Analytics, Estonia, Financial Services, Funds, Investments, Real Estate, Society

19% named equity as the most profitable and safe investment, 17% named the pension system and 14% investing money in funds, Swedbank said.

"Specifically, the percentages of people preferring to invest money in real estate and the pension system have shot up in the past five years. The ratio of those placing their savings via crowdfunding platforms, in saving and loan associations or buying crypto currencies continues to be very low," Kati Voomets, head of the Swedbank Institute for Finances, said.

In terms of seeing to their economic welfare, residents first and foremost view their own home, not other dwellings, land or other properties as an investment. Only one in ten of the residents covered by the survey had invested money in real estate that is not their home in the past decade. One in five residents is planning to buy real estate in addition to their home in the next five years.

"Where five years ago people who wished to invest in real estate were predominantly passive and had done nothing to carry out their intentions, at present concrete steps are being taken to fulfill one's wish, such as real estate classifieds scanned for suitable offers, money accumulated for a down payment, or a suitable lender searched for. The motivators for people to do it are previous experience from investing in real estate and possession of savings," Voomets added.

Of the respondents naming equity investment as the best means of investment more than half preferred investment in stocks of Estonian companies.

Of all respondents, 59% described themselves as capable of saving money for the future by restricting current expenditures. Twenty-nine% said that they were not capable of putting money aside for the future and 11% were not keen to save or think about the future. Of the respondents 85% owned real estate.

The Institute of Economic Research conducted the survey for Swedbank Institute for Finances by interviewing 800 residents aged 16 and above in February 2018.