Retirement Planning Template for Hong Kong

Hong Kong does not have a state pension in the traditional sense. There is no equivalent of Social Security or a government-funded retirement benefit tied to years of work. The closest mechanism is the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), but this is a defined-contribution scheme - meaning the payout depends entirely on how much was contributed and how the investments performed, not on a guaranteed formula. For anyone who started working before the MPF's launch in 2000, there may be a gap in accumulated retirement savings that the scheme was never designed to fill.

The MPF's mandatory contributions are capped at HKD 1,500/month from each side (employee and employer), based on a maximum relevant income of HKD 30,000. For higher earners, this cap means mandatory MPF contributions represent a shrinking percentage of actual income. Tax-Deductible Voluntary Contributions (TVC) allow additional savings of up to HKD 60,000 a year against a salaries tax deduction shared with qualifying deferred annuity premiums, and some employers run ORSO schemes (Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance) with different benefit terms. One further change worth knowing: since 1 May 2025 employers can no longer offset severance and long service payments against accrued MPF benefits, so balances built up from that date stay intact when employment ends. Which schemes apply, and what balance they project to at retirement, is where a projection usually starts.

Healthcare is one of the less predictable costs in retirement planning for Hong Kong. The public hospital system, managed by the Hospital Authority, provides care at heavily subsidized rates - but waiting times for specialist and elective services can stretch to months or years. Private healthcare costs are significant and tend to rise faster than general inflation. Medical insurance premiums increase steeply with age, and coverage gaps or exclusions become more common for older policyholders. Treating healthcare as a separate, growing line item rather than a fixed number is one way to keep a projection closer to reality.

The Old Age Allowance (colloquially known as "fruit money") and the Old Age Living Allowance provide modest government support for residents aged 65 and above, subject to residency requirements and, for the Old Age Living Allowance, a means test on income and assets. The Old Age Allowance pays the smaller of the two amounts and is not means-tested. Both rates are adjusted each February in line with price movements, and the current figures sit on the Social Welfare Department's Social Security Allowance pages. Neither payment is designed to fund a full retirement, so for most people the combination of MPF, personal savings, and investment income forms the core of retirement funding in Hong Kong.