Whilst America’s workforce retires later; Asia prepares for a surge of elderly millionaires

Running out of money during retirement is forcing record numbers of older Americans to stay in the workforce, new research has revealed.

Nearly half of the respondents aged 50 or over are working longer than they planned to — on average, by around three more years, according to the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

It seems that slowly, 80 is the new 60 when it comes to enjoying a retirement in America.

The problem is due to an underestimation of the finances needed to fund retirement.

“Most clients are about to turn 60 or right after it, preparing for retirement, and their concern [is]: Are they going to have enough money to live through retirement?” said Jeff Speight, a financial planner at Houston’s Tanglewood Wealth Management.

Golden Asia

The research comes at a time when rising wealth from Asia’s rapid growth in recent decades is changing the way many Asians grow old – by enjoying their golden years in retirement communities featuring heating swimming pools, proximity to activities such as golf and an increasingly attractive standard of living.

The change is an increasing source of revenue for many companies focused on care for the elderly, including India’s Tata Housing Development, and Singapore’s ECON Healthcare Group.

Excluding Japan, the market in Asia will be worth about USD 2 trillion by 2017 – larger the current Indian economy – according to Ageing Asia, based in Singapore.

Even though populations in Asia are still among the world’s smallest, United Nations data suggests the proportion of people aged over 60 in India alone will more than double to 18% by 2050; up from about 8% in 2010.

In Southeast Asia, it is predicted the ratio will increase from 8% to 22%.

These numbers, and others like it, makes the market compelling for many investors, notes Managing Director at Ageing Asia, Janice Chia.

This is because increasing amounts of those retirees will be wealthy.

As a region, Asia-Pacific will see an increase of millionaires of up to 75% over the next five years, according to Credit Suisse AG.

Australia and New Zealand Bank Ltd’s Melbourne-based Economist Dylan Eades notes “there’s quite a significant economic opportunity for private companies in marketing to wealthier retirees.”

This is expressly seen at Riva Residences in Bangalore – Tata Housing’s first senior-living community – which generated over 4,000 inquiries during its launch month.

Whilst it remains to be seen what exactly this means for these countries, these numbers surely indicate a massive opportunity for the world’s investors.

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