- 64% of Irish people have savings, but a third claim to have no savings at all
- More women are saving compared to men (67% versus 59%)
- 43% of people who save put away over €100 a month
- 42% of consumers who intend to start saving could afford to save €80 to €100 a month*
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Ireland’s saving habits have been revealed in recent research* by Irish Life. Just under two thirds of Irish people are actively saving and have some savings, and in contrast, a third of people claim not to have any savings at all, and say they cannot afford to save. |
The research highlighted that saving levels were higher among women (67%) than men (59%), and people over 55 years were saving the most. Of those that are saving, 43% of people are saving over €100 a month. People living in Dublin were found to be saving more overall. 18% of people claimed to be saving between €20 and €50 a month, with another 18% saving between €51 and €100 a month.
The research also found that a third of Irish employees have a company pension fund set up for when they retire, and a quarter of Irish employees have their own private pension in place.
By saving into a private or company pension plan, people’s savings can go a lot further. For example, because of the tax reliefs available, if a person wants to save €100 into a pension, it will only cost them €80 if their tax rate is 20%, or just €60 if their tax rate is 40%. On top of this, many workplaces in Ireland provide pension schemes for their employees, and operate a system of matching employee contributions, which can mean up to €200 into their pension fund, for a cost of €80 or €60 to the employee based on their contribution of €100. Irish Life wants to highlight this value to consumers and help them understand the benefits that saving into a pension can offer.
However, it can be a challenge to get people saving for their future. The research found that of those people who intend to start saving, and haven’t started yet, the majority of these people (42%) said they could afford to save between €80 and €100 per month. A quarter of consumers said they could afford to save between €20 and €80 a month, and 14% said they could put away over €100 a month if they started saving.
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Commenting on the research findings, Tony Lawless, Managing Director, Irish Life Corporate Business, said; “It’s positive to see that people are saving. However, we are helping people to understand that they can significantly enhance their financial position in retirement by starting to save into a pension, or by even increasing the amount they save in addition to any employer pension contributions they may receive.” Tony Lawless also said: “To help companies promote their workplace pension as a smart way to save, we introduced Irish Life EMPOWER. This is a company pension plan that gives people more control to help them achieve better outcomes at retirement. “We have successfully transformed pension scheme membership and savings levels for a number of our corporate clients, through innovative and simple measures such as auto opt-in to the company pension plan for new employees, registering employees to auto-increase their savings levels, and implementing a range of online tools to show employees whether they are on track with their retirement savings. We have seen some great results with our clients.”, he said. |
For more information on Irish Life EMPOWER, visit www.irishlifeEMPOWER.ie
* The research was conducted by iReach on behalf of Irish Life in March 2017. The total sample of 1,001 adults surveyed is representative of the national population in Ireland.
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