Turkish people want to save money, but can't

ISTANBUL

Turks ranked second in the 'most worrying consumer' group due to their debts.

Turkish people want to save money, but cannot due to their high debts, according to the “Consumers’ Saving Tendencies Survey 2013” announced by AvivaSA yesterday with the research company IPSOS.

The biggest obstacle for Turkish people appears to be their current debts, which prevent them from saving money and making investments, according to the study, in which 12,000 people participated from 11 countries: Britain, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, the U.S., India, China, Singapore, Poland and Turkey.

While consumers in developed markets said they did not have enough money to save or make investments, Asian consumers said they were afraid of losing their investments.

The study also showed that Turkish consumers ranked second in the "most worrying consumer" group due to their debts, just behind Polish consumers. Turks, however, show the least effort to repay their debts among consumers in all 11 countries, according to the study.

Three of every 10 consumers said they were worried about their debts. It was 4.1 out of 10 in Turkey and 5.5 out 10 in Poland.

A majority of Turkish consumers said they wanted to obtain “guaranteed yields” in their savings and investments.

“Turkish and Irish people dream the impossible when saving money and making investments,” reads the study.

While a majority of 12,000 consumers said they saved some money, they did not feel well-prepared against unexpected risks on their savings or investments. Turkish people, however, continue to say “nothing happens to my money,” feeling the least stress for the unexpected risks among all participating consumers.

Only 13 pct save money for retirement

Some 62 percent of Turks save money for emergencies or unexpected situations and some 33 percent for family needs. Only 13 percent save money for retirement, which is much lower than the average. 

In addition, Turkish consumers prefer unprofessional sources when managing their savings or investments, according to the study. Some 67 percent of Turks take the recommendations of their friends, family members, newspapers or internet sources into consideration rather than finance analysts, insurers and bankers.

Private retirement systems are seen as great importance in increasing saving amounts among consumers, sector representatives say.

“The system has now covered 3.9 million people in Turkey, around 24.6 billion Turkish Liras in volume, for 10 years, with the help of 25 percent from state contribution to the system. We expect the system will cover over 11.3 million Turks, reaching 300 billion liras,” AvivaSA Retirement and Life CEO Meral Eredenk said.