Response to Hong Kong annuity scheme ‘within expectations’ but likely to fall short of US$1.27b target
Even though most senior citizens are not satisfied with the low returns, the scheme has drawn investments from retirees as old as 90
Hong Kong government’s HK$10 billion (US$1.27 billion) public annuity scheme may not quite hit its target when the subscription period closes on Wednesday as senior citizens find the returns to be too low, but the scheme’s operator says the “response is within expectations”.
The initial response, however, showed that there maybe no such need to lift the cap as many retirees contacted by the South China Morning Post considered the returns to be too low.
“After going through the details, it appears the returns are very low at just about 4 per cent, so I decided not to go for it,” said C T Hew, a 68-year-old public affairs consultant, echoing the concerns of many senior citizens the Post spoke to.
Hong Kong’s US$1.27 billion annuity plan fails to ignite on launch day amid concerns about returns, gender
“Many of my friends discussed the scheme and we decided not to invest because of the low returns. If the government were to increase the returns to a higher level, maybe my old friends and I would consider it,” he said.
