Title

Social and psychological barriers to private retirement savings in Hong Kong

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Aging and Social Policy

Publication Date

10-1-2014

Volume

26

Issue

4

First Page

308

Last Page

323

Keywords

Chinese, Hong Kong, private retirement savings, working adults

Abstract

Using a phone survey conducted among Hong Kong workers, we examined the association of institutional, social, and psychological factors with engagement in both private retirement savings and the total amount of savings. Alarmingly, this study demonstrates that approximately 42% of Hong Kong workers do not save privately for their retirement. We found that age, education, number of children, support from spouse and friends, social regulation, perceived financial knowledge, and financial management capacity are associated with engagement in private retirement savings. Among those who saved, age, education, perceived financial knowledge, and financial management capacity are related to the amount of savings. Measures that could increase the social support for retirement savings as well as enhance their financial knowledge and management ability should be developed and implemented so that more workers engage in private retirement savings. A promising policy option for the Hong Kong government is to offer a tax incentive to promote additional savings for old-age income protection.

DOI

10.1080/08959420.2014.939840

Print ISSN

08959420

E-ISSN

15450821

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Chou, K.-L., Yu, K.-M., Chan, W.-S., Chan, A. C. M., Lum, T. Y. S., & Zhu, A. Y. F. (2014). Social and psychological barriers to private retirement savings in Hong Kong. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 26(4), 308-323. doi: 10.1080/08959420.2014.939840

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