1,533 Couples Receiving Monthly Pension of Over 3 Million Won, up 7.8 Times from 2021,
,
,
National Pension Service,
,
, ‘ (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Seo Hangee = It has been revealed that couples who receive the highest amount by combining the individual national pension amounts of husbands and wives are receiving nearly 5 million won each month.’,
,
, ‘ As of the end of January this year, the highest combined monthly pension amount for couples is surveyed to be 4.86 million won.’,
,
, ‘ The husbands and wives who receive the highest amount each have a monthly amount of 2.38 million won for the husband and 2.48 million won for the wife.’,
,
, ‘ As the national pension system introduced in 1988 has matured, the number of couples receiving over 3 million won per month has been increasing.’,
,
, ‘ The monthly combined amount of 3 million won for couples is approaching the proper living expenses for old age (324 million won per month as of 2023), which is not luxurious but not very insufficient for retirement living.’,
,
, ‘ However, the average monthly pension amount for couples has been increasing from 763,000 won in 2019 to 1.03 million won as of the end of January 2024, but it is still insufficient compared to the proper living expenses for retirement.’,
,
,
National Pension Service,
,
, ‘ Couples who together receive over 3 million won per month first appeared in 2017 with 3 couples.’,
,
, ‘ Since then, the number of couples has been increasing with 6 couples in 2018, 29 couples in 2019, 70 couples in 2020, 196 couples in 2021, 565 couples in 2022, reaching 1,120 couples last year.’,
,
, ‘ As of January this year, the number has continued to increase to 1,533 couples. Compared to 2021 (196 couples) three years ago, it has increased by 7.8 times.’,
,
,
National Pension Service,
,
, ‘ The total number of couples living on both the husband and wife\’s national pension as of the end of January is 672,000 couples. This is an increase of 1.9 times compared to the end of 2019.’,
,
, ‘ The total number of couples has been increasing from 355,000 couples in 2019 to 427,000 couples in 2020, 516,000 couples in 2021, 625,000 couples in 2022, and 669,000 couples in 2023.’,
,
, ‘ Pension is a social insurance that prepares for risks that individuals may be exposed to throughout their lives, such as disability, old age, and death, on an individual basis, not a family unit.’,
,
, ‘ Therefore, if both spouses join the national pension and acquire pension rights, both the husband and wife will receive their respective old age pensions until the end of their own old age.’,
,
, ‘ The old age pension refers to the general form of national pension received when reaching the pension reception age.’,
,
, ‘ Therefore, the idea that “if both spouses join the national pension, one will lose out on pensions in old age” is clearly incorrect.’,
,
,
National Pension Service,
,
, ‘ However, if one spouse dies while each is receiving their old age pension, the remaining spouse must choose between their own old age pension and the survivor\’s pension left by the deceased spouse through “dual benefit adjustment.”‘,
,
, ‘ Dual benefit adjustment aims to ensure fairness across society by allowing only one of multiple pension benefits to be chosen when an individual is entitled to receive multiple benefits.’,
,
, ‘ Unlike private individual savings products where one receives as much as they contributed, the national pension is a social insurance designed to prepare for economic difficulties when unable to work, thus functioning as a means of income redistribution.’,
,
, ‘ Therefore, if the survivor\’s pension is much higher than the individual\’s old age pension, choosing the survivor\’s pension means not receiving their own old age pension, only the survivor\’s pension.’,
,
, ‘ Choosing their own old age pension allows receiving a portion (30%) of the survivor\’s pension additionally.’,
,
, ‘ The survivor\’s pension is a pension benefit paid to dependents to help them continue their livelihood in case of the death of a national pension enrollee or someone who was a pension enrollee or a recipient of a grade 2 or higher disability pension.’,
,
, ‘ shg@yna.co.kr’,
,