She saved more than NT$12 million for retirement, but at 70 she wondered what it was for

For decades, Kazumi, a Japanese homemaker, recorded her family’s finances down to the last yen and treated spending as something to avoid. At 70, after building substantial savings, she began asking whether she had waited too long to enjoy the life she had worked to secure.

Kazumi and her 72-year-old husband live in a mortgage-free apartment. Their financial assets total about 63 million yen, equivalent to roughly NT$12.6 million, and they receive combined monthly pensions of about 300,000 yen. On paper, the couple appears well prepared for retirement. Yet Kazumi continued the strict saving habits she had followed while paying the mortgage, funding her children’s education and preparing for old age.

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If I have 300,000 yen, it is better to keep it for retirement.

She became a full-time homemaker after marriage and raised two children. The family rarely ate out except on special occasions, and she bought clothes only when necessary. Even after the children became independent and the mortgage was paid off, she kept saving. In her 50s, she declined a friend’s invitation to travel abroad because the trip would cost about 300,000 yen. “If I have 300,000 yen, it is better to keep it for retirement,” she thought.

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The money stayed, but the me in my 50s is gone.

After her husband retired, the couple continued to give up small pleasures. When he suggested an ordinary-day trip to Kyoto, Kazumi said there was no need to stay overnight. When their old sofa needed replacing, she argued that it could still be used. Those decisions helped push their financial assets above 60 million yen, eventually reaching about 63 million yen.

A reunion with a longtime friend at age 70 changed her perspective. The friend reminded her of their youthful promise to travel abroad and said they could still go, although they would no longer be able to spend the entire day walking around as they might have in their 50s. Kazumi later asked her husband when retirement life was supposed to begin. “The money stayed, but the me in my 50s is gone,” she said.

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I have spent my whole life saving, but I do not think saving money was wrong.

The couple did not begin spending recklessly. They reviewed their finances, reserved money for future living costs and home repairs, and decided to allocate a fixed amount each year for travel and hobbies. Their first step was a three-day, two-night hot-spring trip. Kazumi found the booking price expensive but did not cancel. “I have spent my whole life saving, but I do not think saving money was wrong,” she said. “The period for saving and the period for spending can actually be clearly divided by oneself.” The advice accompanying her story was that retirement planning should consider pensions, housing, family circumstances and future medical and care costs, while recognizing that money can be saved for later, but time cannot.

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The period for saving and the period for spending can actually be clearly divided by oneself.