Only 5% of Czechs think state will secure care of old people

Prague, Oct 24 (CTK) - Only 5 percent of Czechs believe that the state is able to secure care of people when they grow old, while over a third do not expect anything from the state and rely fully on themselves, according to a poll that agency Perfect Crowd made among 900 respondents for the firm AWD.

Most people count on adding own savings to their pension from the state.

"The threat of a pension system crisis has been talked about for some time already. Many people therefore started thinking more about their own savings. At the same time, the number of people who will harshly require that for the taxes they have paid the state should really fulfil its duties is growing," said AWD chief analyst Tomas Rampula.

A typical Czech is already saving Kc500 a month on average for pension age, usually through private pension insurance. Other types of investments which can raise the income in old age, like the purchase of shares with interesting dividends or investments into mutual funds, are not too popular in the Czech Republic at the time being. Most Czechs say they do not have sufficient information about them and so choose what is certain, he added.

Another way of voluntary saving with state support is to be added to the saving systems used thus far. However, experts warn that even the second pillar of the pension system is not the solution to the problems that the ageing of the population can cause.

"Long-term saving is practically the only way how to prevent a radical decrease in the standard of living when people retire. To rely solely on the state is really impossible," Rampula added.