Fake pension
On the day of receiving his salary, Mr. Minh, 59 years old, an employee of a business in Hanoi, transferred most of his money to a savings account, leaving only 9 million VND for spending.
That is the pension he plans to receive when he quits his job next year.
He said to his wife: "Just consider that from today I am retired.
The couple thought the test was not too difficult. The family has paid off all debts, both children are working. When he quit his job, he also saved money on gasoline, lunch, coffee and meetings with colleagues.
The first month went exactly as planned. He brought rice to work, reduced meeting friends and postponed buying a new phone. At the end of the month, there was still nearly one million VND left.
At that time, I thought it turned out that retirement was not worrying," he recounted.
In the second month, the bedroom air conditioner broke down, costing more than two million VND to repair. In the same week, he attended two weddings and bought medicine to treat underlying diseases.
Less than two-thirds of a month, 9 million VND is almost running out.
For the first time, he had to open an account containing the salary he had "locked" himself to get more.
What surprised him was that he did not buy anything luxurious. "If the air conditioner is broken, it must be repaired, medicine cannot be removed, it is difficult not to go to relatives' weddings. Before, when I had a salary, I didn't pay attention to a few million VND arising," he said.
Easy-to-forget money
Ms. Thu, 57 years old, an office worker in Ho Chi Minh City, discovered another "loophole" when trying to live on her expected income after retirement: child support money.
Her son has gone to work, has a family and young children. Every month she buys milk for her grandchild, every month sends more money for rent, and sometimes pays for medical examinations.
Previously, Ms. Thu did not include this amount in the budget because she thought it was just "helping her children when needed". But after three months of recording, she realized that almost every month the "when needed" item appeared.
She did not intend to stop helping her children, but began to set limits and told her children in advance that after their parents retired, the ability to support them would no longer be like when they were working.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hai, 60 years old, in Da Nang, received the opposite result.
After four months of self-limiting spending at a level equivalent to his expected income after retirement, he still had surplus. Taking notes helped him realize that lunch, gasoline, coffee and meetings related to work currently accounted for a significant amount.
I just see that my income after retirement decreases and I'm scared. After trying it, I realize that my living standard does not need as much as I imagined," he said.
Three tests gave three different results. Some found it lacking due to unusual costs, some realized they were spending a significant portion of their income on their children, and some were less worried because many expenses would decrease when they no longer worked.
The common point is that they no longer just look at a number on paper.
According to personal finance experts, the common error when setting a retirement budget is only counting "normal" months. Food, electricity, water or travel expenses are easily seen, while medical examination and treatment, house repair, equipment replacement, funerals or child support often do not appear regularly, so they are easily forgotten.
Therefore, people preparing to retire can try limiting spending for a few months to the expected income later. Each time you have to take extra money out of the budget, you need to clearly state the reason. If there is a shortage due to possible cuts, the problem lies in living standards; if there is a continuous shortage due to health, housing or family obligations, the initial financial plan may need to be recalculated.
Experts also note that pensions should not be considered the entire "cushion". A sufficient income for a normal month may still not be enough for a hospital stay or a large repair. Therefore, the contingency fund needs to be calculated separately.
After the trial, Mr. Minh decided to continue living with the "fake pension" for another six months. The remaining salary was divided by him into a health fund, repair and contingency fund instead of being tacitly considered surplus money.
I used to think knowing how much pension I got was enough," he said. "Now I see that's just the beginning.
A year before retirement, try living on future income not to make things difficult for yourself. That's when a plan on paper is put out for living together, when workers still have time to fix things that are not okay.
