Study by NPF of Sberbank and Rambler.ru: third of Russians pay for their retired relatives’ purchases regularly

The overwhelming majority of Russians (81%) help their elder relatives one way or another, NPF of Sberbank and Rambler.ru said in a joint study. More often (31%) the respondents pay for things like groceries, medications, home products, and major purchases. Over one-third (35%) of the respondents help regularly, once a week.

After polling 2,600 people across the country, NPF of Sberbank and the Rambler portal found that 31% of Russians pay for the purchases their retired relatives make. Every fifth (21%) helps them around the house with cleaning, minor repairs, food delivery, and so on. As much as 18% of the respondents simply give money to their retired relatives, 7% pay for their treatment, 4% pay their leisure travel expenses.

More than a third of Russians (35%) help their elderly relatives regularly, once a week. Another 17% do it at least once a month. The same number of respondents does that from time to time, once every six months or a year, or when necessary (for example, when you need to urgently pay for treatment). As much as 8% of the respondents help only when asked to do so.

Almost 60% of Russians estimated their material assistance at up to RUB10,000 a month. Others spend 10,000-20,000 rubles a month (15%), RUB20,000-30,000 a month (7%), and up to RUB50,000 a month (5%). Only 2% of the respondents are ready to provide more substantial assistance (up to RUB100,000 a month).

Russians are more actively engaged in supporting the older generation financially after they turn 35 years old. Among 20-30-year-olds the share of those who help pensioners financially is 4%, and among 35-40-year-olds it is five times as high. At the age of 40-50, every third respondent supports elderly relatives (32%). After 50, almost every second person does it (43%).

Alexander Zaretsky, CEO, NPF of Sberbank:

'Elderly people need special care, and it is great to see that most Russians are ready to help them as much as they can. But a person can take care of one's wealth after retiring on his or her own now with the help of a personal pension plan (PPP). For example, to keep income at the level of 80-100% of the salary after retirement, it is enough to deposit 2-4% of one's income a month in your PPP account since you're 25-30 years old. This is a convenient savings tool, which does not require large expenses and has an individual schedule of contributions. Using PPPs, you can maintain your usual standard of living after retiring.'