People investing in their wealth retire earlier

Oksana Patron

22 March 2023

Investors are expected to retire, on average, three years earlier than non-investors, according to survey by global market research firm YouGov commissioned by private market exchange ADDX.

Additionally, the retirement expectation gap was more pronounced in the case of investors with allocations to private market assets, who expected to retire nine years earlier than non-investors.

The survey, which covered both Europe and Asia, also found that the average expected retirement age was 62.1 among non-investors and 59.2 among investors and, for those who invest in the private markets, the average expected retirement age was lower still, at 53.5.

In total, just 19% of people who do not invest expect to retire before the age of 60, compared to 31% of people who invest. For people who invest in private market assets, this figure goes up to 47%.

Globally, 29% of respondents do not invest and the gender gap was significant, with nearly four in 10 women (37%) saying they do not invest, compared with just two in 10 men (21%) who said the same.

By age group, the share of non-investors was also higher among Generation Z (32%), Baby Boomers (38%) and respondents from London (48%). By contrast, only 13% of respondents from Hong Kong were non-investors.

As far as regional findings were concerned, Asian investors tended to look for safer options and expressed a preference for fixed deposits, with about one in two perceiving the asset class as a core component of their investment portfolio and nearly half of respondents from Singapore (46%) and Hong Kong (47%) said they would choose fixed deposits as one of their top three investments.

Respondents from Hong Kong also leant heavily toward stocks, with 60% choosing that option as one of their top three investments.

In contrast, investors from Europe preferred a more balanced allocation across asset classes. For London investors, interest was consistent across fixed deposits (28% included this option in their top three investments), stocks (30%), bonds and fixed income (27%), as well as funds (21%).

Of the regions covered in the survey, Singapore respondents were the most future-oriented. Asked what they would do if they unexpectedly inherited US$100,000, 39% of Singapore respondents said would set aside 90% to 100% of the sum to invest, compared with 22% in Hong Kong, 33% in Frankfurt and 32% in London.