MGT6208E: “Rakyat Quality of Life” is the core of the New Economic Model for Malaysia, and as the Nation embarks on reaching the developed-country status by 2020,

Assignment Case

“Rakyat Quality of Life” is the core of the New Economic Model for Malaysia, and as the Nation embarks on reaching the developed-country status by 2020, the standards of living shall be enhanced accordingly. Improvement in the quality of healthcare and other social services over past decades significantly increased the average expected life of Malaysian citizens.

It is expected that by 2020, more than 9.9 percent of Malaysians become older than 60 years. This upward trend suggests that wellbeing of aging population of Malaysia requires immediate attention. Moreover, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) annual reports suggest that more than 90 percent of individuals at the age of retirement own less than RM100’000 in their EPF accounts, which is not sufficient for covering post-retirement living expenses. Therefore, the accumulation of private wealth becomes crucial.

Saving pattern is affected by extent of financial capabilities of individuals and also varies across various demographic groups such as gender, ethnicity, education, work orientation, and income group.

This research aims to address this issue by assessing the financial literacy of Malaysian adults and identifying the wealth accumulation behaviour of households as a prerequisite for their retirement planning decision making by developing a framework based on financial capabilities, availability, accessibility, and affordability of private retirement plans and individual’s awareness of these requirements.

Findings of this research should enable policymakers to incentivize private retirement planning in conjunction with EPF and other State-sponsored support mechanisms. Findings will also help the industry to develop retirement packages favoured by wider range of individuals or develop customized products for clienteles.

The aim of this project is to provide a strategic action plan

Action plan (1500 words) Suggestion and recommendations to address;

a) Policymakers

b) Government agency

c) Insurance and Investment companies