Middle-income households lack retirement plans

Around 86 percent of middle-income households have no plans to retire, a survey by the Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association shows.

Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association has conducted a study in collaboration with the Felizberta Lo Padilla Tong School of Social Sciences and the Sau Po Centre on aging at the University of Hong Kong by interviewing 222 people aged 50 to 60.

Around half of the respondents in the survey were concerned about their finances and health in old age and stated that they had not made sufficient preparations for retirement. Two thirds wished to continue working for as long as possible, while 21 percent of the respondents don't know when to leave their current job.

The research also showed that the level of cover provided by public healthcare and housing benefits is often inadequate for people in middle-income households, while middle-income households lack savings and investment income.

The association urges the government to improve social security and relax the eligibility criteria for various subsidies and allowances and provide incentives to encourage saving for retirement.

Meanwhile, around two-thirds of interviewees also expected a heavier inflationary pressure over the next one to three years, given global quantitative easing, a survey by CFA Institute showed.

About 37 percent of Hong Kong respondents said that large-scale monetary stimulus measures have reduced market confidence in banknotes. The investors intend to switch to other asset classes, such as cryptocurrencies, according to Mary Leung, head of Advocacy, Asia Pacific, at CFA Institute.