In the past few years, the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board has conducted surveys on Hong Kong people’s sense of security on savings in order to understand Hong Kong people’s savings ability and habits, as well as their conception of savings protection. According to the latest survey report released in 2021, the pandemic has reduced the saving ability of Hong Kong people. Several data have been recorded at the lowest level in recently years, including the proportion of respondents with saving habits and their saving amount.
Under the influence of COVID-19, many Hong Kong people could not travel abroad and should be able to save more money. However, the survey shows that only 62% of respondents have saving habit, which is 5% less than last year. As for the average monthly savings per person, it was $6,600, which also decreased by 6% year-on-year.
In addition, only 20% of respondents who have saving habit have set a saving target, which was reduced by 18% year-on-year. This drop reflects that Hong Kong people's livelihoods may be affected under the pandemic. Naturally, it becomes difficult for them to set savings goals.
Respondents rated their sense of security brought about by their current savings as 53.2 points, which is a barely passing score. They revealed that they need an average of HK$490,000 in savings in order to feel financially secure, but this amount does not seem to be enough to meet the needs of home ownership, migration or retirement.
Overall, this survey reflects that the saving ability of respondents has declined and they showed less initiative in saving money. Although saving less is not a major problem in the short term, it will have impacts on long-term life planning. For example, it will be too late to regret it if you only realize that your saving is not enough when you reach the retirement age.
In fact, saving can not only help in case of need, but it can also bring you returns. You can flexibly use your saving to invest in wealth management products with value-added features, such as funds and savings insurance. Feel free to contact our financial consultants to discuss savings and investment plans that suit your risk tolerance level.
Source:
Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board
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