How would you finance your later life? An investigation of Hong Kong and the UK employees surveys

Retirement and pension provisions are becoming an important issue in an ageing society although they tend to vary across the world particularly between welfare and non-welfare states. Asia will face tremendous challenges for protecting its ageing population in near future as vast majority of world population live in the region and because of continued economic growth and movement, social change and attitudes of people are seen to be changing faster than ever and therefore older people becomes more vulnerable in family as well as within community. Very little is known on the attitude of people towards savings and financing their older age in Asian literature. Thus the present paper aims to contribute to discussions on the financing retirement age in Hong Kong. A comparison will be made with the UK data too.
The study uses the data collected from primary sources in Hong Kong and the UK. A sample of 800 employed people in the UK and 800 employed people in Hong Kong were sampled. The age ranges were 45 – 65, with most people being aged 50 and over. Sampling took place across income groups and professions, including men and women. The profile of the sample closely matched that of the UK and Hong Kong populations as a whole. The survey was carried out by an independent company in 2012. Quantitative analysis will be performed to answer research hypotheses in the paper. Results will be compared with 2007 Global Ageing Survey (GLAS) which was conducted prior to the beginning of last economic recession.
Preliminary findings suggest that employees plan to work longer than their actual retirement age and are not prepared for retirement. They have a savings plan to finance their own later life. These have significant implications for organisations and policy makers.