Retirement anxiety: Less than half fear insufficient funds before retirement

The majority’s goal is to save more money in 2023.

Over 40% of Hong Kong residents admitted that they are not at all confident about their funds for their retirement, an Endowus Wealth Insights Report showed.

A Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Rating showed that the total assets of the MPF in 2022 shrank by 11% to $1.05t from$1.18t in end-2021, which cut the average balance of each MPF member to $229,8002. 

With this, over six in 10 respondents said their goal is to save more money in 2023, followed by the exploration of new passive income opportunities (50%).

Volatile market conditions are also forcing Hong Kong people to reconsider their investment planning. With three in 10 are looking to invest more this year, primarily to build a more robust retirement nest egg. 

Investing habits

Nearly seven in 10 of the Hong Kong respondents are investing in fixed amounts regularly (i.e., weekly, monthly, once every few months). On the contrary, most Singapore respondents, with or without investing experience, are prone to timing the market, revealing a worrying trend of emotions-led investing. 

The study also revealed that Hong Kong people have consistent financial habits. On average, they spend half of their salary, allocating 20% to savings and the remaining 30% to investment capital. This makes up to a “20:50:30” average saving, spending, and investing ratio of their salary.

The research, conducted by Milieu Insight, used 1,400 respondents in Singapore and Hong Kong. 

“The data is representative of the online adult population aged 16 and above, and the margin of error is +/- 4% at 95% confidence level. Fieldwork was conducted in March 2023,” read the report.