Japan’s workers scramble to make up $187,000 retirement shortfall
A panel report from Japan’s financial regulator estimates that an average elderly couple will need an extra 20 million yen ($186,768) to fund a 30-year retirement. That has prompted retail investors, many still in their 20s, to start building up assets on their own.
Nikkei surveyed major online brokerages about the changes they have seen since the report was released on June 3.
From June 10 to 14, Rakuten Securities saw applications for the Nippon Individual Savings Account program (NISA), a tax-exempt individual savings vehicle, jump 70% from a month earlier.
Applications for individual defined contribution pension plans (iDeCo), programs similar to 401Ks in the U.S., rose 80% from the previous month.
In the third week of June, Monex received 70% more applications for iDeCo than the daily average in April. From June 3 to 7, industry giant SBI Securities saw applications for general securities accounts jump 15% from the previous week and those for NISAs were up 30% from a week earlier.
“Most applicants are in their 20s to 40s,” said a representative of a major online brokerage.
Read more @Assia Nikkei
