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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 03:20

SEB: Lithuanians know little about pension system

BC, Vilnius, 20.02.2015.Print version
It seems that Lithuanians care little about their life after retirement – their knowledge about the pension system is poor, expectations are trailing behind reality and actions are sluggish, informs LETA/ELTA.

Such conclusions have been drawn by analysts of SEB bank who calculated the Retirement Readiness Indicator in the Baltic States for the first time. The survey revealed that 69% of residents have never taken interest in the size of their future pension and how it is accumulated.

 

Julita Varanauskiene, Economist of Household Finances at SEB Lithuania, says people are aware that they cannot rely only on the pension paid by the state, they wish to lead a dignified life after retirement but delay concrete actions till becoming older.

 

Lithuanians would like their pension to comprise 78% of their current wage. According to the economist, such expectations are out of tune with reality by 1.7 times.

 

"Last year the average old-age pension amounted to approximately 45% of the average salary. Thus Lithuanians know that their income will decrease after retirement but are unaware by how much. On the other hand, expectations in Lithuania are much more realistic than in neighbouring Latvia and Estonia, where people wish pensions to amount to 93 and 97% respectively of their present salaries," the analyst said.

 

Lithuanians hope to accumulate a pension of up to 69% of the current salary in the State Social Insurance Fund (Sodra) and second pillar pension funds. In addition to this, they expect to have extra income. 61% of Lithuanians admitted that they are not accumulating a pension besides of Sodra and second pillar pension funds, while 20% do not even plan to save up additionally. The main reason behind this was said to be financial shortcoming.






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