Silver hair consumption promotes a happy life for the elderly, pension | personal | silver hair
The first meeting of the 20th Central Committee of Finance and Economics held in May this year pointed out that "we should closely combine high-quality population development with high-quality people's lives, promote comprehensive human development and common prosperity for all people", "we should implement the national strategy of actively responding to population aging, promote the construction of basic elderly care service system, and vigorously develop the silver economy".
China has entered an aging society, promoting silver consumption and developing the silver economy is not only a requirement for caring for the elderly and improving people's quality of life, but also an important part of achieving high-quality development. What is the current trend in silver hair consumption? How to innovate products and services, improve the consumption environment, and better serve elderly consumers? The reporter conducted an investigation.
——Editor
The growth rate of the elderly consumer market is accelerating, and the trend of consumption upgrading is obvious, with a greater emphasis on improving the quality of life
After the monthly retirement pension is received, I will deposit about half of the money into the bank, and the rest will mainly be used for daily expenses. Ruan Mei, a retired enterprise employee living in Hunan, feels very satisfied with her stable monthly pension.
In addition to daily expenses, Ruan Mei also likes to travel with her family: "Usually, my family and I drive around the city, camping and picnicking outdoors. We also go on one or two long-distance trips a year, which is both enjoyable and broaden our horizons."
After retirement, Ruan Mei found her own hobbies: "In my free time, I like to dance with my sisters in the community, which not only exercises my body, but also opens my social circle." Ruan Mei said, "Now, I also learned to shop by mobile phone. The newly bought clothes have been delivered, and I can wear them when dancing in two days."
A journalist investigation found that online consumption has become a new experience for many elderly people.
Online shopping has become one of Ruan Mei's main shopping methods. "My online shopping expenses account for about 30%," Ruan Mei said. "Online shopping is not only convenient, but also allows for '7-day no reason return', which is very worry free."
A resident of Bicheng Street, Bishan District, Chongqing, Zeng Yongguo, who is nearly seventy years old, also enjoys online shopping and mainly purchases medical and health products. "I have 'old cold legs'. Last year, my son bought me an intelligent knee protector online. It can not only heat, massage, and moxibustion, but also charge and use, making it convenient to wear."
Zeng Yongguo is very satisfied with this high-tech instrument. Under the guidance of his son, he often searches online for products such as nutrition and health care, daily care, and physical examination monitoring.
Not long ago, Zeng Yongguo came across an intelligent small medicine box online, which can remind himself to take medicine on time through ringing and vibration. Zeng Yongguo said, "Products designed specifically for the elderly can not only solve the problems of old age and poor memory, but also alleviate children's concerns."
The consumption patterns of the elderly are gradually transitioning towards digitalization, and the level of consumption is also improving.
As a well-known "fashion master" in the Yangliuba community, Zeng Yongguo believes that "fashion is not about age, and elderly people can also pursue a more exquisite and beautiful life." He established the "Yangliuba Trend Group" WeChat group, held offline fashion salons every month, shared dressing skills with more than 20 other elderly people, and purchased new clothes together.
Love life, pursue fashion, value health, understand health, know how to shop online, and emphasize quality. Nowadays, the elderly population pays more attention to quality of life in consumption, and the trend of consumption upgrading is obvious.
Recently, Alibaba released a report on elderly consumption, which showed that the growth rate of the elderly consumption market reached 20.9% in 2022, and the new growth point of the silver haired economy is shifting from traditional health medicine to beauty, travel, smart devices, etc. Since the beginning of this year, the consumption growth rate of elderly consumers on mainstream tourism apps has reached over 80%, and the growth rate of purchasing smart devices has exceeded 52%.
Enriching elderly care products, scientifically allocating assets, and preparing reserves in advance for retirement life
Tang Wen, a resident of Huxi Street in Chongqing High tech Zone, has just turned 40 years old and has a stable job. Ten years ago, Tang Wen and his lover purchased commercial pension insurance. "Retirement requires self planning in advance, and in later years, life will be more secure." Now, Tang Wen can receive monthly rebates.
In order to have more comprehensive protection, Tang Wen and his lover also purchased critical illness insurance, accident insurance, etc. The two of them spend about 60000 yuan on insurance costs each year. "Insurance products still need to be configured early. Elderly people have fewer products to choose from, and the premiums are also expensive. Now, it is necessary to lay the groundwork for future life," Tang Wen said.
At the end of last year, they opened a personal pension account. "This is like a piggy bank, where you can deposit some retirement money every year, and your heart will be more secure." Tang Wen said, "This year's personal income tax declaration, I have also enjoyed more than 1000 yuan in tax benefits. I hope that in the future, pension wealth management products will be more diverse and diverse, allowing us to have more stable investment channels."
Only by doing a good job in long-term asset planning and enhancing one's own security capabilities can one enjoy a better quality of elderly life. Li Yun, who lives in Beijing, is 38 years old this year. In December last year, she opened her own personal pension account with China Merchants Bank and made contributions. In the future, she plans to pay her personal pension in full at a rate of 12000 yuan per year. "I used the funds in my personal pension account to purchase two fund products with terms of 3 and 5 years," said Li Yun. Not only did I receive returns from my investments, but I also enjoyed tax benefits during this year's personal income tax annual settlement and declaration.
"Previously, I also purchased major illness insurance, annuity insurance, etc., adding an extra layer of protection." Li Yun said, "When I retire, if I want to have a higher quality of life, I need to make more preparations and take advantage of the surplus funds at home to consider making some long-term, stable investments."
"We should plan as early as possible according to our own elderly care needs, enhance the awareness of saving elderly care funds in exclusive accounts, and reserve elderly care funds in advance. Elderly care investment has been for more than a decade or even decades, and it is necessary to control risks through rich elderly care products and scientific asset allocation, achieve stable value-added protection, enhance our own security capabilities, and transform savings based elderly care into investment based elderly care," said the head of relevant departments at China Merchants Bank.
In order to enrich the wealth management products of the people, the industry has launched pilot projects for elderly care wealth management products. According to statistics from the Wealth Management Registration Center, as of the end of May this year, 11 wealth management companies have issued a total of 51 pension wealth management products through 10 banks in 10 pilot areas, with investors purchasing approximately 100.555 billion yuan, totaling 466500 investors.
With the opening of personal pension accounts, the first batch of personal pension wealth management products was launched on February 10th this year. According to data released by China Wealth Management Network, a total of 18 personal pension wealth management products were issued by four wealth management companies, with a cumulative sales scale of 763 million yuan. As of June 27th, 109000 people have purchased wealth management products through personal pension, with an average of 7000 yuan per investor, accounting for 58% of the annual purchase limit.
Bank of China Wealth Management is the first wealth management company to sell personal pension wealth management products. Currently, Bank of China's personal pension account has launched 5 wealth management products issued by Bank of China Wealth Management. In addition to wealth management products, customers can also invest in personal pension insurance products, personal pension public fund products, and specific pension savings products in the bank.
The head of relevant departments of Bank of China said that they can actively participate in the allocation of personal pension assets by taking into account their own retirement years, investment goals, risk tolerance, etc. Through long-term investment and diversified allocation of personal pension exclusive products, they can prepare reserves in advance for retirement life.
Innovate the supply of aging friendly products, create a safe and reassuring consumption environment, and better serve elderly consumers
"I hope to launch more products and services that meet the consumption needs of the elderly." Chen Jie, a resident of Qinjiagang Street in Shapingba District, Chongqing, said that she has a stable retirement pension, but there are not many products suitable for the elderly now. Some products have too much weight, which can easily cause waste for elderly people living alone. Nowadays, there are consumer venues suitable for young people and children in shopping malls, but there are few dedicated consumption areas for the elderly. Not only is the variety of products scattered, but there is also a lack of aging friendly facilities and special considerations. For example, in supermarkets, sometimes elderly people place their products too high or too low, making it inconvenient for them to pick them up. For example, sometimes when online shopping products are not delivered to your doorstep, it is also quite difficult for the elderly to go to a storage point and pick them up themselves. Although it is a detail, it affects the consumption experience of the elderly and needs to be gradually improved.
Elderly consumers are more looking forward to a safe and reassuring consumption environment. The reporter learned in the interview that many elderly people like to shop online, but when purchasing expensive items such as jewelry, home appliances, furniture, etc., they are still more cautious and prefer to buy from physical stores. They are worried about being deceived and facing difficulties in defending their rights in the future. Elderly people hope that relevant departments can further strengthen law enforcement, crack down severely on fraudulent behaviors such as counterfeiting and exaggerating product effects that deceive elderly consumers. At the same time, improve the elderly's rights protection mechanism, smooth channels, optimize after-sales services for the elderly, and encourage them to dare and be willing to consume.
Recently, the "2023 Silver Hair Consumer Trends Insights Report - Household Appliances" released by Yibang Think Tank showed that from the Tmall Supply and Demand Index, the demand side growth of the "elderly friendly" home appliance industry far exceeds the supply side. In 2022, the search volume for "elderly friendly home appliances" on Tmall increased by 200% year-on-year, with demand mainly concentrated in categories such as integrated home appliances, refrigerators, and cleaning, as well as categories such as environmental health, home life, and personal care. Consumers are more pursuing the convenience, safety, functionality, and health of products.
Create offline aging friendly consumer scenarios and vast product space. Industry insiders point out that in fact, the demand for aging is a comprehensive requirement that requires multiple products to be combined into a complete solution in order to achieve barrier free and intelligent care and home experience, which creates opportunities for offline services and sales.
Not only is there a strong demand for physical goods, but also for service consumption among the elderly. The latest issue of China's financial industry CEO quarterly published by McKinsey points out that after retirement, a large number of families will transition from the retirement savings stage to the retirement consumption stage, and the demand for transportation, health management, medical care and other services will explode. Relevant institutions should carefully sort out the various needs of the target customer group, including life cycle, financial management, health management, etc., and build a one-stop comprehensive elderly care financial ecosystem. This not only provides wealth management services for the elderly, but also provides additional services such as elderly care communities, health management, life care, and residential elderly care, truly meeting the differentiated elderly care needs of the elderly.
