HSBC Retirement Report

Age Wave, directed by Ken Dychtwald PhD, is one of America's leading analysts of the new maturing market, and the market research firm Harris Interactive combines strategic consulting with investigation, analysis and application.

Interviews were conducted with representative samples of adults, face to face or by telephone, in September and October 2004. In the UK, the USA, France, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong and Canada, sample sizes were approximately 1,000.

In Japan, India and China, sample sizes were greater than 1,400 - ensuring that our results are statistically significant for these larger or more diverse populations.

HSBC's research has discovered that:

• There is a new vision of later life: Later life is increasingly seen as a time of opportunity and reinvention, rather than of rest and relaxation. All over the world, more people want their retirements to include periods of work, education and leisure. Traditional
definitions of old age are considered outdated and are being redefined.

• Worldwide, attitudes to ageing and to older people vary dramatically: While ageism is common in large parts of the world, many people have very positive attitudes to older people and to
their own later years.

• There is a global rejection of a mandatory retirement age Throughout the world, people believe that employees should be able to go on working to any age - so long as they are still capable of doing their jobs well. They consider that age-based restrictions hinder the active life that they want to lead in their later years.

• Countries and territories, organisations and individuals could do more to prepare: Countries and territories vary greatly in how prepared they are for demographic changes, and everyone - employers, governments, financial service providers and individuals - could do more to adapt.

• The role of the family is changing: Future generations of older people may not receive the care and financial support they expect from their families. In many countries and territories, people consider it increasingly important to be self-reliant in later life.