Affluent Malaysians said they need an average of US$830,000 or RM3.61 million to retire, according to HSBC’s Quality of Life Report 2024. The survey defines affluent individuals as those having investable assets of US$ 100,000 to US$2 million.
The amount is lower than those surveyed in Hong Kong (US$1.08 million) and Singapore (US$980,000), but higher than in India (US$390,000) and Indonesia (US$340,000). The report surveyed over 11,000 affluent individuals across 11 markets including Malaysia.
About 73% of Malaysians polled say that they are financially on track to meet their retirement goals. Almost half (48%) of the affluent Malaysians surveyed said they want to work post-retirement, which is slightly higher than the survey average of 47%.
HSBC Malaysia head of wealth and personal banking Linda Yip said the key to achieving a comfortable retirement is building adequate financial buffers to work towards this goal.
“Savings alone may be insufficient, and this is where financial planning and making the right investments and protection decisions is imperative, which is what the Quality of Life Report 2024 emphasises. With Malaysia’s expanding economy and its pursuit of becoming a high-income nation, it is befitting that affluent respondents in Malaysia say that they allocate almost a quarter (24%) of their monthly income towards investments, thus underscoring the importance of financial planning for the future,” added Yip.
One in two Malaysians have carved out a comprehensive plan for their future financial needs, according to HSBC’s report.
According to the study, power planning for retirement entails having a comprehensive financial plan (of which 84%of affluent Malaysians say they do), being aware of the amount needed for retirement (86%), reviewing the performance of retirement savings regularly (88%) and adhering to a retirement savings plan (86%).
When it comes to retirement power planning, Malaysia ranks second highest amongst the markets surveyed.
As for the top three concerns they have about retirement, a decline in physical health (44%), higher healthcare costs (40%) and inflation eating into their retirement savings (38%) were cited as concerns. About 44% of affluent Malaysians rank having adequate insurance coverage as a top financial goal.
Meanwhile, 72%of affluent Malaysians are also wealth accumulation power planners, which is higher than those in Singapore (61%), Taiwan (61%) and Hong Kong (60%). – Business Times
