Korea is “least ready” for retirement as its boomers age

Koreans are the least prepared financially for retirement among countries worldwide.It is time to take this seriously and prepare by investing in a varietyof assets, instead of relying solely on property, said FidelityInternational, a global asset manager.Announcing the retirement readiness index Tuesday, Fidelity Korea notedthat the country’s retirement income replacement ratio stands at 41percent of the average income before retirement, far below that ofTaiwan, Japan, Britain and the United States. The ratio is a measure of the actual income after retirement to the income just before retirement.   Assuming that the annual income of a Korean household is 10 millionwon, the actual expected income after retirement would be 4.1 millionwon. However, the desirable ratio for post-retirement life should be 62percent, or 6.2 million won under the assumption, said Fidelity.  The asset management firm and Seoul National University’s retirementplanning support center calculated the ratio, utilizing data from thestatistical office and Koreans’ indirect investment patterns. Themeasure of the index includes assessing expected pension, severancepayment and savings.

Source/more:
Korea Times, http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/07/123_26858.html