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A telephone survey was conducted from 20 to 25 April 2017 by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to gauge public views on the Life Annuity Scheme, proposed by the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Ltd. (HKMC).   A total of 751 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 38.3%.  The sampling error is plus or minus 3.58 percentage points at a confidence level of 95%. 

Major findings are summarized as follows: 

The survey showed that 58.5% of the respondents heard about the Life Annuity Scheme, and the rest 41.5% did not.  Approximately 66.0% of the respondents supported the scheme while19.9% did not. 

According to the survey, half of the respondents (50.1%) believed that the maximum premium, tentatively set at HK$1 million, was “appropriate”, whereas 25.3% regarded it as “too high” and 8.4% “too low”.  As to the minimum premium, tentatively set at HK$50,000, 52.1% of the respondents said it was “appropriate”, 24.5% believed it was “too low,” and those having chosen “too high” accounted for 6.5% only.  As for the HK$10 billion cap of the Scheme, about 34.9% of the respondents regarded it as “appropriate,” 30.5% considered it “too little” and 7.2% “too much”. 

The intentions for participation in the Scheme among both the respondents aged 65 or above (eligible applicants of the scheme) and the younger were recorded too.  18.3% and 19.0% of those who aged 65 or above chose “definitely yes” and “probably yes,” respectively, indicating that a total of 37.3% of the elderly were interested in the scheme.  14.0% and 44.3% of those who aged less than 65 (not eligible for the scheme at this point) also showed interest in the Scheme and would choose the options of “definitely yes” and “probably yes,” respectively, if they were now 65 years old. In other words, their intentions for subscription of the Scheme (58.3%) seemed higher than the eligible elderly. 

The main reason for those aged 65 or above not to participate in the Scheme was financial consideration.  “Lack of capital or insufficient money” was the most mentioned reason (49.0%), followed by “lack of understanding of the Scheme” (19.8%) and “return is not attractive” (11.5%).  The main reason for those aged less than 65 was “lack of understanding of the Scheme” (34.4%), “lack of capital or insufficient money” (24.3%) and “preferring to invest on my own” (19.8%). 

Those who claimed that they would definitely or probably participate in the Scheme were asked about how much they would invest.  It turned out that 24.6% of those aged 65 or above would invest “HK$200,000 to less than HK$500,000,” followed by “HK$500,000 to less than HK$1 million” (21.1%) and “HK$1 million” (22.8%).  Those who would invest “HK$50,000 to less than HK$200,000” accounted for 15.8%. By contrast, more respondents who aged less than 65 would invest “HK$500,000 to less than HK$1 million” (25.9%) and “HK$200,000 to less than HK$500,000” (23.0%). 

The survey also found that while about 56.0% of the respondents said they would encourage other elder family members to participate in the annuity scheme (including the 14.3% who chose “definitely yes” and the 41.7%  “probably yes”), another 28.7% said they would not.

Lastly, when nearly half of the respondents (48.5%) said that they were worried about insufficient means to support themselves after retirement, another 40.4% reported that they were not. 

To sum up, the respondents were quite positive about the “Life Annuity Scheme” and it is believed that the Scheme will be welcome.  However, the survey also found that a lot of people are lack of understanding of the Scheme, and the authorities should probably introduce the Scheme in more details to the public.