TOKYO - As Japan enters what many now call the “100-year life era,” the question of how to finance a much longer old age has become unavoidable, with rising living costs and modest pensions leaving many seniors struggling to make ends meet and searching for ways to supplement their income.
Concerns that spread widely in 2019 over the so-called “20 million yen problem” still linger in people’s minds, even though financial experts stress that the figure was only a model estimate and not a requirement for every household. For many elderly residents, however, the anxiety is real. In towns such as Yoshino, seniors describe living at the edge of their means, with higher prices forcing them to reduce daily expenses, avoid using heating, or cut back on small pleasures like occasional restaurant meals.
Those fears are even sharper among low-income pensioners. In Tokyo’s Kita Ward, 89-year-old Sato lives alone in a municipal housing complex on a national pension of about 70,000 yen a month. Most of his remaining income is allocated to the 100,000 yen needed for his wife’s long-term care facility, covered only by combining her pension with what little savings remain. After paying rent and food expenses, almost nothing is left. Sato rarely uses gas to save money and relies on convenience-store meals, saying he simply “tries to survive each day.”
What sustains him emotionally, he says, is the companionship offered by neighbors in the same housing complex, who gather each day at a communal meeting room to talk. Without them, he admits, the isolation would be overwhelming.
But many older adults face a tougher reality: pensions alone are increasingly insufficient. At one information session held by a Silver Human Resources Center — an organization that introduces light work to older adults — 16 seniors listened intently as staff explained jobs such as cooking support in welfare facilities or simple cleaning tasks. Participants ranged widely in background, including an 80-year-old national-pension recipient who said bluntly that “pension alone isn’t possible,” and others who said they planned to work as long as their health allowed.
Some had spent years caring for family members, leaving them with limited income or unstable work history. The center says the average age of registrants now exceeds 70, and even people in their 90s are continuing to work.
Financial strain grows more visible as older adults question how much money they truly need to feel secure. According to financial planner Tsukakoshi Nanako, who has handled more than 3,000 consultations, the first step is to ignore the fixed idea that every household needs 20 million yen for retirement. Instead, she says people must calculate two basics: how much pension they can expect to receive and how much their household will realistically spend after retiring. Housing, food, utilities, medical costs, and support for children or spouses can vary widely, making individual planning essential.
On a program examining an average household’s finances, Tsukakoshi noted that spending often does not decline as sharply as people assume, especially if cooking at home becomes difficult or if someone still carries housing expenses into their 60s. She advises beginning retirement planning once a family’s structure becomes clear, typically in one’s 50s, though she also sees many people in their 60s now seeking advice as inflation raises everyday costs.
Pension timing is another growing concern. Using 65 as a baseline, she explained that starting pension payments at 60 reduces monthly benefits by 24 percent, making up the difference only if one does not live past 79. Delaying until 70 increases payments by 42 percent, becoming advantageous from age 81 onward. Delaying to 75 raises benefits by 84 percent, proving beneficial only for those who live beyond 86. But she emphasized that longevity is unpredictable and that people should decide based on how much money they need to feel comfortable, not on trying to pinpoint the mathematically “perfect” age.
For those in their 30s and 40s, Tsukakoshi says time can be used as an advantage through long-term investment, while those in their 60s should focus more on managing their household finances and understanding their total assets — including any potential inheritance — as many couples have never fully shared financial information with each other.
Source: KTV NEWS
