The Hong Kong Government has been supportive in nurturing the development of a retirement planning market that provides monetization of wealth accumulated during working lifetime for improving retirement living. Hong Kong is one of the few countries that has all three such products available, namely, immediate life annuity, reverse mortgage and policy reverse mortgage, collectively referred to the "decumulation products". The products are being offered by the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC), a public sector entity, with a mission to help develop the retirement planning market. In order to ensure the products are affordable and sustainable, HKMC strives to better manage the risks and promote wider private participation in making more products available. In 2021, the Hospital Authority provided medical data to the HKMC for the development of a life expectancy estimation model that helps to supplement models that are developed based on overseas data. This development will hopefully improve individual's life expectancy estimate and enable development of new products tailored to the specific needs of individuals. Powered by AI technology in many medical related fields, human life expectancy estimates made based on historical data may no longer be adequate for insurance product pricing purposes. More research on new methodology that captures the impact of technological advancement on human life expectancy will be essential for ensuring long-term viability of these retirement products.
