Max Life —Nielsen Survey on Retirement Planning reveals - West has the right motives, needs to move into action
Surat, 03 September, 2013: Max Life Insurance, one of the leading life insurers in India, has released an extensive research on ‘Retirement Planning’ in India, in association with Nielsen India, India’s premier economic research institution. The research imparts insights on awareness and attitude of Indians towards retirement broadly focusing on - Indians view towards ‘retired life’ and their preparedness to meet their retirement needs.
The key findings from a sample of 1100 respondents have indicated a stark contrast in the attitude of Indians towards retirement and their actual preparation towards it. While Western India fares well in awareness about the need of planning for retirement, few people have actually taken any action to act upon it. The preparedness for the post retirement years has emerged to be low in reality.
- Positive outlook towards retirement - 65% individuals in the West Zone have a positive association with retirement as compared to 73% nationally
- Awareness — Significantly higher awareness about retirement planning amongst individual in the West at 75% as compared to an All India awareness level of 58%. 85% of people in West zone do account for inflation when planning retirement fund. 53% of the West zone are aware of rise in medical expenses
- Recognition of need to start early - 88% people in the West zone feel that retirement planning should be started early and 80% are sure of having sufficient amount post retirement which is one of the highest across zones and compares well against all India figure of 63%
- Misplaced Optimism — This optimism of having sufficient retirement corpus is not grounded in reality. Only 29% people in the West have actually done any retirement related investment which is in line with all India figure of 28%
- Societal retirement cushion fading58% of people in West zone as compared to 43% nationally are not sure of staying with their children post retirement, this puts greater pressure on retirement corpus
- Retirement does not mean end of responsibility 50% individuals from the West zone would need to meet the expenses of their child’s marriage and education during their post-retirement years
- Desire for legacy - Two-thirds of the people from the West zone want to leave behind a legacy, but risk using up all their assets due to lack of planning in earlier years
Addressing a press conference, Ms. AnishaMotwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer — Max Life Insurance said- “The research findings are a crucial insight into the customer’s behavioural psychology towards the need for retirement planning and how they actually respond to it. In West India, despite the enhanced awareness and closer to reality outlook about the retirement planning as compared to pan India, there is lack of actual action to create a retirement corpus.”
She further added- “We also unearthed an unaddressed consumer need that planning for retirement is complete only if the pension solution caters to the need of self and spouse. Additionally, the research also revealed that the consumer is concerned about the impact of inflation on retirement corpus but has done nothing to combat it. These observations facilitated the development of our new pension plan ‘Max Life Forever Young Pension plan’ and ‘Max Life Guaranteed Life Time Income Plan’- a comprehensive pension solution with unique features like ‘Max Life Partner Care Rider’ and the ‘Save More Tomorrow’. Our initiative to dig deep into the thoughts of customers and then assist them inproviding the unrealized needs is reflective of our efforts to provide the best solution and service.”
The insights revealed through the survey throw a fresh light on the awareness and concern of Indians towards planning for life post retirement. There still exists a huge gap between the intentions and actual actions of Indians towards securing a financially secured retired life both for themselves and their spouse.
The methodology adopted for this study was face-to-face computer Aided Personal Interviews using a structured questionnaire. The target group comprised of Male, Key (sole/Joint) decision makers of financial decisions, Salaried/Businessmen in the age group of 31 to 50 years.
About Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (www.maxlifeinsurance.com)
Max Life Insurance, one of the leading life insurers, is a joint venture between Max India Ltd. and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. Max India is a leading Indian multi-business corporate, while Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is a member of MS&AD Insurance Group, which is amongst the top general insurers in the world. Max Life Insurance offers comprehensive life insurance and retirement solutions for long-term savings and protection. It has a country-wide diversified distribution model, including the country's leading agent advisors, exclusive corporate agency arrangement with Axis Bank and several other partners. Max Life Insurance is a quality business, focused on delivering excellence to customers through advice-based sales process, customer-centric approach to business, financial stability & investment expertise, and strong human capital.
For more details contact:
Atul Malikram