51% of Australians said that they did not have enough savings or investments to cope with the unexpected, according to a recent survey.
The survey, commissioned by Aviva in the first quarter of 2009 as part of its Consumer Attitudes to Savings global research, revealed some alarming statistics regarding Australians’ financial preparedness for retirement and for unexpected events.
Some of the key findings included:
- 41% of Australians are worried that they ‘haven’t saved enough money to continue to provide an adequate standard of living in…retirement’
- 51% agree that they ‘don’t have enough savings/investments to cope with the unexpected’
- 40% of Australians said they are not ‘regularly setting aside money for use when they retire’
- 51% of Australians see their home as ‘the most significant part of my (their) total future financial security’
- 1 in 4 Australians ‘wished’ that someone else would sort out their financial affairs
- Australians said that existing debt (28%) or affordability (57%) were two major reasons why they are unable to save or invest more money
Aviva’s Research and Public Relations Manager, Sue Voglis, said “Despite talk of Australia entering a recession, it’s surprising to see that 28% of Australians prefer to spend than save their money even though many Australians said that they don’t have enough savings to cope with the unexpected.”
