This article reexamines the assumptions of the feminization-of-poverty thesis by investigating the perceptions of Hong Kong Chinese women regarding old age and the women’s strategies for dealing with old age and retirement. It challenges the assumptions of a male-centered model of retirement planning and highlights the significance of women’s definitions of wealth and poverty. It shows that retirement planning cannot be separated from women’s practices of self in the multiple and interrelated domains of their lives by examining how women manage their personal savings or “money in the private chamber.”
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