Retirement insecurity is widespread in Malaysia, with slightly more than half surveyed fearing poverty after they hang up their tools.

However, The Global Aging Institute (GAI) found there is a marked improvement compared to 2011, where a whopping 83 percent said they feared "being poor and in need of money".

Today, just over half still fear being a burden to their children while about a third fear being unhealthy and having no one to care for them.

When the same survey was done in 2011, at least 80 percent had those fears.

"The explanation may lie in the large increase in the share of retirees who report receiving means-tested old-age assistance," researchers Richard Jackson and Tobias Peter said in the report released today.

In 2011, only five percent reported receiving assistance, compared to about a quarter today.

Belief life is better

Despite widespread concern about retirement insecurity, a growing number of working Malaysians are confident they will be better off after retirement.

"Thirty-two percent expect that they will have more income when retired than they do today, a larger share than in any other country except China.

"Meanwhile just 16 percent expect that they will have a lot less income, a smaller share than in any other country, except Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam," Jackson and Peter said.

They attributed this positive outlook on a growing number of Malaysians looking to generate post-retirement income from insurance or annuity products, as well as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds.

Jackson and Peter however cautioned that these expectations may not necessarily come true.

On a different aspect, the report also highlight changing family roles in Malaysia, including that only eight percent of Malaysians believe that grown children should look after their retired parents, compared to 14 percent previously.

Fifteen percent of Malaysians also believe that the retired are a burden and contribute little to society.

"Sadly, it is the elderly themselves who are most likely to believe that they have little to contribute and are mostly a burden. Among adults aged 60-69, 19 percent expressed this view, and among adults aged 70 and over, 23 percent did," the researchers said.

Overall, Malaysians expect that each generation of workers will have higher living standards and that each new generation of retirees will be more financially secure.

The survey was conducted on more than 10,000 respondents from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.