Abstract
South Korea is undergoing population aging at a faster rate than any other country in the world. As a result, concerns and interest regarding retirement among retirees are growing more than ever. However, due to a long-standing cultural nor...
Abstract
South Korea is undergoing population aging at a faster rate than any other country in the world. As a result, concerns and interest regarding retirement among retirees are growing more than ever. However, due to a long-standing cultural norm where parents consider it a natural duty to sacrifice their own retirement preparation for the sake of their children's education, many elderly people end up facing severe financial difficulties once they enter old age and experience a significant reduction or complete loss of earned income.
Although some adult children do provide financial support to their parents, such support is becoming increasingly difficult as the age at which children enter the workforce is delayed and job security continues to decline. Given these characteristics of Korean society, there is a growing and urgent need to promote the reverse mortgage system as a realistic solution to elderly poverty.
In particular, due to a social preference for real estate over financial assets, many households have no significant assets other than the home they live in. For these households, the reverse mortgage can serve as a highly effective tool for securing financial stability in old age.
To revitalize the reverse mortgage system, it is essential to ease eligibility requirements, reduce enrollment costs, expand tax benefits, strengthen cooperation among financial institutions and relevant public agencies, and develop a wider variety of reverse mortgage products. Ultimately, through enhanced public awareness campaigns and educational programs, the reverse mortgage system must be firmly embedded in the public consciousness to encourage active participation and utilization.