How the world saves

Many Brits take out loans at a young age in order to buy property. By the time they reach retirement, the real estate has been paid off and has often increased in value. Selling it provides enough for a retirement home or as starting capital for their children.

The oldest bank in the world was founded during the Renaissance in 1472. The Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena can be credited with coining common financial terminology such as account, discount, fund, bankruptcy and risk.

As the Greek proverb goes, “Little bean by little bean, the sack will surely fill.” Greeks tend to stockpile their money at home rather than taking it to a bank. The elderly generally save for their funerals, which is expensive in Greece.

Saving is not a trend in Russia; neither for the rich nor for the less well-heeled. According to a survey, two thirds of Russians do not set anything aside. Those who do entrust their money to real estate or gold.

Japan has been suffering from deflation since the beginning of the 1990s. As such, not much can be saved these days. The Japanese were previously the world champions of saving when the economic savings rate of households was 20 percent.

Saving is a foreign concept to Thais. But they do have their own word for enjoyment, which stems from shopping: “Sanuk”. Expensive pieces of jewelry are particularly popular. They offer the promise of high prestige even if it means taking on a lot of debt to buy them.

Gravel or crushed stone? The inhabitants of the Yap Islands can only laugh at this where stone money in the form of huge stone slabs counts as wealth. The village elder keeps an account of who the largest stones currently belong to.

Many people in India don’t have enough income to actually save. Nevertheless, in order to safeguard themselves, more and more Indians are taking out micro-insurance and micro-savings plans. 21.5 million Indians are doing this with Allianz.

An unofficial financial market has developed in South Africa, parallel to the official banking sector. South Africans band together in saving associations known as “Stokvels” in order to boost each other with their saving.

The crisis-worn Argentineans are used to building up reserves – away from the State. The wealthy invest abroad; the middle class in dollars under their pillows. These world champions at hoarding have saved a total of 50 billion dollars.