Malaysia's Middle Class Cities Health Among Top Life Goals

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- Sixty-eight per cent of Malaysia's middle class rated being healthy as one of their top life goals, 38 per cent cited having a happy marriage or relationship while 35 per cent gave top priority for a comfortable retirement. This was the result of a survey undertaken by AIA on Malaysia's Middle Class Hopes and Aspiration conducted in July 2014. AIA Bhd Chief Marketing Officer Thomas Wong said Malaysia's middle class also expected their life situations to improve over the next 12 months, as indicated by the AIA Middle Class Index (MCI) score of 60.5, where scores above 50 shows more expect situations to improve than to worsen. "Even so, they cited affordability of healthcare (51 per cent), unexpected emergencies (46 per cent) and cost of housing (31 per cent) as their main concerns. "This demonstrated that the group placed more value on health over wealth," he said at a briefing on healthcare and retirement concerns of middle-class Malaysians here, Thursday. The survey was conducted by Ipsos, an independent organisation, involving 500 respondents aged 25 years and above in Peninsular Malaysia with an average household income of US$1,778 (RM6,339) per month. It also covers five other Asean countries in which AIA operates, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Across the region, only eight per cent cited becoming wealthy as their major life motivator. On financial security, Wong said the majority of Malaysia's middle class believed that they needed US$420,890 (RM1.5 million) in asset value to be financially secure, compared with Thailand (US$101,013), the Philippines (US$242,432) and Indonesia (US$126,517). (US$1 = RM3.56) "Fifty-three per cent believe that financial security can be achieved in their lifetime while 47 per cent feel financial security is a never-ending pursuit," he said. Wong said retirement was also considered a serious challenge with 33 per cent citing enjoying a comfortable retirement as the most difficult goal to achieve in life, while 53 per cent were worried that they would not able to save enough. To achieve their retirement plans, Malaysia's middle class indicated a variety of investment instruments including contributing to a regular retirement plan (70 per cent), investing in the stock market (70 per cent), real estate (61 per cent) and regular savings account (50 per cent). The average amount that Malaysia's middle class desires to have for retirement is US$532,943 (RM1.9 million). Wong further noted that family and education were the key motivators for them to make a better life, mainly for their children. "Twenty-eight per cent of the Malaysian respondents who currently work full time would like the chance to become a 'stay-at-home' parent for their children, a number higher than any other Asean markets surveyed (17 per cent)," he added. -- BERNAMA