| dc.description.abstract | According to a report issued by the National Development Council (NDC), Taiwan will soon become a super-aged society in 2025. The rate of population aging in Taiwan is similar to that in Japan and Korea, but is much higher than that in other OECD countries. In general, high-income citizens can accumulate enough wealth for a comfortable retirement. In contrast, underprivileged citizens may expect comprehensive social security assistance from the Government. However, the middle-class citizens face a challenging situation regarding their retirement; That is, having invested on the mortgages and for supporting children′s education, middle class′s remaining savings are insufficient for their retirement. Whether their existing property and the government retirement protection plan can provide the security of their retirement in the future has become of vast importance to nowadays.
Hong Kong and Taiwan are both typical Chinese societies; As the elderly are expected to be able to pass their property possessions onto next generations as heritage. Having served as a major international financial center in Asia, Hong Kong is facing the problems of population aging as well. The Hong Kong Government provides several retirement schemes for the elderly, they are ＂Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes＂ (MPF), ＂HKMC Annuity Plan,＂ ＂Old Age Living Allowance,＂ ＂Reverse Mortgage Programme,＂ ＂TWGHs Tenancy Management for Senior-owner Occupiers,＂ as well as the ＂Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme.＂ By contrast, the existing academic literature mainly focuses on research topics relating to “reverse mortgage loans” only, such as how the loans are designed, or how they can serve the retirees if combining with other financial investments. However, it is concerning that other financial investments may result in higher risk and subsequent financial loss for the elderly, although those investments may provide returns higher than that from risk-free deposits.
This study aims to fill the gap in the existing literature by analyzing a base case where a middle-class couple residing in Hong Kong intends to utilize their property for housing services and may also generate cash flows to cover their living stipend and medical costs after retirement. This study then analyzes four scenarios in which the typical couple will also employ various retirement schemes provided by Hong Kong Government.
The results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, supposing that the typical middle-class Hong Kong couple has no intention to leave their property to next generations, they can enjoy a comfortable retirement by using a ＂Reverse Mortgage Programme”. Secondly, this couple will need extra financial support for their retirement, if they intend to pass their real estate onto next generations. However, this financial difficulty can be resolved for couples who are willing to relocate to the Greater Bay Area if they also utilize both the services provided by the ＂TWGHs Tenancy Management＂ and the relocating plan specified under the ＂Guangdong Scheme＂. | en_US |