Only 20% plan retirement savings

According to a Metlife survey, 33 per cent of the Indian respondents do not see themselves retiring, while the others had problems starting the process. Almost 71 per cent were concerned about outliving retirement savings and only 35 per cent had initiated steps to determine their retirement needs. Only 20 per cent actually planned for their retirement.Of the Indian workers who planned for retirement, nearly 58 per cent reported either achieving or on track to meeting their retirement goals.

"The very concept of retirement savings is new or distant to workers in many developing economies, such as Mexico and India," says William J Toppeta, president of MetLife International. A lot of it has to do with the past when the family took care of the older members.

While there may be a few who felt the need, 48 per cent of employees with no retirement benefits from their employers, said they were interested in purchasing retirement plans through their employer, even if they have to bear the entire cost.