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The HSBC Quality of Life Report 2024

Discover the latest global insights and trends that are driving change in financial fitness, physical wellness and mental wellness.

Planning and investing for a better quality of life

The HSBC Quality of Life Report captures insights from 11,230 affluent investors across 11 markets, to understand what they consider to be a good quality of life.

This report explores the relationship between physical and mental wellness, and financial fitness. It highlights people's life priorities and preparedness towards wealth management and financial planning – and how they evolve across generations.

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TED - Quality of Life explainer video

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Key findings

Shows the quality of life score across 11 markets. The three regions in the Venn diagram each represent one of the three dimensions of wealth: physical wellness, mental wellness, and financial fitness. The intersection of the three regions represents the average quality of life score, which is 76. The physical wellness score is 72, financial fitness score is 78, and the mental wellness score is 77.

What is Quality of Life?

In our Quality of Life Report 2024, we asked more than 11,200 people around the world what they'd define as a good quality of life.

The Quality of Life Index is an average score that's derived from a multidimensional concept. This concept covers physical and mental wellness, and financial fitness. The average index is currently 76. That's one point up from 2023.

Includes two statistics with accompanying icons. The first statistic shows the correlation between physical wellness and mental wellness and has an icon of a person stretching. The text reads ‘Those with high physical wellness are 10.3 times as likely to have good mental wellness.’ The second statistic shows the correlation between mental wellness and financial fitness and has the icon of a brain. The text reads ‘Those with good mental wellness are 2.1 times as likely to have good financial fitness.’

How the three dimensions connect

The three dimensions are highly interconnected. Those who score high on physical wellness are 10.3× as likely to score above average on mental wellness too. And those who score above average on mental wellness are 3.7× as likely to score high on physical wellness.

Plus, spending time with friends and family, socialising and volunteering all go towards improving a person's quality of life.

Represents the number of affluents who are satisfied with their Quality of Life, separated into three different categories of planners. 6 out of 10 basic planners are satisfied, 8 out of 10 proactive planners are satisfied, and 9 out of 10 power planners are satisfied.

Power Planners score higher

Only 19% of the affluent are Power Planners across all 4 financial planning pillars. These are: healthcare protection, wealth accumulation, retirement and legacy planning. Those who are proactive in their financial planning report 50% more satisfaction with their quality of life. This is in comparison to Basic Planners.
Represents the percentage of power planners by financial planning pillar. 77 out of 100 are healthcare protection power planners, 61 out of 100 are wealth management power planners, 35 out of 100 are retirement power planners, only 2 out of 100 are legacy power planners.

How well are the affluent planning?

The 4 key pillars of a comprehensive financial plan are healthcare protection, retirement, wealth accumulation, and legacy. Individuals tend to excel in planning for healthcare protection. But they fall short when it comes to addressing their legacy.

Planning for a better quality of life

Shows the top three financial goals across all generations. The title reads ‘Top 3 goals...’. The three goals are ‘gain wealth for financial security, 46%, and planning for retirement 44%, supporting family, 39%.’

1. Set life and financial goals

Financial stability is a high priority for every generation. Those who are less financially fit worry about job security. They also worry about the rising costs of living, such as the costs of owning a home.
Shows that 23% of affluent do not have adequate healthcare protection. A large ring chart shows that the average score is 23%. Next to this chart are icons showing each generation and their average physical wellness scores. Gen Z has increased to 22, Millennials have increased to 22, Gen X has increased to 25, and Baby Boomers have increased to 23.

2. Ensure enough healthcare protection

Keeping good physical and mental health is a top priority for the affluent. One of their top 5 financial goals is to have enough insurance to cover rising healthcare costs.
Shows the percentage of people who don’t know their retirement needs. The image is four graphic icons representing people side by side. One of the figures is red with a question mark above their head. The text reads, ‘One in four people don’t know how much they need for retirement.’

3. Plan ahead for retirement

A good quality of life is closely linked to having a comprehensive retirement plan. Those who are satisfied with their quality of life understand their retirement needs better, and have a clear plan in place. Power Planners and those who proactively plan for their retirement are 1.4× as likely to be satisfied with their quality of life.
Shows the correlation between legacy planning and Quality of Life. It has an icon showing two hands holding coins. It is accompanied by text which reads ‘Those who score high on legacy planning are 1.1 times more satisfied with their quality of life.’

4. Legacy planning

Among the affluent, only 2 in 100 are legacy Power Planners. Legacy planning goes beyond the financial and material. Passing on values is an important goal for the affluent around the world. Younger generations are more likely to include charitable giving in their legacy planning.

Explore related insights

See the HSBC Affluent Investor Snapshot 2024, and read our in-depth articles, for a more comprehensive analysis of the findings.

  HSBC Affluent Investor Snapshot 2024 This link will open in a new window

Dive deeper into our findings on affluent investment trends(PDF, 8MB).

  The power of portfolio diversification This link will open in a new window

Find out how investors are diversifying their portfolio and why it's important to diversify yours(PDF, 648KB).

  Why should I invest? This link will open in a new window

Learn more about why you should consider investing and how affluent investors allocate their cash(PDF, 1009KB).
  Peace of mind through diversification This link will open in a new window
Learn more about the secret connection between resilience, risk, and portfolio diversification(PDF, 1.9MB).
  Financial planning and quality of life This link will open in a new window
Find out how financial planning helps protect against future challenges(PDF, 644KB).

The HSBC Quality of Life Report

Explore the full report

Download the global edition of the HSBC Quality of Life Report.

Download full report for a HSBC international service quality of life report This link will open in a new window

Find out your Quality of Life score

Tell us about your lifestyle and we'll calculate your score. We'll ask about your financial knowledge, planning habits, fitness, and mindset. You'll also get tips that will help you set achievable goals and increase your quality of life. You can come back and calculate your score in the future to see if it improves.

Calculate my Quality of Life score This link will open in a new window

How your score is calculated 

Access previous Quality of Life Reports 

Learning more about quality of life and wellbeing

Through the HSBC Research Fellowship at University of Oxford, we are supporting some of the leading researchers in the science of Wellbeing. 

Click the videos below to learn more about their perspectives on quality of life and wellbeing.

Download Transcript Download the four elements of wellbeing video transcription This link will open in a new window
Download Transcript Download how to improve your wellbeing video transcription This link will open in a new window
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