according to a recent annual survey report by Bankbazaar.

The biggest losers here were women, who have rolled back on retirement for other savings. Only 34.3% women are saving and investing towards retirement compared to 48.45% women last year. For men, this number is more or less constant, as 40.1% men continue to prioritise retirement planning compared to 41.86% last year.

This year’s data indicates a reversing trend regarding women and retirement planning. In 2023, only 57% women are working towards a retirement corpus as against 68% in 2022. For men, the number rose marginally from 54% to 55%.

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The percentage of women without a retirement corpus has worryingly risen from 32% in 2022 to 43% in 2023. In case of men, there has been a marginal drop in this figure, from 46% in 2022 to 45% in 2023.

Data indicates that serious retirement saving starts typically in late 20s-early 30s. In 2023, close to 9% of respondents said they are working towards a corpus of Rs.50-Rs.75 lakh, closely followed by another 8% who are working towards a retirement corpus of Rs.75 lakh-Rs.1 crore.

In the corresponding corpus bands, these figures are significantly lower than last year when 18% were working towards a corpus of Rs.50-Rs.75 lakh while 17% were working towards a corpus of Rs.75 lakh–Rs.1 crore.

This year, MoneyMooner women (22%) are the largest cohort amongst all that are working towards a retirement corpus of Rs.50–75 lakh. Also, in two out of three cohorts, a higher percentage of women (Early Jobbers – 7%, MoneyMooner