Pension alone cannot protect the two of you

You cannot undo the mistakes you have made. However, you can redesign the life of you and your spouse starting today.

The pension has increased.

Hearing that, you should have been able to feel at least a little relieved.

For a long time, it has been deducted from your salary. If you are a company employee, every time you look at your monthly pay stub, you see deductions for Employees' Pension Insurance, health insurance, employment insurance, and taxes. When I was young, to be honest, I didn't really understand it.

"Well, it's something the government is doing."
"I'm a company employee, so it can't be helped."
"I guess it will come back when I'm old."

That was the extent of my understanding.

However, once you get closer to the age where you actually receive it, the way you see the numbers changes.

The pension I saw when I was young was a distant system.
The pension I see now is tomorrow's rice money, electricity bill, medicine bill, and the very life of a married couple.

The pension for the 2026 fiscal year has been increased.

Both the National Pension and the Employees' Pension will increase from the previous year. Looking only at the notice, it is not bad news.

But if you go to the supermarket, you will understand immediately.

Rice is expensive.
Eggs are expensive.
Vegetables are expensive.
Fish and meat are also expensive.
Electricity and gas bills are also completely different from the old days.

The pension has increased.
But has life really become easier?

You must not deceive yourself about this.

An increase in the face value is not the same as protecting your livelihood.

—

"It's okay because I have a pension" is already dangerous

In the old days in Japan, there was a certain atmosphere like this.

Work for a company.
Work until retirement age.
Receive a retirement allowance.
Receive a pension.
After that, live quietly as a couple.

Of course, not everyone was that fortunate.
Even so, there was an atmosphere in society as a whole that "you can manage in your old age with a pension."

However, it is different now.

Life has become longer.
Prices have risen.
Medical and nursing care costs have become a reality.
Houses get old.
Home appliances break.
The children's generation is not exactly well-off either.

And above all, you cannot cover the shortfall with your monthly salary like you did when you were a company employee.

When you were working, even if you spent a little too much, the next month's salary would come.
You could also cover it with a bonus.
There was a time when you could manage with overtime pay.

Old age is different.

Once you enter a monthly deficit structure, your assets will quietly decrease.

There is no sound.
No one will warn you.
Only the balance in your bankbook will decrease little by little, surely.

This is scary.

It is not a flashy bankruptcy.
It is a quiet flooding.

By the time you notice, the water is up to your knees.

—

A monthly deficit of 40,000 yen is not someone else's problem

Looking at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Family Income and Expenditure Survey, households of unemployed couples aged 65 and over have an average monthly shortfall of over 40,000 yen.

Of course, this is an average.

Do you own your home or rent?
Do you have a remaining mortgage?
Do you have a car?
Do you have any illnesses?
Are you in a rural area or an urban area?
Do you have a good relationship with your spouse?

Depending on the conditions, the household budget for old age changes completely.

However, one thing is clear.

It is not an era where you can live on a pension alone without thinking about anything.

When you hear 40,000 yen a month, it might seem light from the perspective of your working days.

"I'm sure I can manage if it's about 40,000 yen."

That's what you think.

However, 40,000 yen a month in pension life is heavy.

About 500,000 yen per year.
About 5 million yen in 10 years.
About 10 million yen in 20 years.

Moreover, this is a deficit in normal operation.

On top of this, unexpected expenses are added.

The refrigerator breaks.
The water heater breaks.
Dental treatment becomes necessary.
You get hospitalized.
There is a funeral for a relative.
House repairs become necessary.

In old age household budgets, unexpected expenses arrive as scheduled.

You must not pretend not to see this.

—

You cannot undo the mistakes you have made

When you reach your 60s, everyone has regrets.

I should have saved money earlier.
I had too much insurance.
That car was unnecessary.
That mortgage was heavy.
That investment was premature.
I should have studied more.
I should have talked to my wife more.
I should have paid more attention to my health.

People can say anything in hindsight.

There are countless things I want to lecture my 30-year-old self about.

However, you cannot go back to the past.

You cannot undo the mistakes you have made.

The strategy for old age begins with acknowledging this.

The problem is not that you failed.

It is trying to recover from the failure in one shot.

"I want to double my retirement money."
"I want to recover it all at once with stocks."
"Stable monthly income with this investment."
"Automatic trading with AI."
"High yield close to principal guarantee."
"I can introduce it specially only now."

These kinds of stories come to people who are impatient.

Scammers don't just target the rich.

They target people who are impatient.

People who are anxious about their old-age funds.
People who don't want to trouble their families.
People who want to recover past losses.
People who feel like they are the only ones falling behind.

Such serious people are the most dangerous.

The iron rule of money after 60 is to protect it first, rather than increase it.

A story about not losing 10 million yen is more important than a story about turning 10 million yen into 20 million yen.

—

Pension is a "floor," not a "ceiling"

I don't want to deny the pension.

On the contrary.

The pension is grateful.

As long as you are alive, it will come in regularly in principle.
This sense of security is great.

It is not easy to create the same thing with private products.

Therefore, do not take the pension lightly.

However, do not make the pension carry everything.

The pension is the floor of life.

Because there is a floor, we can stand.

But a floor alone does not make a house.

You need pillars.
You need walls.
You need a roof.
You also need windows.
Sometimes repairs are also necessary.

Life in old age is the same.

Build several small pillars on the floor called pension.

Small work.
Review of fixed costs.
Defense of savings.
Reasonable investment.
Health management.
Conversation between husband and wife.
Organizing the home.
Distance from children.

If you rely on one thick pillar, the whole house will collapse when that pillar breaks.

But if you have many small pillars, you can hold out even if something becomes weak somewhere.

This is the survival strategy for a couple from now on.

—

Don't laugh at 30,000 yen a month

When it comes to work in old age, people immediately think, "Am I going to work full-time again?"

That is tough.

There is no need to work the same way as in your working days even when you are in your 60s or 70s.

What is important is to have an income that you can create yourself, even if it is a few tens of thousands of yen a month.

30,000 yen a month.

Do not take this lightly.

If you have 30,000 yen a month, it is 360,000 yen a year.
If it is 50,000 yen a month, it is 600,000 yen a year.
If it continues for 10 years, it will be 3.6 million to 6 million yen.

Moreover, it is not just money.

Go out.
Meet people.
Use your head.
Move your body.
Connect with society.
Create a rhythm in your life.

This is also effective for health in old age.

Work is not just an extension of your company employee days.

A part-time job a few days a week is fine.
Consultation using your experience is fine.
Writing is fine.
Making videos is fine.
Teaching what you are good at is fine.
Small sales are fine.
Local work is fine.

You don't need a fancy title.

What you need is an income that makes your life a little easier.

What is needed in old age is not flashy success.

It is a small reality that can be continued.

—

A couple will eventually be on the same boat

When thinking about money in old age, the most important but most troublesome thing is the discussion between husband and wife.

Talks about money immediately turn into fights.

"You spent too much."
"You are the one who is wasteful."
"I'm the only one who has been patient."
"I have been working too."

When it comes to this, it is no longer a household budget meeting.
It is a trial of the past.

But what is needed for a couple's old age is not finding the culprit.

It is a strategy meeting.

Even if you blame the failures of your youth, the money will not return.
Even if you dig up old complaints, the pension will not increase.

What is needed is how the two of you will not sink from now on.

A couple will eventually be on the same boat.

If you make a hole in the other person's boat, you will sink too.

So, once a month is enough.

30 minutes is enough.

You should look at the household budget as a couple.

What did you spend this month?
Are there any large expenses next month?
Is there anything you can reduce in fixed costs?
Are there any concerns about health?
What are you looking forward to as a couple?

What is important here is the last one.

"What are you looking forward to as a couple?"

When it comes to old-age measures, it tends to be a story of cutting everything.

Stop eating out.
Stop traveling.
Stop hobbies.
Stop socializing.
Stop everything.

Then I don't know what I'm living for.

What should be cut are fixed costs with low satisfaction.

What should be kept are expenses that the couple is truly looking forward to.

Finding a cheap supermarket is important.
But sometimes eating something delicious as a couple is also important.

Old age is not a prison of savings.

Even if you make your life smaller, you should not make your enjoyment zero.

—

Think on the premise of living until 90

Old age is long now.

It doesn't end at 65.
It doesn't end at 70 either.
Even at 80, there is still more to come.

Looking at life expectancy, there is a possibility that men will live for about 20 years and women for nearly 25 years from the age of 65.

In other words, the old age of a couple is not a short-term battle.

It is a long-distance battle of 20 or 25 years.

Therefore, unreasonable savings will not last.
Unreasonable investment is also dangerous.
Unreasonable work will also break your body.

What is needed is a form that continues.

Make the pension the foundation.
Create a few tens of thousands of yen a month.
Lower fixed costs.
Protect assets.
Protect health.
Talk as a couple.
Keep the fun.

Do this calmly.

It is not flashy.

No one will praise you.

But in the battle of old age, the flashy person does not win.

The person who did not fall until the end wins.

If you can live somehow in a good mood as a couple, I think that is already a sufficient victory.

—

It is not a failed life

When you reach your 60s, you want to give yourself a report card for life.

That person was promoted.
That person has money.
That person has a large retirement allowance.
That person's children succeeded.
That person is living a life of leisure.

If you compare, there is no end.

But you don't know about other people's old age even if you look from the outside.

Even if they live in a mansion, the couple's relationship might be cold.
Even if they have assets, they might have lost their health.
Even if their children are excellent, they might not visit home.

Happiness in old age is not determined only by the balance in the bankbook.

Of course, money is important.

It is not a pretty story.

If you don't have money, your options will decrease.
Patience will also increase.
Couples' fights will also increase.
Nights you can't sleep due to anxiety will also increase.

That is why you face money.

But don't hand over your life only to money.

There are mistakes you have made.
There are regrets you cannot undo.
There is also the frustration of not being able to return to your youth.

Even so, I have lived this far.

I have worked.
I have supported my family.
I have paid taxes.
I have overcome illnesses.
I have swallowed frustrating thoughts.

That is by no means a failed life.

However, from here on, a strategy is needed.

Guts alone are not enough.
Pension alone is not enough.
Retirement allowance alone is dangerous.

Redesign your way of life as a couple.

You don't have to win big.
It is fine if you don't suffer a fatal wound.
Reduce the deficit even a little every month.
If possible, create a small income.
Protect your health.
Do not get close to fraud.
Doubt fixed costs.
And laugh once in a while.

This is fine.

Old age is not a digestion match of life.

It is the second half.

You don't need a flashy come-from-behind home run.

To be standing on the ground as a couple until the end.

That is the strongest.

In this series, we will think about pension, retirement allowance, work, housing, insurance, investment, medical care, nursing care, inheritance, and couple relationships one by one realistically.

It is not a boastful story of a successful person.

It is a record for surviving as a couple while failing.

The conclusion of the first episode is this.

Pension is important.
But pension alone cannot protect the two of you.

You cannot undo the mistakes you have made.
However, the life of you and your spouse can be redesigned starting today.

Next time, I will write about retirement allowance.

The moment you try to increase your retirement allowance is the most dangerous.

Why do people put money that should be protected in dangerous places?

I want to start from there.

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