Mr. Xavier Chan, the Founder and Managing Partner of CWK Global, and Mr. Ray Lee, Vice-Chairman of Hong Kong Accounting Professionals Association, monthly share their views towards financial planning on “Privilege Vita”.
The number of females in Hong Kong has been rising significantly. It is projected that the population of female elderly in Hong Kong will increase to about 1.6 million by 2069, which accounts for around 21% of the city’s entire population. As the life expectancy for both sexes has steadily increased, women live longer than men. Although longevity is commonly regarded as a blessing, it may also be a challenge to females when it comes to retirement planning. But what is so special about females? An interesting fact found that after spouses have passed away, 70% of females tend to stop working with their current financial planners, whose financial planning is far from their expectations. The result also brings out a question on whether the current wealth management fulfills females’ satisfactions.
Traditionally, females give up their careers because of family responsibility. The personal disposable income decreases and they have less money on savings or investments, which indirectly leads to a more conservative investment attitude. However, this may be way less prevalent among the younger generation. The number of young working females is increasing, yet most investment information and opinions are catered for males. Thus, there is an actual need to give more weight to females’ opinions regarding family wealth management planning and to move on from the traditional practice of relying on men to make investment decisions.
