Tuesday, February 25, 2014

HSBC REPORT - THE FUTURE OF RETIREMENT: LIFE AFTER WORK?

Just to share if you haven't read this report yet. Some interesting findings to take note of. It is based on a survey involving 16,000 people in 15 countries including Malaysia. The respondents covered people of working age (25 and over) and those in retirement. The survey was conducted between July 2012 and April 2013, and the report published in September 2013.

The charts below are taken from the HSBC Global Report on The Future of Retirement






HSBC Report on "Life After Work - MALAYSIA"

For the section on Malaysia, 1000 individuals and 298 private sector employers were interviewed by phone. Their response was organized around five key questions:

1. What is retirement?
2. How will we pay for retirement?
3. When should we retire?
4. How do older workers compare with younger ones?
5. Do employers and employees think alike?



Some 49% of retirees say they have not achieved their hopes and aspirations for retirement because they have less money to live on than expected. On a positive note, 67% say they are able to spend more time with friends and family.

One assumption among many working people is that their expenses will fall once they enter retirement. However, one-third of Malaysian retirees (33%) saw their expenditures either stay the same or increase on retiring from healthcare needs or from funding family.

Around 9% of Malaysians surveyed who are still working say they do not believe they would ever be able to afford to fully retire.

This may have led to the growing inclination towards semi-retirement, with close to half (54%) of non-retirees having planned for semi-retirement, higher than the global average of 42%.

Among those who expect to semi-retire, one in five respondents say that they would go for semi-retirement because they need to bridge a shortfall in retirement income (24%) and are unable to retire full-time (26%).

However, Malaysians generally still expect to retire on average at 55, earlier than their parents who averaged at 57.

Despite the anxiety of financial shortfall and unrealised personal aspirations, Malaysian retirees still intend to save during retirement. More than three-quarters or 78% of Malaysians still save during retirement compared to the global average of 56%, and these retirees expect to leave an inheritance to their children.


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