A fifth of retired Indians not adequately prepared: HSBC

About 13% of working Indians believe they would never be able to afford to retire fully according to HSBC's report, 'The Future of Retirement: Life after work'.

The report is based on a survey of over 1,000 Indian respondents.

According to the study, the retired people who were surveyed believe they might not be able to achieve the retirement they want. And 44% believe this is because they have less money to live on than they had envisaged.

A fifth of those surveyed or about 19% said they had not prepared adequately or at all for a comfortable retirement, with 41% of those people only realising they were under-prepared after retirement.

35% of those surveyed did not prepare adequately or at all, saying they would have to go back to work to cover their financial shortfall. This is more than double of the global average of 14%, the report said. While 27% globally said they intended to start a business in retirement, in India 42% of the respondents said they intended to do so.

According to Sanjeev Sud, Head Retail Banking & Wealth Management, HSBC India, not many would welcome the chance to stay economically active after retirement. Hence, the earlier they start to plan and save, the fewer retirement regrets they would have.

With regard to the sources of income post-retirement, state pension accounts for 18%, cash savings - 18%, and company pension – 15%,  the report said.

Financial hardship is the biggest fear that retired people have, with 36% stating it as a concern, followed by poor health, with 24% stating it as a concern.