Office Workers' Desired Post-Retirement Life: "Monthly Living Expenses 2-3 Million KRW, Retirement Funds Over 500 Million KRW"

Shinhan Bank Future Planning Report
300 Office Workers Aged 30-59

51% of office workers responded that a monthly living expense of 2 to 3 million KRW is appropriate after retirement.

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Amid declining birth rates and an aging population leading to a continuous decrease in the working-age population, more than half of office workers expect to need a monthly living expense of 2 to 3 million KRW after retirement.

On the 20th, Shinhan Bank announced the release of the "Shinhan Future Planning Report 2022," which contains these findings. The bank conducted an online survey targeting 300 office workers aged 30 to 59 (100 per age group) who are enrolled in retirement pension plans.

As a result, 51% of office workers selected "between 2 million KRW and less than 3 million KRW" as the monthly living expense needed after retirement. Additionally, 23.7% responded "between 3 million KRW and less than 4 million KRW." Fifteen percent expected expenses to exceed 4 million KRW. Only 10.3% answered that less than 2 million KRW would be sufficient.

Elderly people sitting. The photo is not related to any specific part of the article. / Photo by Asia Economy DB

Regarding the appropriate size of retirement funds, "between 500 million KRW and less than 1 billion KRW" (36.7%) was the most common answer, followed by "between 300 million KRW and less than 500 million KRW" at 28.3%, and "over 1 billion KRW" at 28.0%.

The most desired retirement age was "60 years or older but less than 65 years," and the expected lifespan after retirement was most commonly "80 years or older but less than 90 years," reflecting an anticipated post-retirement period of about 20 to 30 years.

The proportion of office workers wishing to re-enter employment after retirement reached 64.3%, and among them, 57.0% cited "maintaining livelihood" as the reason for seeking re-employment.

The appropriate amount of retirement funds after retirement.
/Photo by Shinhan Bank

Meanwhile, as the working-age population decreases due to low birth rates and aging, "extension or abolition of the retirement age" is also being discussed as an alternative.

According to the new government's economic policy direction from the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 20th, one of the tasks to address demographic changes is "social discussions for continued employment of the elderly."

According to Statistics Korea's "Population Projections 2020?2050," the domestic working-age population (ages 15?64) is expected to decrease from 37.38 million in 2020 to 24.19 million by 2050. The working-age population refers to the segment of the population capable of employment.

In response to this decline, the government announced plans to establish a public-private joint demographic response system involving relevant ministries, research institutions, and private experts to tackle population issues.

The four major areas for government response planning are expanding the economically active population, preparing for a shrinking society, preparing for an aging society, and addressing low birth rates. Extension or abolition of the retirement age is being discussed within the context of expanding the economically active population.

To counter the decline in the economically active population, it is necessary to bring women and the elderly?who have had relatively lower labor participation rates?back into the labor market or to import foreign labor. Among these, the government intends to keep options open and review measures related to continued employment of the elderly, including retirement age extension, abolition, and re-employment, as these can have significant effects.

Additionally, discussions on reforming the wage system are planned. Since the Elderly Society Response Research Group within the Economic, Social, and Labor Council (Gyeongsanowi) has already begun discussions on continued employment of the elderly and wage system reform, the government is expected to form additional discussion bodies or task forces (TFs).

However, since extending the retirement age for the elderly may provoke opposition from companies and younger generations, it is pointed out that the government must clearly communicate the seriousness of the current situation while also proposing compensatory measures for groups that may suffer losses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.