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Most Hongkongers’ self-made recurring retirement income expected to be less than one-third of their current income level

 

Scenario 1: Early career starter

Age: 32 Monthly income:  HK$29,200 Investible assets: HK$750,000 

Expected monthly retirement income: HK$9,200 

 

Scenario 2: Double income couple with young kids

Age of Partner A: 42  Monthly income:   HK$62,500  Investible assets: HK$1.5 million

Age of Partner B: 37 Monthly income:   HK$41,700 Investible assets: HK$1 million

Expected combined monthly retirement income: HK$22,800

 

Scenario 3: Single individual with successful career  

Age: 52 with Monthly income:   HK$166,700  Investible assets: HK$4 million.

Expected monthly retirement income: HK$22,800

 

Scenario 4: Double income couple, about to retire

Age of Partner A: 64  Monthly income:   HK$83,300 Investible assets: HK$2 million 

Age of Partner B: 62 Monthly income:   HK$20,800  Investible assets: HK$2 million 

Expected combined monthly retirement income: HK$14,300

 

A separate survey commissioned by Manulife Investment Management found that people in Hong Kong expect they need an average of HK$21,287 per month, including housing expenses, to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. This sum is approximately 73% of their current household income.

 

There is clearly a huge gap between Hongkongers’ expected retirement expenses and the amount of retirement income they could confidently achieve per their current financial status. People in Hong Kong, and in fact across Asia, are facing a challenging situation in bridging this gap. This comes to show there is an imminent need for people to better plan for their financial well-being and an effective way to produce recurring income when they retire.

Macro challenges: Elevated inflation, weaker growth and tighter policy

Inflation has always been the key issue in retirement, and recently markets around the world has seen the detrimental impact it could have on people’s livelihood. 

 

 

One of the challenges with high inflation is it could heavily discount the purchasing power of an investment portfolio over a longer period. Inflation, coupled with deglobalization, demographic reversals, higher real interest rates and increased macroeconomic volatility, will create a challenging environment for generating sustainable returns and yields through traditional means.

 

One way to counter these issues is to consider long-term income-oriented and diversified multi-asset strategies when planning for retirement. This allows people to seek and capture sustainable income from higher yielding assets, as well as benefit from capital appreciation opportunities that may arise across geographies and sectors which can produce real returns on top of inflation.