Although nearly half of the workers who retired last year received a pension of less than NT$500,000, up to three-quarters of the total said they were not worried about coping financially with retirement, a survey conducted by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) Insurance (匯豐保險) showed yesterday.
The HSBC survey, conducted in cooperation with the University of Oxford’s Oxford Institute of Ageing, also showed that Taiwan has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. With people living longer nowadays, the institute estimated that older people would outnumber young people in Asia by 2045.
“It is now time for people to start thinking and preparing for their later life and retirement, because in 20 years’ time, Taiwan will become a much more older country,” Sarah Harper, a professor at the institute, told a press conference yesterday.
Moreover, the institute estimated that 1 billion people over the next 20 years would be vulnerable to falling into poverty unless they prepare for their retirement.
The survey cited savings as the main source, at about 78 percent, of financial income during retirement for both pre-retirement and post-retirement groups.
It also showed that personal wealth was the most important source of retirement income in Taiwan., with family and the government serving as the second most important source for pre-retirement and post-retirement groups respectively.
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