8 out of 10 MZ Generation Worry About Retirement Anxiety... Low Understanding of Pensions

Kiwoom Asset Management Publishes Pension Survey Report Targeting MZ Generation

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] A survey found that 8 out of 10 MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) feel anxious about their old age. However, more than half of them were found to be unfamiliar with how to manage their pensions.

Kiwoom Asset Management published a report titled "Retirement Preparation and Perception of Retirement Pensions" on the 27th, targeting the MZ generation with these findings.

The report, titled "MZ and the Future," contains the MZ generation's thoughts on retirement preparation, the current status of retirement pensions, awareness of systems and products, and related implications.

The survey was conducted over two weeks from May 19 to 25, targeting 1,009 subscribers of the economic newsletter for the MZ generation, "Appetite," and the pension newsletter, "Yeongeumsulsa."

When asked about retirement preparation, 80.6% of respondents answered that they feel anxious about old age, citing economic concerns (93.2%) as the main reason. Additionally, 42.7% responded that they are currently not preparing for retirement, a figure similar to those who answered "average" (43.0%), making up the majority of responses. The main reason given was "current low income."

On the other hand, when asked about interest in pensions, 45.8% said they have some interest, and 26.4% said they have a lot of interest, indicating that 72.2% of respondents are interested in pensions.

Although they recognize the necessity of retirement pensions, 54.1% answered that they do not know well how to manage them, the highest proportion. Also, 32.7% responded that most of their retirement pension assets are in principal-guaranteed products, showing a low level of understanding regarding management methods and product composition.

Regarding checking their retirement pension portfolio, 42.9% answered "not even once a year," the highest proportion. When asked about experience with improving returns through rebalancing, 45.2% said there was no improvement or it was insignificant.

In the survey on retirement pension systems and products, 46.5% answered "have heard of it but do not know details" regarding the differences between DB, DC, and IRP plans, the highest proportion. For TDFs, 59.6% answered "do not know at all." However, 72.1% said they know about ETFs, and 94.9% expressed interest in stock-type ETFs, revealing a low interest in retirement pension systems and products but reflecting the MZ generation's active investment tendencies.

Also, the most common channel for obtaining retirement pension-related information and subscribing to products was "YouTube and SNS," with 54.3%, indicating changes in information acquisition media.

Kim Hyena, team leader at Kiwoom Asset Management, said, "Compared to the parent generation, the MZ generation living in a low-growth era has a high awareness of retirement preparation but does not know specific methods. Since most retirement pension portfolios are composed of principal-guaranteed products and the necessity or effectiveness of management instructions showed negative results, education on retirement pension management for the MZ generation seems urgently needed."

Meanwhile, Kiwoom Asset Management publishes the newsletter "Yeongeumsulsa," composed of pension information for the MZ generation, twice a week (every Tuesday and Thursday), continuously providing information related to retirement preparation and pensions.