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Only 4% of Brazilians Save for Retirement

01/09/2017 - 14h49

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ANA ESTELA DE SOUSA PINTO
FROM SÃO PAULO

Are you worried because your retirement money will end and you have no savings to guarantee your standard of living until you are 80, 90 or 100 years old?

You are not alone. Only four in every 100 Brazilians set aside funds for their last years. It is the lowest average in the Americas and one of the worst in the world. In a survey by the World Bank with 143 countries, only 11 countries have worse figures than Brazil.

The lack of preparation for retirment affects even upper-class Brazilians, which shows that it is not a question of poverty: Brazil is behind countries such as Congo, Malaui and Togo. These countries have a G.D.P. per capita near US$ 1,000 in purchase power level, a measurement that allows better comparison of countries.

In Brazil, the G.D.P. per capita was US$ 15,400 in 2015, similar to that of Thailand, in which 60% of the people save money for retirement. The data refer to 2014 and were analyzed again  in 2016 aiming especifically at savings for old age.

The World Bank study found a strong connection between saving for retirement and the general habit of saving money. In Asian countries, where most people save money regularly, the number of people who save for retirement is also higher.

In Thailand, 80% of the people say they saved some money in the previous 12 months. In Brazil, only 28% gave the same answer (the 14th lowest rate in the world).

Executives of the sector believe that the Brazilian habit comes from the period of soaring inflation which lasted until the 1990s. "Twenty years ago, people could barely plan their budget for the end of the month,"says Paulo Valle, the vice presidente of Fenaprevi, the federation of private social security sector.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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