23.01.2019

 

Representative IMAS study on the pension and health care system: Austrians want to live to be 90 years old

  • Health and money as the most important issues of old age
  • For 83 percent, private health insurance is becoming increasingly important
  • 136 Euros per month for pension provision

The knowledge about the advancing demographic development, i.e. the fact of getting older and older at the same time as the birth rate is declining, is now firmly anchored in the consciousness of 73 percent of the Austrians. When asked how high they estimate their own life expectancy to be, every third person (32 percent) indicates an age between 80 and 89 years, just under a quarter (23 percent) even estimates 90 years and over. If one asks about the desired age, the IMAS study commissioned by s Versicherung, Erste Bank und Sparkassen shows that this is on average an impressive 90 years and over. "It will be our task, together with our customers, to ensure that this desire for a long life also receives the necessary financial basis in the form of supplementary private provision," says Manfred Bartalszky, Member of the Management Board of Wiener Städtische and responsible for bank sales for the s Versicherung trademark. It is also interesting in this context that almost one fifth (17 percent) of respondents are concerned about their own state pension as a result of demographic change. After all, fewer and fewer people in employment will have to sustain more and more pensioners in the future. As a result, more than half of the Austrians (53 per cent) even perceive demographic development as something negative.


Health, finances and social contacts

The knowledge about the advancing demographic development, i.e. the fact of getting older and older at the same time as the birth rate is declining, is now firmly anchored in the consciousness of 73 percent of the Austrians. When asked how high they estimate their own life expectancy to be, every third person (32 percent) indicates an age between 80 and 89 years, just under a quarter (23 percent) even estimates 90 years and over. If one asks about the desired age, the IMAS study commissioned by s Versicherung, Erste Bank und Sparkassen shows that this is on average an impressive 90 years and over. "It will be our task, together with our customers, to ensure that this desire for a long life also receives the necessary financial basis in the form of supplementary private provision," says Manfred Bartalszky, Member of the Management Board of Wiener Städtische and responsible for bank sales for the s Versicherung trademark. It is also interesting in this context that almost one fifth (17 percent) of respondents are concerned about their own state pension as a result of demographic change. After all, fewer and fewer people in employment will have to sustain more and more pensioners in the future. As a result, more than half of the Austrians (53 per cent) even perceive demographic development as something negative.


Health, finances and social contacts

By far the greatest wish of Austrians when they think of their own pension is not to have any health problems (87 percent). This is immediately followed by the need to be free of financial worries (73 per cent) and therefore to receive a sufficiently high pension (66 per cent). “The most important thing in life is certainly health, but that also includes financial health. Money and health are closely linked. We are getting older and older and have to make provisions for a much longer period of time than before," says Thomas Schaufler, CEO of Erste Bank Oesterreich's Private Clients division. In third place comes the desire for regular social contact with other people (64 percent) and thus not to become lonely in old age.

By far the greatest wish of Austrians when they think of their own pension is not to have any health problems (87 percent). This is immediately followed by the need to be free of financial worries (73 per cent) and therefore to receive a sufficiently high pension (66 per cent). “The most important thing in life is certainly health, but that also includes financial health. Money and health are closely linked. We are getting older and older and have to make provisions for a much longer period of time than before," says Thomas Schaufler, CEO of Erste Bank Oesterreich's Private Clients division. In third place comes the desire for regular social contact with other people (64 percent) and thus not to become lonely in old age.

Demand for supplementary health care is rising steadily

If you now take a closer look at the top topic of health, more than half of those surveyed (53 percent) assume that they will not be treated and cared for as well as they would like to be treated and cared for by the public health system in the event of an illness, both now and in the future. Schaufler: "For some time now, we have seen a significant increase in customer demand for private healthcare products at Erste Bank. What is striking here is the age-independent interest in this form of provision".  
The vast majority of Austrians (86 percent) believe that due to the lack of doctors, the time that doctors can take for their patients in the future will become increasingly scarce. 83 per cent are convinced that Wahlärzte (non-SHI-accredited doctors of one’s choice whose bills are only partly refunded by the Austrian statutory health insurances) will take considerably more time for their patients. It is therefore not surprising that almost two thirds (65 percent) of those surveyed in Austria consider private supplementary insurance to be necessary despite the current good health system. Looking to the future, private supplementary insurance is becoming increasingly important for eight out of ten Austrians (83 percent).


High importance of private financial provision

As a result, the significance of financial provision for the majority of people surveyed in the country is very high (86 percent rather important, 44 percent very important), which is also reflected in the trend comparison of recent years. On average, 136 Euros a month are invested in private pension and health provision in Austria. Among the top provision topics of the Austrians, i.e. those areas of life for which one is certainly willing to make supplementary private provisions, two topics are clearly in focus: one's own pension (71 percent) and the topic of health (70 percent). Surprisingly, the family comes in third place (55 percent), followed by short-term financial reserves (53 percent). 


State pension alone will not suffice

Speaking of pension: When Austrians think of the state pension, less than half (48 percent) believe that it will still exist in its current form until their own retirement. "They are therefore convinced that in the future they will tend to have to make more private supplementary provision for their retirement. A thoroughly realistic assessment," says Bartalszky.
A predominantly pessimistic assessment is also made with regard to a constant standard of living – if one would have to live on state pension only: seven out of ten Austrians surveyed (69 percent) do not believe that this will work. In addition, when asked what they believe the state pension system will be like in the future, nine out of ten (90 percent) estimate that the retirement age will rise significantly, the state pension will be further reduced (85 percent) and the pension contribution payments (69 percent) will be increased throughout working life,


No willingness to take risks with investment and consulting

The highest priority in the investment of money for pension purposes is the issue of security for one in two respondents (52 percent). Capital guarantee (47 percent) and flexibility in the deposit and payout phase (46 percent) are particularly important for almost half of the Austrians surveyed. Around two fifths each value transparency in the product range (43 percent) and good advice from the provider (39 percent). "Financial retirement provision in particular is so individual and versatile that it should be planned together with a professional. Especially in the current low-interest phase and with an inflation rate of currently two percent that need to be balanced out", explains Schaufler.


On the study: s Versicherung, Erste Bank und Sparkassen commissioned the market research institute IMAS with an online survey on the topic "Quality of life & standard of living - today for tomorrow". At the end of 2018, 1,000 people between the ages of 16 and 65 answered questions on financial provision topics and products, as well as on demographic trends and their impact on making provisions for one’s old age. The results are representative of the Austrian population aged 16 and over.