2 in 10 expats guilty of not saving for retirement: survey

They'd rather splurge on travel.

In a release, Standard Life’s first Survey for Expatriates in Singapore found that short-term lifestyle choices are impacting the savings habits and priorities of British and European expatriates in Singapore.

This inaugural survey studied the saving, spending and investment habits and priorities of British and European expatriates living in Singapore and how they are planning for their future.

The study noted 22% of respondents (or 2 in 10) do not prioritize saving for retirement. Interestingly, vacation & travel ranks as their top spending choice. 

Despite 85% of respondents earning more, 78% having more disposable income and 73% saving more than they were in their previous location, 22% of respondents do not allocate any of their annual income to any sort of retirement savings.

Furthermore, 83% allocate up to 20% of their monthly salary on vacation and travel purposes and 67% of respondents save up to 20% for short-term lifestyle and leisure habits while more than a third do not make a conscious effort to regularly save anything.

Neal Armstrong, CEO and Principal Officer, Standard Life Singapore commented: “At first glance, the results of our survey are promising and show that respondents are taking a step in the right direction by saving more.

However, as recently reported, Singapore is one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, making it easy to fall into the trap of spending more on short-term lifestyle luxuries, the abundance of nearby travel temptations and the commitment of returning home to visit family.

This certainly seems to be the case for nearly a quarter of respondents who prioritise lifestyle choices over planning for their future.”