Many retired expats don’t save enough money on which to retire comfortably abroad.
That’s the findings of a new international survey carried out by the deVere group. The survey revealed that 34 per cent of the over-50s polled cited not saving enough for retirement as their biggest financial mistake, with it having the most significant impact on their finances.
The second most common financial mistake expats claim to make is believing that they could successfully manage their financial affairs without seeking professional advice (27 per cent), while letting emotions rule over investment decisions (19 per cent), and a lack of diversification in their investment portfolios (11 per cent) were other common answers.
It’s with a depressing predictability that this survey concludes that more than a third of the over 50s feel that they have not accumulated enough funds,” said de Vere’s Nigel Green, founder and CEO of the financial advisory group. “The harsh reality is that unless there’s a seismic cultural shift in attitudes towards savings, many more people will reach the age of retirement and realise that there is just not enough in their pension pots to last throughout their retirement, or enough to enable them to enjoy the retirement they had envisaged,” he added.
Over 750 expats aged over 50 living in a range of countries, including the UK, the United States, South Africa, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were questioned for the survey.
Article published 19th November 2014