Afraid to retire? 2 in 3 Romanians fear they won’t have enough money in retirement

Almost two out of three Romanians (65 percent) who have not yet retired worry about having enough money in retirement, and many think they will need to keep earning some money in retirement, according to a ING study.

But Romanians are not a rarity across the continent. In fact, 61 percent of Europeans who have not yet retired worry about having enough money in retirement. The shares are highest in Spain (69 percent), France (67 percent), and Poland (66 percent) and lowest in the Netherlands (40 percent).

In ING’s full dataset, those who say they are “uncomfortable” (80 percent) or “very uncomfortable” (86 percent) with the amount they have in savings today are the most likely to agree with the statement.

Women are also more likely to agree (66 percent) that they worry about this than men (56 percent).

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Across the age brackets, shares are relatively low at age 18-24 (57 percent), peaking around age 25-34 (64 percent) and tapering off to 45 percent by age 65+.

In Europe, 35 percent of those with long-term assets reply “I do not consider these part of (funding) my retirement” while 27 percent say simply “I do not have these.”

In Romania, the mean expected age of retirement is 62.2 year, according to the study.

Romanians already retired seem more optimistic than those not yet retired. Almost half (49 percent) of retired Romanians say that their income and financial position let them enjoy the same standard of living they had when working, while only 30 percent of non-retired Romanians estimate they will enjoy the same standard of living when retired.

Romanians also rank among the non-retirees European who expect they’ll need to earn something in retirement.

Shares who agree with the statement are largest in the Czech Republic and Romania (both 63 percent).

Only about one in three respondents in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, on the other hand, agrees he or she will need to earn some money once retired.

The ING International Survey promotes a better understanding of how people around the globe spend, save, invest and feel about money. The survey was carried out by Ipsos from 17 October to 2 November 2018.

European consumer figures are an average, weighted to take country population into account. 15 countries are compared in this report. 1,000 respondents on average were surveyed in each.