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Hong Kong’s residents ill-prepared for ravages of old age, new Baptist University study shows

Survey also highlights concerns over ‘troublesome’ process of financial planning, and lack of understanding over enduring power of attorney

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More than 75 per cent of those questioned admitted to not having prepared for old age. Photo: Christopher DeWolf

More than 75 per cent of Hong Kong residents aged 55 and above have not made adequate provisions for their twilight years, a new study has found.

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The survey, by one of the city’s largest charities, showed that three out of four had not made a will, set up a private trust, or established an enduring power of attorney should something go wrong.

Commissioned by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, the Centre for the Advancement of Social Sciences Research at the Baptist University polled 526 local individuals aged 55 and above last September.

Managing assets, planning for the future, and making wills were all things Hong Kong’s elderly are not doing. Photo: EPA
Managing assets, planning for the future, and making wills were all things Hong Kong’s elderly are not doing. Photo: EPA

All of those surveyed – or their spouses – had assets of more than HK$500,000, however, 48 per cent said they did not know how to manage those assets, or found the process too “troublesome”.

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In the face of difficulties with money matters, more than 40 per cent said they would seek help from their children, while fewer than 29 per cent said they would handle the problem on their own.

Worryingly, 84 per cent of those surveyed said they did not know what an enduring power of attorney was. The power of attorney allows one person to act for another in the event they become mentally incapacitated.

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