A senior citizen reads a flyer at a job fair in western Seoul, in this file photo taken Dec. 15, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Only a small percentage of people in their mid- or later stages of life believe that they can be financially independent, without any help from the state, social groups and family members, a survey showed Wednesday.
The National Pension Research Center conducted a survey of 4,024 households (6,392 people) over 50 years of age, which showed that only 54.7 percent of respondents believed they can stay financially independent without any help from others.
Another 45.3 percent believed they did not have a stable source of income to sustain their livelihood.
When asked about their retirement plans, 64.8 percent responded they had to rely on themselves to carry on with their plans for retirement.
Respondents believed that “retirement life” begins at around 69.4 years of age, with 42.5 percent saying that they were already retired while 57.5 percent believed that they had not yet started their retirement life.
Those who believe themselves to have started their retirement life cover their living expenses primarily through the basic pension (25.6 percent), allowances from their family members (19.4 percent) and the national pension (15.2 percent).
At 59.9 percent, a majority of those who don’t believe themselves to have started their retirement life said they don’t have plans to prepare for retirement, indicating a high financial risk.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
