Retirement plans

Analysis

Hungarians are more and more concerned about their retirement years, according to a survey carried out on behalf of Aegon in nine countries. Hungarians are not typical savers yet, although the proportion of those planning retirement savings is growing.

After the disappearance of the second pillar of pension, retirement funding issues are increasingly worrying Hungarians, who are very pessimistic about the future. According to the international research, after the Poles, Hungarians see the future the gloomiest: 55% have serious doubts about future pension benefits and 31% are "very pessimistic." Only one percent of Hungarian respondents believe that future retirees will live better than current ones — a proportion well under the international average of 5%. 83% percent of Hungarians believe that state pensions will lose value, while 78% believe that retirement age will increase over time.
The vast majority of Hungarians think that the pension system needs to be reformed in some way, but they firmly reject the idea of raising the retirement age: 68% would find such a measure unacceptable.
Despite the very pessimistic outlook, Hungarians took very few actual steps to change the situation: 37% of respondents had very little retirement savings or none at all, in contrast with the international average of 37%. Regarding the savings, only 1.5% declare themselves "very prepared," as against 14% of Germans or 11.5% of Americans.
These results are reflected in the retirement readiness index developed by Aegon: with 4.8 points, Hungary ranked lowest in the nine countries examined. (The index weighed five aspects: responsibility, awareness, understanding, planning, and saving.) No matter how disturbing the results are, it is encouraging that 76% of respondents recognize the importance of planned preparations for their retirement years, the survey says.

More than the half of Hungarians are aware of self-responsibility in securing a retirement pension. Despite the fact that a significant proportion of respondents, 39%, intend to rely mostly on state pension in their golden years, 76% see the importance of having multiple sources of pension.

Number of Thefts in Capital Edges Higher in 2023 Figures

Number of Thefts in Capital Edges Higher in 2023

Magyar Drops Audio Suggesting Gov't Meddling in Corruption C... Government

Magyar Drops Audio Suggesting Gov't Meddling in Corruption C...

Wizz Air Using VR for Pilot Training Innovation

Wizz Air Using VR for Pilot Training

2024 Edition of Budapest Ritmo Approaching In Budapest

2024 Edition of Budapest Ritmo Approaching

SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL

Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.