T. Rowe Price: 55% of Hong Kong Residents Expect AI to Hit Their Retirement, but Only One in Five Feels Ready

Asset manager T. Rowe Price surveyed 1004 Hong Kong residents and found that anxiety clearly outpaces preparation. About 55% of respondents expect AI to destabilize their long-term careers and income. More than half are convinced the road to retirement will be less predictable than it was for previous generations. Only one in five considers themselves financially ready for such shifts. The findings were reported by SCMP Tech.

Who was surveyed and what they said

The survey covered working adults in Hong Kong aged 30 and over who earn at least HK$15 000 a month (about $2239). These are not students or entry-level employees, but people who already have a career trajectory and savings they could lose or protect. Scaled to the sample, about 550 people expect AI disruption in their careers, and roughly 200 call themselves financially prepared.

Key figures from the study:

• 1004 respondents, all aged 30+ with a monthly income of at least HK$15 000;
• about 55% expect AI to undermine the stability of their careers and income over the long term;
• more than half consider their path to retirement less predictable than that of previous generations;
• roughly 20% feel financially prepared for such a shift;
• organizer: global asset manager T. Rowe Price.

The gap between fear and readiness

The most interesting part is not the level of anxiety but the distance between the two numbers. When the same people mostly expect trouble and only a minority feel protected, that points to a shortage of tools, not information. AI and the labor market have been discussed for a long time, and respondents are clearly aware of it. But only a few manage to turn that knowledge into a concrete plan (a safety cushion, retraining, a review of pension contributions).

Retirement planning rests on the assumption that a career follows a familiar curve: rising income, a peak, a gradual exit. If AI breaks that curve, for example by cutting demand for certain professions or changing salary structures, standard calculators start giving wrong answers. Judging by the wording, T. Rowe Price's respondents sense exactly this.

How to read the data

The survey has limitations worth keeping in mind. First, it measures self-reported sentiment, not a labor-market forecast. People can overestimate or underestimate AI's real impact on their profession. Second, the study was conducted by an asset manager that benefits when clients think about retirement products. That does not invalidate the numbers, but it sets the context. Third, the income threshold and the 30+ age limit mean that younger and less affluent workers are not in the sample. How they assess their own prospects is unknown from the available data.

The material also contains no breakdown by industry. It remains unclear who is more anxious: office workers, finance professionals, lawyers or engineers. Those are exactly the details that would show how well-founded the fears are.

What to do about it in practice

For workers, the takeaway is down-to-earth. If you are among the 55%, start by assessing how much of your job can be automated and how quickly you could replace your income if you lost it. Then compare that with the size of your reserve: how many months you could last without a salary and how that affects your retirement contributions.

For employers and HR teams, the data sets the agenda: retraining programs and transparency about AI adoption plans reduce anxiety more than general reassurances do. For financial firms, the demand is obvious for products and advice built for non-linear careers, with flexible contributions and the ability to recalculate a plan when someone changes professions.

The main question for the coming years is whether the 35-percentage-point gap between expectation and readiness will narrow through better preparation or because the anxiety turns out to be exaggerated.