Comments to the UniCredit Survey

Axel Börsch-Supan, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging University of Mannheim Germany

The UniCredit survey is a fascinating and a very valuable project. The true value will unfold in the future. You have not seen its full power yet. The importance of savings is without doubt. It will increase even more in the future for two reasons. The first reason is that pension systems will become multi-pillar systems in which the burden between the current generation and the future generation will be shared more equally. The second reason has to do with precautionary saving. At least as perceived, the social environment is becoming more uncertain. The welfare state has reached its limits, and in all areas of social policies more engagement by the individual is required. Engagement usually means to take precaution in form of savings. In addition, we observe an increasing uncertainty about family and marriage links which diminishes the role of the family as an implicit or explicit insurance, again requiring more private savings by the individual. In order to prepare a more modern landscape of financial institutions, one must understand not only the economics but also the psychology of savings. That requires asking people what is important for them and how they react to a changed environment - in addition to the factual information about social and economics issues.

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