By Lee Hyo-sik
Kim Tae-young, who has paid part of his monthly salary to the National Pension Service for the past 25 years, does not expect his two children to financially support him and his wife after he retires.
The 53-year-old office worker just wants his son and daughter to graduate from university on schedule and find good jobs as soon as they graduate.
“All my friends just hope that their kids can get a job after college and live on their own. Few expect any financial help from their children after retirement. It’s the same for me,” Kim said.
Although Kim admits he is concerned about how he and his wife are going to finance their post-retirement life. He owns an apartment in northern Seoul in which he currently lives with his family. He and his wife have some savings but not much else.
“We have spent a lot of money to put our two children through university. We also invested most of our life-time savings into the apartment. After I retire from my job in a few years, a monthly-payment from the state pension fund will be my sole income,” Kim lamented.
Like Kim, many Koreans born between 1955 and 1963, who are also called “baby boomers,” do not expect monetary support from their offspring.
But they are financially ill-prepared for life after retirement while the average life expectancy of Koreans has been on the rise.
After surveying 1,000 Seoul residents aged over 45, the Seoul Development Institute said Thursday that baby boomers aged 45 to 54, and number around 7.2 million, want to be more financially independent and live separately from their children, compared to older generations aged over 55.
Only 11 percent of them said they would prefer to be financially supported by their offspring after retirement, while the remaining 89 percent do not expect to receive money from their grown children.
Among those aged 55 to 64, 18.6 percent said they would like their children to be their primary caregivers. About 28.1 percent of Koreans older than 65 expect financial help from children, indicating that the older people are, the more they tend to depend on their offspring.
According to a recent study of 4,668 baby boomers, jointly conducted by the MetLife Korea Foundation and the Seoul National University Institute on Aging, they are saving an average of 170,000 won ($154) per month for retirement.
But they said they will need a minimum of 2.1 million won a month to manage during post-retirement.
A growing number of senior citizens here have taken their own lives, due partly to poor retirement plans, as they live longer. According to Statistics Korea, the average life expectancy for Koreans stood at 80.5 years in 2009, up sharply from 65.7 years in 1980.
According to a study released by the Hallym Medical School, Thursday, the number of people over 65 who committed suicide per 100,000 people stood at 77 in 2009, up significantly from 14.3 in 1990.
The medical school said an increasing number of senior citizens are not financially supported by their children, due to the breakup of the extended family structure and the current financial hardships facing the economically active.