Saving and the life-cycle

Estimating the Size of Bequests in Japan: 1986–1994

“…The amount of this pension is enough for the daily expenses of an elderly couple or a surviving wife. Tachibanaki and Shimono (1991) confirm that households in the middle or higher income classes do not decrease their wealth after retirement. Furthermore, as over half of bequests in Japan are land, increases in land value presumably exceeded consumption of bequests by surviving wives, at least until the current recession.…”

“…Tachibanaki and Shimono (1991) showed that middle-and higher-income class households do not decrease their wealth after retirement, though low-income households do so after their heads of household reach 60years. According to the 1999 Family Savings Survey, an elderly couple out of labour market gets some 220,000 yen per month (1830US$ at 1US$=120 yen) in public pension and consumes some 230,000 yen on average.…”

“…For instance, in 1994, net monetary assets per household whose head is a male aged 54-54 years were 11.7 million yen, 15.6 million yen for a male aged 55-59 years, 23.4 million yen for a male aged 60-64 years, and 27.4 million yen for a male aged 65 years and over. Tachibanaki and Shimono (1991) analysed the wealth accumulation process by income class and pointed out that even middle-income households do not decrease their wealth over the course of their lifetime, although low-income households do so after 60 years. Table 1 Column (10) shows the number of male deceased by age class, which is derived from Japanese Vital Statistics, published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare each year.…”

“…Actually some 85 per cent of heads of household aged 50 years and over have their own houses in Japan. Tachibanaki and Shimono (1986) analysed saving behaviour for the cohort born in 1921, and pointed out that house purchasing decisions such as whether or not to buy, purchasing timing, place and value, are the key to the amount of wealth held by each household. Furthermore, they pointed out that when a couple buys a house with land, it becomes a future bequest to their children.…”

“…These figures come from the macro National Accounts data. Tachibanaki and Shimono (1991) analysed individual assets data from the Survey on Saving Behaviours and Consciousness conducted by the Department of Sociology, University of Tokyo, in 1981. This survey included data on self-assessed housing and land values as well as monetary assets, although the number of samples used was limited to some 1700 for non-single member households.…”