Seven in 10 Kenyans say they are not on track for a comfortable retirement, according to a study released by SanlamAllianz Kenya on Monday, which points to household expenses, debt and irregular incomes as major obstacles to saving.

The first SanlamAllianz Kenya retirement benchmark, titled “Kenya Before It Ages”, found that financial pressures were making it difficult for many people to maintain long-term savings, even when they understood the importance of preparing for retirement.

The report also highlighted a problem for workers changing jobs: more than half of those who had left employment with retirement savings withdrew at least some of the money, and many later regretted doing so.

Jacqueline Karasha, chief executive officer and principal officer of Sanlam Allianz Life Insurance (Kenya) Limited, said Kenya had made progress in expanding financial access, but the next challenge was ensuring that participation translated into long-term financial security.

“Retirement should be a stage of life that offers dignity, independence and choice, not one where people are forced to scale back their ambitions,” Karasha said.

 Family Expenses Squeeze Savings

Household and family expenses were the most commonly cited obstacle to retirement saving, identified by 44% of respondents. Low or irregular income was cited by 37%, while 24% pointed to debt repayments.

Only 4% cited a lack of understanding of, or trust in, retirement products.

Family responsibilities featured prominently in the findings. Some 62% of respondents said supporting dependants reduced their ability to save, while 39% said they could cover basic household expenses for two months or less if their income stopped.

Financial pressure was also affecting existing savings. In the previous year, 23% of respondents had dipped into savings or reduced retirement contributions to meet other expenses. The proportion rose to 29% among earners aged 20 to 39.

Job Changes Put Retirement Savings At Risk

Withdrawing retirement savings when leaving a job or business was another concern identified by the study.

Among respondents who had left a job or business while holding retirement savings, 53% had withdrawn at least part of the money, including 26% who took the entire amount. Only 32% kept or transferred the full balance.

About a third used the withdrawn money to start or support a business or farm.

Although 65% said they understood the consequences of withdrawing their savings at the time, 53% later regretted the decision. One in five said they received no assistance when leaving their job or business.

Karasha said retirement preparedness required more than educating people about the need to save.

“The findings show that most Kenyans understand the importance of saving for retirement, yet everyday financial pressures often compete with long-term goals,” she said. “This is why preservation cannot rely on awareness alone.”

She said financial services providers needed to help people keep their savings invested, provide guidance when they changed jobs and develop products suited to their financial circumstances.

Many Workers Do Not Know Their Retirement Needs

The study also found gaps in how well people understood their retirement finances.

One in five working-age contributors did not know how much they had saved, while only 29% knew how much monthly income they would need after retiring.

Some 45% had never heard of income drawdown, a method of taking regular payments from retirement savings. Yet 51% said they wanted a guaranteed monthly income for life.

Planning for healthcare costs was another weak point. More than half of respondents, or 53%, had no funded plan for medical expenses after retirement.

The findings also suggest that retirement may not mean leaving work altogether. Some 88% said they would continue working or running a business even if their retirement income were sufficient to meet their needs.

Jonathan Stichbury, managing director and chief executive officer of SanlamAllianz Investments Limited, said the focus should be on the income people could generate from their savings rather than the balance accumulated during their working lives.

“Retirement security is ultimately not about the balance someone accumulates during their working years, but whether those savings can provide a reliable income throughout retirement,” Stichbury said.

Informal Work and Digital Risks

Irregular earnings present a particular challenge in a labour market where many people work outside formal employment.

Kenya’s economy grew by 4.6% in 2025, while the informal sector accounted for 87.2% of new jobs, according to figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics cited in the benchmark.

Among working respondents, 39% said their earnings varied from month to month. More than half of informal workers, or 51%, said they would prefer to contribute to a retirement product through mobile money.

However, the growing role of digital financial services also raises concerns about fraud. Some 45% of respondents said they had lost money or personal information through a digital financial scam. The proportion increased to 54% among younger respondents.

The study found that trust would be important in encouraging people to take up retirement products, with respondents placing particular importance on having a trusted provider or regulator.

Dr Nyamemba Patrick Tumbo, group chief executive officer of SanlamAllianz Kenya, said the country had an opportunity to improve retirement preparedness while its population remained relatively young.

“As a relatively young country, we have an opportunity to strengthen retirement preparedness before demographic pressures become more pronounced,” Tumbo said.

SanlamAllianz said it would repeat the benchmark annually to track changes in retirement preparedness and inform discussions about how to improve retirement outcomes.