Singapore placed 28th in retirement security

The research found that the larger portion of healthcare expenditure in Singapore is not covered by insurance.

Singapore placed 28th in the Global Retirement Index by Natixis Investment Managers, keeping its fourth consecutive top 30 performance since 2015. The Lion City lagged behind other Asian countries such as Japan and Korea which finished at the 22nd and 24th spots, respectively.

The city-state’s strong spot was recorded in its country’s financial system and the level of returns to savings and investment and the preservation of the purchasing power of savings. Despite this, Singapore slipped to second place in the finances in retirement performance, giving away the top spot to last year’s second runner-up, New Zealand.

The finances sub-index showed Singapore’s strong performance with multiple top 10 indicator finishes due to its low tax burdens, a low dependency ratio of elderly who rely on the working populace, higher interest rates, and good governance.

Switzerland topped the index for 2018, defeating Norway which dropped two places whilst Iceland moved up one rank to second place.

Meanwhile, the study found that Singapore can still improve its requirement security as the larger portion of healthcare expenditure in the Lion City is not covered by insurance. Despite this, Singaporeans have the seventh highest life expectancy.

In a previous study by Natixis, it was found that 84% of Singapore investors feel that funding for their silver years is increasingly their responsibility.

“With an increased life expectancy, embracing a mindset of proactive retirement planning becomes more critical in ensuring financial security in their silver years”, Natixis Investment managers Asia Pacific executive managing director Madeline Ho said.

The said study also showed that Singaporeans are smarter when it comes to saving for retirement compared to global counterparts in terms of having a general figure in mind for how much they will need to save, and how much of their annual income they need to save to fund their desired lifestyle in retirement.

The Index incorporates 18 performance indicators that examine the factors that drive retirement security across 43 countries.