Inheritances aren't part of retirement plans
Most New Zealanders won’t be using an inheritance to help support them in retirement.
Tuesday, December 16th 2003, 5:59AM
"People seem to have realistic expectations about inheritances, which is a positive, but it does reinforce once again the need for a good long-term savings plan," says AMP managing director Ross Kent.
In the latest AMP SuperWatch survey people were asked whether they were anticipating receiving any other money or assets which they would use to help support them in retirement, aside from what they were saving themselves and the state pension.
Nearly 60% said they weren’t expecting to receive anything additional.
Of the 38% who were expecting additional funds, a third were expecting some kind of inheritance. However, only 1% of those anticipating an inheritance were expecting to rely on it to a large extent.
"It is interesting that the number of people expecting an inheritance – 14% of the total – matches exactly the number of individuals who reported receiving an inheritance of $10,000 or more in the Retirement Commission’s survey this year on the Net Worth of New Zealanders. This shows that people’s expectations are realistic," Kent says.
"But it also underlines that people really do need to focus on their own savings plans if they want anything over and above the state pension when they retire. There are no magic bullets in this game – regular saving over the long term is the only guaranteed way to accumulate extra money.
"A year ago a lot of people were panicking at the state of investment markets and we saw both big fund outflows and many people suspending regular contributions. This year the markets have bounced back and those people have unfortunately missed out on this gain.
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