Old Mutual research shows majority of Namibians delay saving for retirement

Old Mutual Namibia recently presented the results of an annual monitor designed to chart the saving and investment behaviours and attitudes of metro-working Namibians. The monitor is envisaged to become an annual tracking study to look at trends. It will be conducted by an independent research house, Vision Africa. The results of the survey were presented at a recent editors forum in the capital recently hosted by Old Mutual.
42% of the total of respondents participating in the survey were in the age group 25 to34, the highest proportion of the age subdivisions. On the other side of the spectrum, a respectable 8% were to be found in the age group 50 to 64, whilst 33% were in the age group 35 to 49, with the remainder being in the age group 18 to 24.
All of the respondents were required to be employed on a full-time or part-time basis, and were required to have at least one financial product in their possession. 50% of the respondents resided in Windhoek, 25% in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, and 25% resided in Oshakati and Ondangwa. 64% were employed in the private sector, 26% in the public sector, and 10% sought employment with parastatals. Worryingly, only 55% had attained high school matriculation, whilst 35% attained some level of tertiary education, with the remaining 10% only having achieved primary school education.

Other noticeable observations showed that 65% of mothers considered themselves to be single, 86% of the sample had people other than spouses, partners and children relying on them for financial support. In total, 83% had children relying on them. It furthermore indicated that the results obtained were comparatively lower than what was observed in South Africa. Interestingly, 91% of the respondents confidently indicated that their children would look after them when they are old. Worryingly, only 36% were in possession of a pension or provident fund. As expected, this incidence increases with age and income. The results however showed a worrying statistic: the majority of the respondents in possession of these products were found in the age group 50 to 64 years, which stood at 41%, indicating that younger people were putting off money for retirement at a later stage in life. 21% were in possession of a retirement annuity. As was found to be the case with pension and provident funds, the highest incidence was to be found in the age group 50 to 64, notching 58%.
41% of the respondents had life insurance, this increasing with income and age. Encouragingly, 58% were to be found in the age group 35 years and older. Furthermore, 70% of individuals who earned in excess of N$10,000 held a life insurance policy. 14% of the respondents had disability and disease cover. The incidence of this also increased with age. Comparatively, the distribution of savings and investment vehicles were found to be more or less the same. In Nigeria, it was found that there was no focus on funeral cover. Nigerians however shared a similar sentiment with Namibians, with 95% of them indicating that their children would look after them.
Said Old Mutual about the results obtained, “The incidence to provide for retirement increases as the age increases, which in essence means that realisation is happening too late, with insufficient provision being made for retirement income. This needs to be further compared with the two slides on property ownership.”
73% of the respondents made use of a savings account as a means to enter the banked market, financial, life, medical, accident and disability cover enjoyed priority over normal savings investment, retirement provision and products with higher liquidity such as banked cash savings and unit trusts, with the former attaining 6% and the latter 11% amongst the respondents.