A survey of Taiwanese aged 50 to 64 has found that they think they would need savings of NT$8.37 million (US$275,193) to retire, or NT$1.12 million more than they would be likely to receive from government-run retirement programs.
The survey, conducted by the Hondao Senior Citizen’s Welfare Foundation late last year and presented at a news conference yesterday, found that 84 percent of respondents felt they had not saved enough to meet their long-term medical and care needs while also having funds in reserve in case of an emergency.
Asked how much they would need for those purposes, 30 percent of respondents said they would need more than NT$10 million and about another 50 percent said at least NT$5 million, the foundation said, adding that this worked out to an average of NT$8.37 million.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Foundation deputy chairman Lin Po-hua (林博樺) said that based on the NT$8.37 million figure and Taiwan’s life expectancy of 81 years, a person who retired aged 65 would have NT$43,594 per month to live on.
However, data from the Labor Insurance Bureau showed that last year the average retiree received a monthly pension and labor insurance annuity payments of only NT$19,573 and NT$18,209 respectively, or a combined NT$37,782, Lin said.
This means that government-backed retirement benefits fall short of people’s desired retirement savings by NT$1.12 million, or NT$5,812 per month, he said.
Meanwhile, the survey also asked respondents about their views on a range of topics related to personal finances and investment.
It found that 43 percent of those surveyed had a low-risk profile, but also hoped for high returns on their investments.
Asked where they got their information on financial products, many respondents said they relied on only one or two sources, with the most common being “financial institution representatives,” “friends and family” and “television advertisements.”
When buying financial products, about 20 percent of those surveyed said they did not bother to read the terms of the contract, while 15 percent said they read the contracts, but could not understand them.
Only 23 percent of respondents reported that they read the contracts and fully understood them.
The foundation’s survey was conducted via its Web site and Facebook and Line groups in November and December last year. It collected 697 valid responses from adults aged 50 to 64.
No margin of error information was provided.
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