Only 1 out of 10 Filipinos save up for retirement
by Celine on March 3, 2008
in Retirement, Saving
A recent financial IQ survey by Citibank shows some frightening results about the average Filipino’s financial well-being. According to the survey, only 1 out of 10 respondents have saved up for retirement.
only one out of 10 Filipinos is consciously saving up for retirement. The rest have some savings but don’t know if it will be enough, others have no idea at all on how much they need or have not started planning. - Agustin Davalos, retail bank director of Citibank Phils.
Personally, I’m not surprised by this. I went to my bank a few months ago and asked one of the tellers what my investment options were for my retirement savings (they’re currently in a time deposit, but I wanted to move them elsewhere with bigger returns). Her reaction? She laughed at me. She said that I was only 24 and should not be thinking about my retirement. Many people have reacted the same way.
They can laugh, but I know the facts. When I retire, I’ll probably be enjoying a nice vacation in Fiji while these people wait for “allowance” given to them by their kids, who are working full time by then.
If you’re young, the best time to save for retirement is NOW. Compound interest is your friend, people! Plus, if you’ve got a retirement savings fund when you’re 20, you have more chances to “play with it” and put it in riskier investments because you still have decades of savings ahead of you. But if you’re 50 years old, you can’t do the same because retirement is only some years ahead.
A more concrete example: my mother only started saving up for retirement 3 years ago. She’s 52. I also started saving up for retirement at roughly the same time. If we both retire at 65, she only has 13 working years left, while I have 41 years. Since I saved for my retirement earlier than she did, I will have more money to support myself then.
Odds are, I might even be supporting her to make up for the money she hasn’t saved. I do not want to do that to my kids. I do not want them to worry about my financial needs when they already have enough to worry about on their own. Because odds are, my children will need to support their own families and their own dreams. I do not want to stifle them financially. I do not want them to lead anything less than the lives they want and dream of.
If you’re not planning on having kids, or if that seems so distant to you, think about your own future. What kind of life do you want to lead when you retire? Do you think you have enough funds set aside for retirement?
Frugal Pinoy is a personal finance website for the average Filipino. We discuss savings, frugality, and other money matters. To learn more about Frugal Pinoy and the author,
i guess for most people living on a hand to mouth existence answering today’s needs is far more important than tomorrow’s. besides people will always invoke the close family ties thing whenever they’re in need. hehe
You’re right, and the sad thing is it doesn’t have to be that way.
I’m all for enjoying today. Today is nice. It might be all we have. However, most people live past retirement age. What do they do for income then? There should always be some kind of balance.
Also, there are just so many down sides to invoking close family ties/friends when it comes to being in financial need that I don’t think it’s worth it. Some of them:
1) You’ll always have that “utang na loob” for them, and they can also invoke it whenever they want, even if you’re not comfortable with it or you feel it’s unethical.
2) Whether you admit it or not, you feel embarrassed that you have to ask another person for money.
3) It adds another, often unwanted, layer to your relationship with that person. Friends and relatives can have irreparable strains because of money. I’ve seen far too many scenarios like this to conclude that it’s just not worth it.
Hmm… gawin ko na lang blog post yung topic na yan. Thanks!
I agree. Filpinos only think of NOW- what they have and what they are right now. Hopefully this change. Concerning yourself only to the present is a VERY risky way to live life. We must not wait for the right age to plan our retirement for it will not come. The right age is now!
I salute those who plan their future. They are not just thinking of what they have and what they are, they are planning for what they will have and what they WILL BECOME.
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My advise to my younger siblings and cousins is: save for your retirement as early as the first day you start earning money. I wish somebody told me this 10 years ago but it is never too late to start now, too. Our company has opened an account with Philam Bond Fund which allows employee to contribute as low as Php100 per month — then we pool this together and the company invest it for us. We get quarterly reports on our individual investment. Sana more companies could do this for their employees.
products are not the solution, change of mindset and education based on concept is. we must eliminate the one-day millionaire mindset