Saving for education more important than saving for retirement – Survey

Despite low levels of satisfaction with household finances, Namibians are still hopeful, according to Old Mutual Namibia’s Savings and Investment Monitor Survey findings released this week.

The Savings and Investment Monitor survey found that 72% of respondents, who were interviewed face to face in a familiar setting mostly at home said that they felt that saving for education was more important than saving for retirement.

“The survey also revealed some interesting information about how Namibians feel about the country’s economy,” said Marketing, Transformation and Customer Strategy Executive for Old Mutual Namibia, Ndangi Katoma.

Of the 449 respondents, the sample population was found to be fairly optimistic over the country’s economic situation Katoma said. “31% reported that they felt ‘very confident’ about the local economy and 37 felt ‘confident’, giving an encouraging total of 68%,” he added.

The research company, Vision Africa Namibia carried out the survey in 2016 in and around Oshakati, Ondangwa, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Windhoek. Most respondents identified as being black single mothers made up 54% of respondents and most of them had income that ranged between N$1,000 and N$9,999 per month, with only 6% earning above N$20,000 per month.

“Overall, the survey provided a close enough ‘snapshot’ of the attitude to and behavior of Namibians around money, financial products and savings,” Katoma said.,

According to Katoma the report said only 56% of respondents said that they have enough money left for savings after covering all their expenses, while 45% said they do not have any spare cash.

The report highlighted that when it comes to what Namibians save for, most were putting away money for a child’s education or to buy food, followed by saving to buy a specific item. The biggest goal for 41% of the respondents was to own a property, then to start a business, followed by the desire to own a vehicle.

More key findings from the survey show that 94% of respondents plan to support family members in the future. Almost half had never consulted a financial advisor, while 21% had done so in the six months preceding the survey.

While most respondents accessed the internet via a cell phone and bought music and DVDs online, most said they would not consider buying a financial product online, the report said.