Balearic citizens prepare best for retirement

PALMA
RESIDENTS of the Balearics, the north east of Spain and Madrid are those who prepare best for retirement as they consider that the state pension they will receive will not be inadequate.

More than half revealed that they had made other plans for retirement, as opposed to 39 percent of workers in the central and southern areas.
Half of all workers over 55 have not prepared for retirement, although the other half do have savings which will supplement the money they will receive from Social Security, according to a poll done by TNS Finance.

Retirement, in any case, requires a reduction of expenses to adjust to the fall in income, in the opinion of 52 percent of those questioned.
According to the study, entitled “New financial solutions for older people”, 45 percent of those questioned said they had not prepared for retirement and the same percentage said that they had.

Among those who have not prepared, 47 percent consider that the state pension is sufficient, while 36 percent said they could not save for retirement and 21 percent didn't know how to prepare for retirement.

With regard to this, 15 percent of those who had not prepared found pension plans difficult to understand, and 13 percent considered it an inconvenience that they could not withdraw the money saved before retirement.

According to the poll, some 42 percent of “senior” workers consider the state pension adequate, as opposed to 28 percent who wouldn't say and 25 percent who saw it as insufficient.

Asked about alternative financial sources to the state pension, 53 percent of those questioned considered rental income from property sufficient, slightly above private pension plans (52 percent).

TSN Finance recalled that 87 percent of workers over 55 own their home and 28 percent also have a second property.
Other options considered of interest with regard to retirement are: with profits life insurance policies (47 percent); company pension plans (46 percent); and deposit accounts with periodic payment of interest (45 percent).

With regard to the relationship between risk and return, 67 percent preferred financial products with medium returns and also medium risk.