The risk is not for Poles. Almost half of us prefer smaller but certain profits

Almost half of the surveyed Poles choose investments that provide lower, but relatively certain profits, instead of more risky and potentially more profitable solutions – according to the study “Poles' attitudes towards finance” presented during the Financial Education Day.

Poles are afraid of risk, but they want to invest

“Almost half of the respondents choose investments giving lower, but relatively certain profits, instead of more risky and potentially more profitable solutions. Moreover, 61 percent of Poles prefer to invest in instruments with a capital protection component, while 21 percent choose more risky, but potentially more profitable options, and 15 percent invest without capital protection. Over the last year, the percentage of people preferring investments with capital protection over those in which all funds are intended for investments increased by 10 percentage points,” the study indicates.

According to the report, since 2008 there has been a systematic decline in the percentage of people convinced that saving does not make sense.

“The only exception was 2023, when this trend was reversed – probably in response to the high level of inflation. However, the current result is a record low and consistent with the long-term trend, which suggests that last year's increase in pessimism towards saving was temporary and resulted from the economic context, not from a change in Poles' beliefs,” it said.

Objective? Especially for the “rainy day”

The study also shows that the most important saving goal of Poles is protection against a “rainy day” (59%), and this result has remained more than twice as high in the last four years as in the previous years.

The authors of the report indicated that interest in storing savings in a personal account has remained at a similar level since at least 2022 and currently stands at 42%. This result is three or even four times higher than in 2008–2016.

At the same time, 49% of respondents indicated keeping their money in safe financial instruments. respondents, i.e. 5-6 percentage points more than in the previous two years.

Less and less in the “sock”

It was added that after a clear two-fold increase in the percentage of people keeping savings in cash at home during the pandemic and immediately after it, in 2024 there was a decrease to 14%. (7 percentage points less than in 2023), while in 2025 this value increased to 18%.

The study “Poles' attitudes towards finances” aimed to learn about the attitudes and behaviors of Poles towards finances and was carried out from September 25 to October 5, 2025 on a sample of 1,037 people aged 18-74. The study is an element of the Entrepreneurship Development Program implemented by the THINK! Foundation. in substantive partnership with the Citi Handlowy Foundation. L. Kronenberg and was carried out in substantive cooperation with the Department of Business Psychology and Social Innovation at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Warsaw. (PAP Business)

mbi/ ana/