A 73-year-old couple in Japan originally had a monthly pension of about 210,000 yen (approximately NT$42,000), a savings of 16 million yen (approximately NT$3.2 million), and their mortgage had already been paid off. They thought their retirement life was stable. Unexpectedly, after their 42-year-old daughter got divorced three years ago, the couple decided to provide 50,000 yen (approximately NT$10,000) for living expenses every month out of concern for their daughter and grandson. They originally planned to only help for half a year to a year, but they continued to provide it for three years, with a total of 1.8 million yen (approximately NT$360,000). It was not until I opened the bank book that I was shocked to realize that their retirement savings were decreasing at an unexpected speed.
Japanese media reported that 73-year-old Kazuo (pseudonym) and his 71-year-old wife Kumiko (pseudonym) live in a single-family house in the suburbs. Their monthly pension income is about 210,000 yen. They originally had 16 million yen in savings, and their lives are relatively stable.
Three years ago, her 42-year-old daughter Risa (pseudonym) got divorced and moved with her son, who was in the second grade of elementary school at the time, to a rental house about 20 minutes' drive from her parents' home. Before the divorce, Risa worked part-time. Although she continued to work after the divorce, she had to bear the rent and living expenses alone. In addition, she did not receive the agreed child support for several months, which put heavy financial pressure.
Seeing that their daughter was exhausted, the couple was also worried about their grandson's life, so they decided to provide 50,000 yen a month to support her. Kazuo told his daughter at the time: "When your job stabilizes, I will help you for a while. Don't push yourself too hard." It was originally expected that the assistance would last from six months to one year, but there was no clear end time.
Her daughter's income gradually improved as she worked more hours, but the cost of her children's tuition and school activities still made it difficult for her to save money. Risa called her parents from time to time and asked, "Can you help me again this month?" Thinking of their grandson, Kazuo and his wife could not bear to refuse.
However, after deducting taxes and social insurance, their pensions are no longer enough to easily cover their monthly living expenses of about 200,000 yen. The 50,000 yen to support their daughter can only be spent on additional savings. Since the amount of each remittance was small, the couple initially did not notice that their savings were dwindling rapidly.
It wasn't until about three years after sponsoring her daughter that Kumiko looked through her bank book and suddenly discovered that just 50,000 yen per month for 36 consecutive months had accumulated 1.8 million yen. To make matters worse, during this period, the home had to replace the water heater and repair the exterior walls, and the original deposit of 16 million yen dropped to about 12 million yen (approximately NT$2.4 million).
"I originally thought it was all for my daughter, but suddenly I started to worry, what should we do if something happens to us in the future?" Kumiko finally realized that the couple could no longer provide assistance indefinitely.
She proposed to her husband that both of them were in their 70s and might need to prepare for medical and long-term care expenses in the future. Although Kazuo agrees with his wife's concerns, he is afraid that a sudden cessation of funding will affect the lives of his daughter and grandson.
After discussion, the couple decided to take stock of future living expenses and house maintenance costs before confessing their financial situation to their daughter. Kazuo told Risa that it was difficult to spend 50,000 yen per month endlessly after supporting him for three years.
Risa was quite surprised when she heard this. She admitted that she originally thought her parents still had a lot of savings, but she didn't expect that this aid would already cause such a huge burden. She also admitted that the 50,000 yen provided by her parents every month has been included in the fixed living budget. If it suddenly stops, the family's finances will indeed be in difficulty.
Finally, the two parties agreed to reduce the monthly aid amount from 50,000 yen to 30,000 yen starting next month, and will officially stop it about half a year later. Risa also decided to re-examine the family budget, adjust working hours, and ask the local government about related systems such as single-parent family subsidies and child allowances.
