Updated
Updated · en.sedaily.com · Sep 10
Young South Koreans Turn to Stocks for Retirement, Reaching 13.4% in Their 30s
Updated
Updated · en.sedaily.com · Sep 10

Young South Koreans Turn to Stocks for Retirement, Reaching 13.4% in Their 30s

2 articles · Updated · en.sedaily.com · Sep 10

Summary

  • 13.4% of South Koreans in their 30s and 12.8% in their 20s said stocks and bonds were their retirement plan last year, up from 2.8% and 2.6% in 2011.
  • That shift accelerated after the 2021 retail-investing boom: the shares jumped from 1.4% and 2.7% in 2019 to 11.6% and 11.3% in 2021, then kept rising.
  • Older groups also increased their use of financial assets for retirement, but more slowly—reaching 8.0% in their 40s, 6.0% in their 50s and 3.1% among those 60 and over.
  • 71.0% of Koreans 19 and older still rely on the national pension and 44.1% on deposits or savings products, showing stocks remain a secondary retirement tool.
  • John Lee, head of John Lee's School of Wealth, said stock-based retirement planning works only with long-term investing, warning that constant short-term trading amounts to gambling.

Insights

With trading accounts outnumbering citizens by 2026, will risky stock bets completely replace traditional retirement savings?
While banks cater to wealthy seniors, are younger generations being forced into high-risk markets just to survive?