Hibernian, Ireland's third largest life and long-term savings provider and subsidiary of Aviva, has published a new report examining the Irish pensions crisis in an international context.
The report, which was carried out by Hibernian’s newly acquired subsidiary Ark Life, compares Ireland’s pension setup with that of France, the US and the UK and the responses undertaken in other countries such as New Zealand.
The report concludes that the challenges facing Ireland are not as extreme as in the US, France and the UK. Issues facing the Irish pensions system highlighted in the report include a low-level of government investment in pensions (3.2% of GDP compared to an EU average of 12.2%) and an increase of 86% in the public sector pensions bill between 2000 and 2005.
It also reveals that over a third of 40 to 60 year olds believe they still have plenty of time to put their pension arrangements in place. It also reveals that, while most Irish people would like to retire before their sixtieth birthday, the average expected retirement age is 62.