MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. Practically 60% of Russians do not have any personal savings, according to a joint study by Otkritie Bank and Russia’s insurance giant Rosgosstrakh Life.
"Fifty-nine percent of Russians do not have any personal savings, while 41% do set some money aside, but it is getting more and more difficult for them to save up any capital. Only 15% of those polled said that over the past five years they had managed to increase the amount of their deposits," the study said.
According to just over 27% of the respondents, a comfortable income level for building up a nest egg varies from 45-55,000 rubles ($702-858) per month per family member. Meanwhile, 20.9% of those surveyed said that they were ready to save up funds if their incomes exceeded 55,000 rubles per month. Also, 17.5% of those questioned considered salary levels of around 25,000-35,000 rubles ($390-546) to be suitable for scrimping and saving, while 10.6% said that 15,000-25,000 rubles ($234-390) was a sufficient level to start putting money aside. Almost 2% of respondents consider it possible to sock away money with an income of 10,000-15,000 rubles ($156-234).
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Based on the results of 2018, the average income in Russia amounted to 33,000 rubles ($515) per month per person, the study notes.
Most of those surveyed who have saved up some money said that they held it in cash (58.9%), while 30.3% said that they had put it into a savings deposit account, and 5.4% purchased currency using their accumulated funds.
The majority of those polled (23.9%) said they were squirreling away money just "for a rainy day," without any special purpose. An equal share of respondents (16.2%) said they were putting money aside to buy an apartment and for short-term purposes, such as traveling or household appliances, while 12.1% save money for their children’s education.
Among Russians who have a nest egg, most have socked away money from salaries and pensions.
"Amid the decline of real incomes, Russians are saving money regularly from salaries, pensions and bonuses. This was reported by 58% of those interviewed. The remaining 30.7% do it occasionally - from the sale of property, inheritance, gifts and other major financial resources. Moreover, 67.8% save up to 10% of their income, while 2.9% said they can save up to 50% or more," the report says.
The study was conducted among 1,500 individuals. Most of those surveyed (40.1%) live in cities with a population of over one million, while 14.1% live in communities with a population of less than 100,000 people, while 13.7% live in municipalities with a population ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants.