Saving for retirement tends to be a higher priority in countries where workers are, on average, older and more dependent on retirement savings. And it's a lower priority in countries where savings are mandatory or quasi-mandatory.
So concludes a new report, "2014 Global Benefit Attitudes Survey," published by Towers Watson. Based on interviews with 22,347 employees across 12 countries between June and September 2013, the report examines the preferences of employees for retirement security in terms of their financial priorities and plans for retirement.
The report reveals that between 65 and 89 percent of survey respondents globally acknowledge the need to save more, both generally and specifically for retirement. Between half and three quarters of workers also say they need to "save much more in the future" to secure a comfortable level of retirement income.
Among U.S. citizens, 83 percent indicate a need to save more generally and 60 a need to save more for retirement. The percentages are similarly high in developing countries, such as China (69 percent and 72 percent, respectively) and India (71 and 78 percent), where the savings rates are already high.
