Global Retirement Survey Shows Traditional Retirement Model Weakening

People want to abandon traditional models of retirement in favour of self-sufficiency and a mix of work and leisure, according to what HSBC Holdings calls "the largest global survey into attitudes towards ageing and retirement ever conducted." Following up on its initial survey released in 2005, HSBC expanded its survey to cover 20 countries. From its survey of 21,000 people and 6,000 companies, the survey finds, among other things, that:

• 43% want to self-fund retirement
• 36% support compulsory saving for retirement--the first choice option for funding later life
• 72% want to scrap mandatory retirement
• 49% of employers recognise the high value of older workers, but many lack the practices to attract and retain them

Stephen Green, Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plc, said HSBC's research “shows that individuals increasingly expect to bear their own costs in later life, but governments and business must understand their role in continuing to support individuals. They cannot afford to shy away from the enormous challenges and opportunities presented by global ageing.”

Future of Retirement: What the world wants, written in conjunction with the Oxford Institute of Ageing, is available for download as either an executive summary, a consurmer report, or an employer report. In addition, country-by-country summaries are available at The Future of Retirement website.

Source: News Release HSBC Holdings plc (April 26, 2006)