Dubai: Nearly half (45 per cent) of expat employees in the UAE either have no plans to ensure an adequate standard of living after retirement or plan to work beyond the retirement age to ensure continued income, said a new study.
According to a ‘2020 UAE Security and Savings’ survey by global consultancy, Mercer, a lack of financial awareness among respondents with 61 per cent reporting no long-term savings at all and 43 percent expecting their end of service benefits to meet their long-term financial needs.
“The number of expat employees in the UAE who are not prepared financially for retirement is very concerning. Employees must understand that the current end of service benefits are far from enough to ensure an adequate standard of living post-retirement,” said Tarek Zouiten, Retirement Business Leader at Mercer UAE
Under the current programme, serving a company for 25 years will only provide two years of basic salary, however, an average person will need 12 times their total salary to maintain a decent standard of living post-retirement.
“Ensuring UAE expats are better prepared for post-retirement challenges will require a fundamental mind shift among employees which can be achieved with financial education and progressive regulations like the DIFC Employees Workplace Savings Plan (DEWS) recently employed in DIFC,” said Zouiten.