An increasingly higher number of high-net-worth Taiwanese believe they will live to be 100 and are changing their spending and investment habits and attitude to focus on longevity, UBS Group AG’s annual wealth report has found.
Almost half of wealthy Taiwanese believe they will live to be 100, higher than 46 percent in Singapore, but lower than 59 percent in Hong Kong, said the report that polled more than 5,000 millionaires around the world.
The wealthiest people expect to live the longest and are the most willing to sacrifice wealth for better health, it said, adding that they are willing to spend on medical care, insurance, preventative medicine, gym memberships, personal trainers, supplements and other lifestyle expenses.
The prospect of living for 100 years is changing investment behavior in Taiwan, with 58 percent of millionaires planning to adjust their long-term financial plans and 39 percent adjusting their spending patterns, it said.
More than half of millionaires will make, or have made, more long-term investment decisions, with equities, bonds and real-estate properties seen as strong investment targets, it said, adding that a minority hold the belief that cash is also a good investment tool.
“Because the prospect of living to 100 creates financial anxiety, people have responded [by adjusting] financial holdings and inheritance planning to accommodate the expectations,” UBS Taiwan country head Dennis Chen (陳允懋) said.
Living to an advanced age is also affecting the way affluent people plan their legacies, the survey found.
About 64 percent plan to give more away while they are still alive, it found.
Eighty-six percent of Taiwanese respondents said working is good for their health, but added that excessive work that could have the opposite effect, it said.
Consequently, more rich Asians are avoiding work on the weekends, choosing to turn off their mobile phones and not check their e-mails, the survey said.
About 71 percent of millionaires in Taiwan and Hong Kong and 68 percent in Singapore have stopped working on weekends, it said.
Wealthy Taiwanese assign more importance to good health than wealth, with 79 percent saying they are in good health, the survey found.
However, 71 percent expressed worry that their health might deteriorate in the next 10 years and many would sacrifice one-third of their fortune if doing so could guarantee another 10 years of healthy life, it said.
Eighty-seven percent of Taiwanese millionaires said they feel a duty to help less fortunate people stay healthy, the poll said.
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