FTLife survey shows Hongkongers far less confident about retirement due to pandemic, while younger generation lacks wealth management knowledge

FTLife launches Prosperous Deferred Annuity Plan 2 for customers’ retirement need with tax deduction

• In survey, 70% said
  they lack confidence in retirement due to pandemic, four times that pre-Covid level. Top three retirement worries are rising medical expenses (53%), lack of
  stable income (52%) and managing expenses (50%);
• High market
  volatility arouses risk-adverse sentiment among Hongkongers. 37% of the
  respondents prefer to hold cash savings, especially for young people aged
  between 20 and 29 (62%). Around a quarter are more interested in capital
  guaranteed or low risk investment. Many people are re-examining their
  retirement needs, with 62% of the respondents expressing interest in
  subscribing to a qualifying deferred annuity plan in the coming year.
• FTLife is launching
  Prosperous Deferred Annuity Plan 2, which is open to customers who are 20 years
  old or above. The guaranteed breakeven period is as short as eight years ^{[1]and the range of total internal rate of return at maturity between 3.28%
  to 4.32% [2] ,
  so as to encourage different customers, especially the younger generation, to
  start their retirement planning early for a better future.}

 

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 January 2021 -
FTLife Insurance Company Limited (“FTLife”) commissioned a market research
company to conduct “Retirement Planning and Confidence Survey” in December 2020.
The survey interviewed 405 working adults aged 20 or above to understand how
the pandemic affects Hongkongers’ retirement planning, wealth
management preference
and behaviours.

FTLife launches Prosperous
Deferred Annuity Plan 2 (Prosperous 2) today. From now until 31 March 2021,
customers who successfully subscribe to Prosperous 2 as well as one of the designated
Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme plans or insurance plans (basic plan/rider)
can enjoy up to 15% of first-year premium refund. The minimum issue age of
Prosperous 2 is 20 years old and the range of total Internal Rate of Return at
maturity can be up to 3.28% to 4.32%, helping customers achieve a stable and
independent retirement life.

COVID-19 pandemic has deeply
impacted the global economy. The survey revealed increased pessimistic about
retirement among respondents since the start of the pandemic. Before the outbreak,
around 16% said that they lacked confidence in retirement. During the pandemic,
the number quadrupled to around 70%, illustrating how the pandemic has
intensified Hongkongers’ worries about retirement. The top three worries cited are
rising retirement medical expenses (53%), a lack of stable income post-retirement
(52%) and greater difficulty coping with retirement expenses (50%).

 

Younger generation fall short
on mid- to long-term financial planning

 

About a quarter (24%) of the
respondents said their investment awareness has improved due to the uncertain
economy. However, two fifths (41%) are concerned about not making good investment
decisions in the current volatile market owing to a lack of market and
investment knowledge.

 

This is especially true among the
younger generation. Half (52%) of the younger respondents (aged 20 to 29) said
they lacked knowledge on investment products and nearly three fifths of them (59%)
said they did not know how to do mid- to long-term financial planning. Almost
three quarters (73%) said they have no regular saving habits.

 

Only 17% of those respondents aged
30 and over said they have no regular saving habits, with 40% saying they did
not know how to do such financial planning. That said, about one-third (35%) of
this group said that they didn’t have enough knowledge about investment products.

 

Hongkongers increasingly risk-averse

 

Due to the volatile market and the
pandemic, Hongkongers have become more risk-adverse leading to the adoption of more
conservative investment strategies. Nearly two fifths (37%) of those surveyed
prefer to hold cash savings, especially those aged
between 20 and 29 (62%). A quarter (25%) of the respondents are more
interested in capital guaranteed or low risk investment.

 

As the pandemic continues and dents
Hongkongers’ confidence in retirement, more respondents expressed their desire
for a stable income in retirement (55%) and acknowledged that qualifying deferred
annuity plan is a suitable first step of retirement planning (41%).

 

FTLife Chief Commercial
Officer and Chief Product Officer Christine Yeung said:
“Our latest survey found that Hongkongers’ confidence in retirement dropped during
the pandemic and many young people did not have regular saving habits. This may
result in missing the best timing to save for retirement and to achieve the rolling
effect of compound interest. Regardless of any economic cycle, it is best to
plan retirement early. For Hongkongers with limited amount of capital and little
investment experience, they can consider subscribing to a qualifying deferred annuity plan to start saving
early. They can enjoy tax deductions while taking the first step to plan for
retirement.”

 

With regard to the public’s retirement needs
under the pandemic, FTLife further investigated the public’s acceptance rate of
a qualifying deferred annuity plan in the
survey. The pandemic has prompted people to review their retirement protection
needs. More than three fifths (62%) of the respondents are interested in subscribing
to a qualifying deferred annuity plan in the
coming year. The most attractive features of such a plan include: stable income
in retirement (82%), regulatory supervision (53%), payment in installments involving
smaller amounts (47%), tax deductions (45%), higher guaranteed cash value and
lower investment risk (30%).

 

Minimum issue age of 20 for
FTLife’s Prosperous 2 helps customers plan ahead

 

In response to increasing public demand of worry-free retirement, FTLife
is launching the Prosperous Deferred Annuity Plan 2 ( Prosperous 2) and setting
the minimum issue age at 20 years old. This will allow customers to start their
retirement planning at an early age and enjoy tax deductions at the same time.

 

Prosperous 2 is certified by the Insurance Authority as a
tax-deductible qualifying deferred annuity policy, with options for Premium
Payment Period and Accumulation Period. Customers can accelerate potential
wealth growth through guaranteed cash value and non-guaranteed terminal
dividend ^{[3] . The guaranteed breakeven period can be as short as eight years1
and the range of total internal rate of return at maturity is between 3.28% to
4.32% 2 . During the annuity period, Prosperous 2 provides two extra protection
that are exclusive [4] in
the market: Travel Accidental Benefit and Terminal Illness Benefit.}

 

Ms. Yeung added: “Prosperous Deferred Annuity
Plan has been welcomed by customers since its launch. The enhanced version is being
launched during this special period to meet market demand and provide
Hongkongers with a simple but reassuring retirement plan. This is to encourage
more people to plan their retirement ahead, benefit from compound interest
return for a longer period, and utilise the best time to save for retirement.
With the diversified Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme that FTLife offers, we
are confident to provide customers of different ages an ideal retirement
planning package, helping customers achieve a stable and independent retirement
life while protecting capital and against health risks.”

 

From now until 31 March 2021, customers who
successfully subscribe to Prosperous 2 as well as one of the designated Voluntary
Health Insurance Scheme plans or insurance plans ^[5] (basic plan/rider) can enjoy up to 15% of first-year premium refund ^[6] .

Important notes:

• The
  information contained in this press release is intended as a general summary of
  information for reference only. For details, please refer to relevant product
  brochures and client incentive leaflet. Please refer to the policy provision
  for full terms and conditions about FTLife “Prosperous Deferred Annuity Plan
  2”.
• This
  press release does not contain the full provisions of Prosperous Deferred Annuity
  Plan 2 and the above-mentioned designated insurance plans, and the full terms
  can be found in the Policy documents.
• Prosperous
  Deferred Annuity Plan 2 and the above-mentioned designated insurance plans may
  be purchased as   a standalone plan
  without bundling with other type(s) of insurance product.
• Prosperous
  Deferred Annuity Plan 2 is a qualifying deferred annuity policy, but this does
  not mean that the qualifying deferred annuity premiums paid by the policyholder
  and relevant persons are eligible for tax deduction. The nature of qualifying
  deferred annuity policy for this product depends on the product characteristics
  and the certification issued by the Insurance Authority, and not on the
  individual circumstances of the policyholder and related persons. Policyholders
  and the relevant persons should meet all eligibility requirements under the
  Inland Revenue Ordinance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Inland
  Revenue Department before claiming tax deductions. For
  details on tax deductions, please visit Inland Revenue Department of HKSAR
  website www.ird.gov.hk and
  consult your tax and accounting advisors for tax advice.
• FTLife does not provide any tax, legal or
  accounting advice or consultation. If you have any questions, please seek
  professional advice from your independent tax, legal and accounting advisors.
  The information in this press
  release does
  not constitute any tax advice.
• For
  further details, please contact FTLife’s Customer Service Hotline on +852 2866
  8898.
• This
  document is for distribution in Hong Kong only. It is not an offer to sell or
  solicitation to buy or provision of any insurance product outside Hong Kong.
  FTLife does not offer or sell any insurance product in any jurisdiction outside
  Hong Kong, in which such offering or sales of the insurance product is illegal
  under the laws of such jurisdictions.