Perceived retirement savings adequacy in Hong Kong: an interdisciplinary financial planning model

Abstract

Using an interdisciplinary model of financial planning, we investigated the factors contributing to perceived adequacy of retirement savings among Hong Kong workers by replicating a previous study of American and Dutch workers. The model was also tested for age differences in the way in which the variables operated within the model. These questions were examined using data from a phone survey conducted with 999 Hong Kong workers in 2012. We examined three psychological factors (future time orientation, goal clarity and financial knowledge), three social support variables (early learning from parents, spousal support and friend support) and three institutional factors (quality of employer pensions, trust in banks and fund managers, and trust in the government), as well as retirement savings planning activity and perceived retirement savings adequacy. Path analyses were used to test the model for the whole sample and separately for younger (N=437) and older (N=562) workers. Although a few age differences were found in the path analyses, the model was found to be useful in explaining the factors contributing to retirement savings planning and practices. Finally, we discuss how our findings differ from those of prior studies, and we assess their theoretical and practical implications.