Americans looking forward to life after retirement; the Japanese have not much to look forward to
The primary theme of the survey, conducted by Nikko Cordial Securities, Inc., was "To compare and study people's awareness of living expenses and asset management after retirement between Japan and the US." The number of valid responses sent in was 300 in Japan and 200 in the US.
The average age of the respondents was 61.9 years in Japan and 61.0 years in the US. In terms of work experience (multiple answers accepted), 59.8% of the Japanese respondents worked full-time and 65.3% worked part-time, while 89.5% of their US counterparts worked full-time and 66% part-time.
The findings of the survey revealed a distinct pattern of American women being full of hopes and dreams for their lives after retirement, but not so for any of their Japanese counterparts.
One out of every three Japanese respondents (30.7%) does look forward to life after retirement. Still, this rate is lower than that of their American counterparts: two out of every three respondents (59%) said that they look forward to life after retirement. On the other hand, as many as 24.3% of the Japanese respondents, or one out of every four, regarded their life after retirement as likely to be "gloomy and depressing."
When asked what they hoped to do after retirement (multiple answers accepted), the largest number of respondents in both countries cited "travel" (58.7% for Japan and 73.5% for the US). This was followed by "pursuing my interests or hobbies" (37.0% for Japan and 57.05% for the US) and "doing volunteer activities"(20.3% for Japan and 60.0% for the US). Although these two items were ranked second and third in Japan and the US, the rates for Japan were lower than those for the US. Moreover, a large difference was seen between Japan (18.3%) and the US (5.5%) in terms of the share of respondents who said that they "had no particular hopes or dreams" for their life after retirement.
An especially marked difference was seen in the sense of purpose toward the respondents' life after retirement, especially with respect to social activities such as "establishing or working in non-profit organizations"(1.3% for Japan and 42.0% for the US), and "conducting activities that contribute to the local community" (13.3% for Japan and 51.5% for the US).
Another finding was the greater number of Japanese respondents than their US counterparts who were dissatisfied with the amount of pension benefits they were eligible to receive. While two out of three US respondents (65.0%) said that they would be satisfied with the conventional amount of pension benefits, as many as 69.3% of the Japanese respondents were dissatisfied with it.
Needless to say, elderly people's living environments differ sharply between large cities and rural areas, and the degree of ease/difficulty in their daily living differs greatly depending on family makeup, how well-established the social infrastructure/capital is (large or small), and the degree of peopl's involvement with the regional community, etc. It is difficult to make accurate comparisons or studies of people's life after retirement, including considerations of an individual´s post-retirement financial status (in this survey, the average total household financial assets currently owned by the respondents were 28.86 million yen in Japan, or (approximately $260,000 at current rates), which included expected retirement benefits, and $450,000 in the US). Still, as far as these results are concerned, it appears that the "golden years" for most Japanese people are anything but.
