"Korea, Unsuitable for Retirees to Live... More Than Half of Office Workers Hope for Reemployment"

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The majority of office workers believe that the social environment in the Republic of Korea is not suitable for retirees to live in.

According to Shinhan Bank's 'Shinhan Future Planning Report' released on the 25th, a survey was conducted on 300 office workers aged 30 to 59 (participants in retirement pension plans). The results showed that only an average of 6.3% of workers responded that the domestic social environment is suitable for retirees to live in. 63% of those in their 30s, 62% in their 40s, and 63% in their 50s answered that it was inappropriate.

The main reason retirees found the environment unsuitable was 'lack of jobs (30.3%)', followed by 'economic difficulties (14.4%)', 'high inflation rate (8.5%)', and 'insufficient pension (7.4%)'.

More than half of the office workers believed that a monthly living expense of 2 to 3 million KRW is necessary after retirement, and that an appropriate retirement fund of over 500 million KRW is needed.

Regarding the required monthly living expenses after retirement, 51% answered '2 million KRW or more but less than 3 million KRW', which was the highest proportion. This was followed by '3 million KRW or more but less than 4 million KRW' (23.7%) and '4 million KRW or more' (15.0%).

For the appropriate retirement fund size, the most common answer was '500 million KRW or more but less than 1 billion KRW' (36.7%), followed by '300 million KRW or more but less than 500 million KRW' (28.3%) and '1 billion KRW or more' (28%). The proportion who answered less than 300 million KRW was 7%.

The proportion of office workers who want to be re-employed after retirement reached 64.3%. The most common reason for wanting re-employment was 'to maintain livelihood' (57%).

In particular, the younger the age, the higher the rate of wanting re-employment to maintain livelihood. 67% of those in their 30s wished for re-employment, 62% in their 40s, and 64% in their 50s. Shinhan Bank commented, "This shows that the younger generation's outlook on life after retirement is not positive."

76.7% of survey respondents answered that they have "already started preparing for retirement," and the majority (72.7%) identified retirement pensions as their method of saving for retirement.

The biggest concerns for office workers after retirement were money and health issues. More than half of those in their 30s and 40s answered 'money,' indicating that economic factors are the greatest concern. For those in their 50s, health concerns were the highest at 62%.