HK people fear to live less comfortable in retirement

Nearly a quarter of people expect their standard of living after retirement will be lower than the standard they have now, with working age people feeling particularly gloomy in the developed economies of France (54 percent), the UK (40 percent) and Hong Kong (40 percent), a global study has found.

HSBC commissioned Ipsos MORI to poll 16,000 people from 15 countries and districts aged 25 or over, including 1,000 people in Hong Kong, from August to September last year.

According to the study, over a third of working age people are not confident that they will be able to support a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. "These concerns are similar the world over. Working age people in Asia and Brazil are the most worried about running out of money in retirement, with 81 percent in Malaysia, 81 percent in Singapore, 80 percent in Brazil and 77 percent in Hong Kong concerned about this."

Similarly, pre-retirees in Malaysia (88 percent), Hong Kong (83 percent), Brazil (81 percent) and Singapore (78 percent) are the most worried about having enough money to live on day-to-day in retirement.

The study said working age people around the world are resigned to making sacrifices when they retire, with almost half (49 percent) foreseeing having to cut down on their everyday spending.

Pre-retirees in Singapore (58 percent), Hong Kong (57 percent) and Australia (56 percent) are the most likely to say they will have to cut down on their everyday spending when they retire.

More than a third (36 percent) say they will eat out less often. This rises to almost half of pre-retirees in Singapore (48 percent) and Hong Kong (47 percent).

The research found that Hongkongers on average save 31 percent of their annual income for retirement, the largest share of their income among people in 15 countries and districts.

Hong Kong's IT engineer Mr Hung told Xinhua that he earns about 30,000 HK dollars per month, and saves about 10,000 HK dollars after paying the house loan and other expenses every month.

However, Hung said he is less confident that he will have enough money to live a comfortable retirement life as far as healthcare and other unexpected expenses are concerned.