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Fantasising about later while on holidays

30 July 2020

News

What do people think their life will be like once they are retired? A brand-new survey by BeFrank shows that positive aspects like rest, enjoyment and freedom are important determining factors for peoples’ perspectives. Also, having more time for yourself and others are often mentioned in the same breath when people talk about this stage of life. Travel scores high across the board, as does the need to do volunteer work.

What will my world be like when I no longer have to work for my money? How will I spend my days then? Most people can’t possibly imagine this reality. But… the summer holidays are the best period to give you somewhat of an idea. After all, lying on your beach towel, hiking through the mountains, or relaxing in a camping chair are ideal moments to dream about your life after retirement.

According to BeFrank’s Commercial Director, Jan Hein Rhebergen, it’s certainly not a bad idea to reflect on this stage of life during your holidays in particular. ‘It often seems that people don’t give this enough thought. Also, people don’t have a clue what their financial situation will be like later. When you have a better idea of this, you will know whether you are accruing enough pension. Or you will realise that it’s time to act. In other words, don’t procrastinate until it’s time to retire.’

People think about retirement in a positive light
BeFrank asked Dutch workers to share their thoughts about retirement. The main conclusions: Dutch people mainly associate retirement with positive thoughts. The top 5: Rest, freedom, time for yourself, enjoyment, and no work stress… It’s no coincidence that one also experiences these feelings on holidays. Conversely, 10% of people associate retirement with boredom and less than 5% of people associate retirement with a sense of uselessness and stagnation.

Travelling tops the list
When asked how people would prefer to spend their time, most people answered: travelling! An incredible 60% of respondents look forward to discovering unseen parts of the Netherlands, Europe and the rest of the world. Employees under the age of 30 express this need much more frequently (70%) than those over the age of 60 (44%). Spending time in nature (43%) takes second place, followed by spending more time with friends and family (35%). For the latter, it’s mostly women who have this high on their list of priorities. Roughly 25% of men mention this expressly, while more than 40% of women already dream of extra time socialising.

More time for babysitting and volunteering
More than 30% of respondents look forward to the luxury of time to be able to babysit (future) grandchildren. Here, it also applies that women (35%) look forward to this more than men (28%). The intention to spend considerable time doing charity and volunteer work is broadly shared. About a quarter of the respondents want to do this. What is perhaps even more striking: across the board – from younger to older employees – people are equally inclined to do volunteer work.

Tips from BeFrank:

1. Fantasise out loud about what you want to be able to do once retired.
2. List your goals and carefully estimate how much income you’ll need to accomplish them.
3. After the holidays, take a look at your estimated retirement income. You can easily do this at www.mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl.
4. Does this match your goals? Think about ways to supplement this now, for example, by increasing your current contributions. A pension adviser can help explain all the possibilities.
5. Enjoy your holidays, and stay safe!

About the survey
BeFrank commissioned a survey that was conducted in July 2020 via PanelWizard among 1,000 Dutch workers aged 25 years and older.

About BeFrank
BeFrank has been active in the collective pension market since 2011 and is the first Premium Pension Institution (PPI) in the Netherlands. BeFrank offers online pension services, clear communication and innovative services. BeFrank is a subsidiary of the NN Group.

For more information, please contact: Isabelle van Ast. E-mail: pers@befrank.nl, Tel: 020 5621118.