HK Annuity Scheme for Elderly

Hong Kong’s new public annuity scheme could be expanded if it proved to be popular, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said, billing the HK$10 billion ($1.29 billion) plan as the choice for middle-class retirees who did not know how to invest their savings and were not eligible for certain social benefits, HKN reported. Writing on his blog on Sunday, Chan said elderly people aged 65 or above now made up about 16% of the population but this would exceed 30% within two decades. “Many people who have already retired, or are about to retire, are worried that they will lose their stable source of income. At the same time, they will have to deal with all sorts of expenses,” he wrote. With a guaranteed return of 3 to 4%, a preliminary estimate, a man of 65 who invested HK$1 million would get about HK$5,800 a month. As women live longer, their monthly payments would be slightly less–about HK$5,300–if they paid the maximum HK$1 million.