Over the next decade, Asian families will transfer an estimated $10 trillion—nearly twice the size of Germany’s GDP—to the next generation. Yet there’s a nuanced story emerging behind that headline figure. As people live longer, they’re rethinking how preserve their own independence while still passing enough wealth to their children.

Asia is the fastest-aging region in the world. Fifteen percent of its population is over the age of 60; that share is projected to rise to 26% by 2050, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Some of the world’s longest-living populations are also in Asia, led by Hong Kong, where life expectancy is 85.5 years. In mainland China, life expectancy rose from around 52 in 1963 to 78 today.

This transformation isn’t just a demographic story. Greater longevity is reshaping how people think about wealth, care, and responsibility within the family.

For generations, many in Asia assumed that wealth would be passed to children, through the funding of education and home ownership, or leaving an eventual inheritance—with children later caring for their parents in old age. But today’s families are planning things differently. Our data shows that adults in Asia are increasingly prioritizing autonomy, health, and financial security over maximizing the inheritance they leave behind.

The next chapter of Asia’s wealth transfer won’t be defined only by the money parents leave behind. It will also be measured by something potentially more valuable: the freedom to support their own longer, more independent lives—and, in turn, relieve their children of the financial and emotional burdens of caregiving.

Manulife’s Asia Care Survey 2026 of 9,000 adults across nine Asia markets, shows how far this shift towards independence has progressed. Men in Asia anticipate funding 14 years of their own care in later life, and women 15 years, at a time when fewer older people than ever are living with their adult children.

The survey’s respondents overwhelmingly value independence and financial freedom over passing down tangible assets to their family. Regionwide, 83% said securing that freedom was more important than leaving their heirs the maximum amount of wealth.

Respondents plan to earmark an average of 68% of their money and assets to fund their own costs, including health care, as they age, leaving the rest to their children. This ratio varied across markets, with those in Taiwan expecting to spend the most on their own health and care at 78%, and those in the Philippines and Indonesia planning to spend the least, both at 60%.

This shift should be welcomed because it reflects a more sustainable response to longer lives. When people plan to fund their own needs later in life, they are ensuring that they don’t become a source of financial strain for the whole family.

This matters particularly in Asia, where the traditional model of care is under pressure. Families are smaller, adult children are more mobile, and older people are less likely to live under the same roof as the next generation. The United Nations Population Fund warns that changing family structures and migration are weakening informal support systems for older people across Asia-Pacific, even as many formal health and social-care systems remain unable to keep pace with demand.

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