Malaysian Saving For Retirement

Pre-retirees in Malaysia now expect to save for four years longer than their predecessors for their retirement, according to new research from HSBC. Based on the views of over 1,000 people in Malaysia, the current generation of retirees started saving for their retirement at 33 and retired at 56, saving for an average period of 23 years, HSBC said in a statement today.

However, the report shows that working-age people in Malaysia now begin to save four years earlier, at age 29, but expect to retire like their predecessors at 56, meaning they face on average 27 years of retirement saving -– four years more than current retirees.

According to the research, the gap is most marked in China (14 years), the United Arab Emirates (12 years), Australia (11 years) and France (11 years), where working people now expect to save for more than a decade longer than current retirees did.

“Despite beginning to save for retirement earlier, many working-age people still don’t think they are saving enough,” it said.


Over two in five (44 per cent) retirees would have started saving for retirement at an earlier age given the opportunity to do something differently and over half (53 per cent) of pre-retirees would do the same.HSBC’s report also uncovers that almost one in six pre-retirees (15 per cent) have not started saving for their retirement — that means 85 per cent of working-age people in Malaysia have started saving for retirement.

Of those who have started, 44 per cent have either stopped or faced difficulties, it said.
Pre-retirees around the world have different approaches towards how they will fund their retirement and the expectations of pre-retirees differ from the reality experienced by retirees.

Cash savings/deposits (50 per cent) are the most common funding method for retirees.
Fewer pre-retirees expect another employer pension scheme (12 per cent) or stocks and shares (17 per cent) to help fund their retirement.