Half of Poles Could Cover Their Living Costs for No More Than Three Months with Savings

Poland’s financial mood has improved, but many households still lack enough savings to withstand a prolonged loss of income, according to the latest Financial Wellness Index survey conducted by Finax.

More than half of respondents, 51%, said their savings would allow them to maintain their current standard of living for no more than three months. Only 19% said their reserves would last longer than a year. The survey also found that 22% would have enough money for less than a month, while another 29% could manage for one to three months.

Women reported shorter financial cover than men. Fifty-five percent of women said they could maintain their previous standard of living for no more than three months after losing their main source of income, compared with 47% of men. Fifteen percent of women said they could last more than a year, compared with 23% of men.

The most common concern for both sexes was the cost of treatment after a serious illness or accident, cited by 33% of respondents. Women more often worried about paying current bills and daily expenses, at 25% compared with 17% of men. Men were more likely to say they feared none of the listed scenarios, at 26% compared with 16% of women.

Younger respondents most often said their savings would cover only one quarter after losing their main income. People aged 35 to 44 and those over 55 reported longer periods of financial protection more often. Education and career-development costs concerned 23% of 18-to-24-year-olds, compared with 2% of people over 55. Concern about medical costs rose with age, from 21% among the youngest respondents to 43% among those over 55. Retirement concerns peaked at 26% among people aged 45 to 54, then fell to 14% among those over 55. Finax personal-finance expert Klaudia Sibielak said the findings showed that people’s financial options and perceptions of risk change through life.

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The survey shows that as people move through different stages of life, not only their financial possibilities change, but also the way they perceive risk