Taiwanese Afraid To Retire Unless They Have NT$10 Million Saved
What you need to know
Although over half of the people depend on government pension to cope with their living expenditure after retirement, people do not trust the management of the government. The survey finds that 64% of people worry Greece's financial crisis will occur in Taiwan due to the excessive welfare subsidies.
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As salaries are ceasing to increase and the economy regresses, UDN poll center conducted a survey regarding people’s lives after retirement. Results show that people believe it is necessary to earn at least NT$ 10 million (approximately US$ 308,640) before retirement. The results highlight people’s concern about economic security in their elderly life and points out in the era of low wages, people are always worrying about running out of money.
UDN reports, people believe they have to prepare an average of NT$ 10.07 million (approximately US$ 310,807) to meet expenditures after retirement. When asked the expected source of retirement funding, 69% of people say they will rely on savings, 48% will prepare a financial plan, 50% want to rely on government pensions, 16% have to reenter the job market to maintain income and 13% want to be taken care of by their children.
Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics under the Executive Yuan recently released the real regular income of employees from January to August this year. After deducting the CPI (Consumer Price Index), the amount is NT$ 37,430 (approximately US$ 1155.27), which is the highest in the past five years but still lower than the NT$ 38,708 (approximately US$ 1194.71) in 2007. This standard salary has not grown for a long time.
The traditional belief of “raising children for help in old age" no longer fits in the current society.
“Young people earn so little now. How can we rely on them to support us?" says Chen who is in his 50s. He says that young people just entering the job market can only collect a low salary but still need to pay rent, let alone a monthly budget to take care of their parents.
CommonWealth Magazine reports, although over half of the people depend on government pension to cope with their living expenditure after retirement, people do not trust the management of the government. The survey finds that 64% of people worry Greece’s financial crisis will occur in Taiwan due to the excessive welfare subsidies.
The survey also shows if the government pension goes bankrupt, 70% of the people believe the government should take the greatest responsibility; 10% think the blame should be put on government employees (including military officers, public servants and teachers) for taking too much. Those who blame themselves, young adults, or companies account for lower than 5%.
China Times reports, the average real salary has declined to be lower than that of ten year ago. In addition to the annual pension going bankrupt, people are getting pessimistic about their life after retirement.
Translated by June
Edited by Olivia Yang
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