KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — At least one in two civil servants said they still save independently for retirement despite being eligible to receive a pension from the government.
Researchers who wrote the Retirement Strategic Agenda report released yesterday found that 54 per cent of respondents engage in monthly retirement savings, although not consistently.
Still, the number of respondents who admitted they did not save for retirement was also worrying, they said, at a rate of one in four.
“This highlights the need for promoting consistent and regular retirement savings habits among individuals to ensure better financial preparedness for their retirement years,” the report said.
The main reasons given for not saving for retirement include the cost of basic expenses (88.1 per cent) and prioritising paying down debt (78.1 per cent), the study showed.
Other significant factors include education expenses for children or grandchildren (57.0 per cent).
Researchers said these barriers highlight the financial challenges and competing priorities that individuals face when trying to save for retirement.
Those who save would earmark at least 13 per cent of their monthly income, the researchers found, while slightly over a tenth would earmark up to 20 to 29 of their savings for retirement.
Under the civil service pension scheme, public pensioners are eligible to receive up to 60 per cent of their last drawn salary each month for the rest of their lives.
