Ming Pao, HK Economic Journal, HK Economic Times, Sing Tao Daily

November 17, 2005

New Vision of Later Life

A Period of Alternate Work and Rest

By

The four dailies carried the recent research findings of the HSBC Group on the attitudes towards ageing and retirement planning in 10 countries and territories, including HK, China, the UK, US and Canada, based on a total sample size of more than 11,000. Entitled "The Future of Retirement", the research revealed that the attitudes towards ageing and retirement vary dramatically among different countries. While most of the respondents in western countries prefer to continue working in later life, 45% of HK people prefer not to work after retirement.

Dr Ken Dychtwald, special adviser on global ageing to HSBC, also president and CEO of Age Wave (the consultancy firm which helped analysed the survey findings), told a press briefing yesterday that a new vision of later life has emerged due to rising life expectancy, adding that people are seeking a new chapter in life rather than merely rest and relaxation.

According to Dychtwald, Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy in the world of 81 years. The territory, however, has the lowest birth rate of 0.9 child per female. In view of the ageing population, Dychtwald suggested that a cyclic lifeplan model could be adopted to balance education, work and leisure. He said that the HK government could consider relaxing the mandatory retirement age and re-train people who are aged 50 to 70 so that they can continue to contribute to the workforce. Dychtwald also suggested that corporates can employ elderly people who are experienced in their respective careers as consultants.

All the papers mentioned that although most HK people do not prefer work after retirement, most of them have not made sufficient preparation for retirement. While 96% of Canadians have engaged in financial planning activities in the last year, only 57% of HK people have done so in the same period. On the other hand, only 33% of HK people have ever calculated their potential needs and income sources after retirement, while 11% only have talked with a bank to prepare for retirement. Dychtwald suggested that people should be encouraged to save and make investments to prepare for a better retirement life.

From a third party translation