"You've Earned Your Wealth—Now It's Time to Use It Well"...Seniors Turning to Financial Centers Before Illness Hits [Finance Embracing Seniors] ①

2025: 10.51 Million Seniors, Projected to Reach 12.98 Million by 2030
Senior Business Competition among Financial Groups: Expanding from Asset Management to Long-Term Care, Housing, and Health
Integrated Insurance, Inheritance, and Care Consulta

Editor's Note
As the pace of population aging accelerates, the role of financial institutions is changing as well. While finance used to be focused mainly on growing assets and preparing for risks until retirement, it is now expanding into all aspects of customers’ lives, from managing and utilizing retirement assets to preparing for health and long-term care needs. In South Korea, initiatives connecting finance with elderly care are gaining traction, and international financial firms are expanding their services to include health, medical, and daily living support, with some even entering the direct care business. As society enters an era of super-aging populations, the task of building sustainable senior business models is becoming even more complex. In a three-part series, The Asia Business Daily examines the strategies of financial companies in South Korea, Singapore, and Japan, exploring the current state of convergence between finance and care, as well as the key challenges facing the Korean financial industry.

10 Million Seniors over 65...Financial Holding Companies Entering the Senior Business Arena

The senior business sector within the financial industry is rapidly evolving from traditional services such as retirement asset planning and pension products to comprehensive solutions. Recently, the competition to establish ecosystems that combine financial services with medical care, nursing care, housing, and daily living support has intensified. The advent of a super-aged society, where people aged 65 and older account for more than 20% of the total population, has resulted in a surge in customized demand based on the size of senior customers' assets, health status, and income activities. In response, major financial holding companies are rolling out various senior-targeted businesses.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on September 27, the number of people aged 65 and over is expected to increase from 10.51 million in 2025 to 12.98 million in 2030. Particularly, as the first generation of baby boomers begins to enter the senior population, the share of seniors in both the core consumer group and asset-holding class is rising rapidly.

The net assets held by the elderly are growing at a fast pace as well. Assets held by people aged 65 and older accounted for 1,027 trillion won in 2012, rising to 2,871 trillion won in 2022, representing 27% of the total household net assets. By 2030, senior households’ assets are estimated to reach 6,433 trillion won, accounting for 35% of total household net assets. The emergence of a senior population with such immense assets is not only influencing savings and asset management, but also serving as a driving force for the growth of various senior-related industries.

This market is also expanding. Hana Institute of Finance predicts that, driven by the aging of baby boomers and their increasing assets, the domestic senior market will widen to 215 trillion won by 2030. The senior care market, with a focus on caregiving, is also growing rapidly. According to the institute, the domestic senior care market grew from 8 trillion won in 2018 to 14.5 trillion won in 2022, posting an average annual growth rate of 15.6%.

This robust growth in the senior market is the key motivation behind Korean financial holding companies actively pursuing senior-targeted businesses. A commercial bank official commented, “Senior business is an area where strong brand loyalty and face-to-face services are crucial, making it highly suitable for financial holding companies to leverage their capabilities.”

KB Financial Group has designated the elderly care business as a new “business axis” following the launch of its senior-specialized brand ‘KB Golden Life’ in 2012, expanding its work scope from care services to finance. KB Life, an affiliate of KB Financial Group, operates nursing facilities in Seoul and the wider capital region—including Seocho, Wirye, Eunpyeong, Gwanggyo, and Gangdong—through its subsidiary KB Golden Life Care, while also pushing to build a new facility in North Wirye Village. More recently, KB Life opened the Yeoksam Center, expanding service offerings to include insurance consultations, post-retirement asset management, and nursing and care consultations.

Shinhan Financial Group is also expanding its nursing and senior-residence work, primarily through Shinhan Life Care, a dedicated subsidiary of Shinhan Life for the senior market. On September 7, Shinhan Life Care signed a financial business agreement with NIKKEN SEKKEI, a Japanese architectural design firm, to improve space design and operational models for future senior housing facilities. Incorporating resident-centered design, smart healthcare technology, and universal design, these facilities aim to support daily life for seniors. Especially, the group plans to both share advanced examples of Japanese senior facilities and seek new opportunities for domestic and overseas facility development.

Hana Financial Group is likewise expanding financial and care services through its senior-specialized brand “Hana The Next.” Hana The Next Life Care, a subsidiary of Hana Life Insurance, is building an elderly nursing facility in Jichuk-dong, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, targeting an opening in 2027. Hana Bank is also expanding “Hana The Next Lounge,” which offers services including asset management, inheritance and gifting, trusts, pensions, as well as senior residence consultations, from the Seoul metropolitan area to regional locations.

Woori Bank, under its senior-specialized brand “Woori Wonder Life,” is providing both financial services (asset management, tax, real estate, trusts, pensions) and non-financial content (health, leisure, job opportunities). Following the incorporation of Dongyang Life and ABL Life, Woori Financial Group is also strengthening inter-affiliate collaboration, such as retirement planning consultations involving the bank, Woori Investment & Securities, and insurance affiliates. NH NongHyup Financial Group, through its senior-specialized brand “NH All Wonderful,” is enhancing products and services for seniors, including real estate gift trusts, financial testamentary trusts, dementia, nursing, and long-term care insurance, as well as healthcare solutions.

"You Don’t Have to Be Ill Yet"...Try Out Care Facilities in Advance at Financial Centers

The integration of finance and care is already emerging in concrete services on the front lines of financial institutions.

“Not only long-term care, but also insurance contracts, asset, inheritance, and gift consultations are all free. There’s no need to be sick now—please receive services before you experience health issues.”

On September 11, when The Asia Business Daily visited KB Life Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, a scene quite different from an ordinary financial branch unfolded upon entering the building. The facility features areas fully recreating a long-term care room and bathroom, as well as spaces for receiving insurance, asset management, and care consultations—all within one building.

Experts from various fields, including insurance and asset management consultants, care consultants who are former nurses, and tax professionals, are onsite to advise senior customers. Consultations typically cover both financial products and nursing/care needs.

A KB Life official stated, “About 90% of care counseling clients visit the center for general health management, and the remaining 10% are asset management customers from banks inquiring about entry requirements for our ‘Village’ care facility.” This indicates that more people visit the center in advance, to prepare for themselves or their aging parents’ care, rather than due to immediate needs.

The sixth floor of the center houses the “Aegitechlab” operated by KB Golden Life Care, a KB Life subsidiary, where visitors can indirectly experience nursing facilities. The lab features zones for trying out electric wheelchairs, senior tech devices, village unit bedrooms and living rooms, and a conference area.

Particularly, the “village unit” has been recreated as a model room replicating actual single-occupancy spaces in care facilities. The bathroom is equipped with a presence alarm sensor, enabling remote monitoring of dangerous situations such as falls. If someone does not leave the bathroom after a certain period, the alarm sounds to enable a quicker response to potential risk.

The senior tech device area allows hands-on exploration of devices such as the Curaco automatic toilet care machine, the Redy smart fall-protection airbag belt, and the Hygera smart diaper. In this space, customers can try out processes such as moving from bed to bathroom or receiving toilet care beforehand. The facility is also set up so that those without mobility difficulties can visit on behalf of their parents or family members.

Juhyun Lee, a care consultant at KB Life Yeoksam Center, explained, “It’s not easy for patients to gather information directly, so we designed Aegitechlab so that subscribers—often family members—can try out the services and help patients transfer to a nearby Village facility. The lab is free for everyone, including not only KB Life policyholders but also customers from other companies.”

Customers receive insurance and asset management consultations on the fifth floor, and can then visit the sixth floor to experience the care facility. The ability to access both consultations and facility tours in one location distinguishes this center from conventional bank branches and welfare centers.

From Insurance, Inheritance, and Gifts to Parental Care...Expanding to "Lifetime Concierge"

On the 11th, at the KB Life Yeoksam Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, an employee is consulting with a customer. Photo by Chaeseok Moon

Onsite experts note that “lifetime concierge” services are being expanded at financial institutions, managing customers’ health and assets together even before their health deteriorates.

With life expectancy on the rise, the period of relationship management for financial companies is extending as well. The focus is shifting from merely growing customers’ assets to providing guidance on how to use them after retirement, where to reside, and when to receive care.

Yoonjin Cho, Head Manager for Wealth Management Planning at KB Life, stated, “Consultations are available free of charge for everyone, even those who are not policyholders. In fact, a large share of customers visit for issues surrounding their parents’ or family members’ ‘Village’ facility entry, insurance, inheritance, or gifting, rather than their own needs.” She added, “According to current laws, we cannot recommend specific products or conduct medical diagnoses, but we do focus on providing advice on excessive or insufficient coverage in their existing products.”

The scope of consulting is not limited to insurance. It covers all kinds of challenges seniors may encounter in retirement: living expenses, inheritance and gifting, real estate asset management, and future care facility entry—all addressed in one place.

Hyodong Kim, Executive Director and Head of New Business Development at KB Life, who oversees the Yeoksam Center, explained that the background for launching a combined finance and care business at the group level comes down to what he called “lengthened finance.” He said, “When average life expectancy was shorter in the past, it was enough to manage customers up to age 60, but now it’s said in the industry that financial companies must take responsibility until at least age 80.” He diagnosed that, “Financial firms need to go beyond helping clients merely accumulate assets—they must help people use them wisely in order to survive.”

The Yeoksam Center’s operations were designed at the group level, connecting banking, insurance, securities, and care services. Kim said that Juwan Lee, CEO of KB Kookmin Bank, strongly advocated connecting offline banking channels with senior care consulting during the initial planning phase. Kim added, “CEO Lee believed that the time had come for the senior care consulting business to be afforded greater respect. He proposed that insurance providers should proactively offer consultations, and that our services should be introduced wherever banks and securities branches operate.”

“Finance Is Not Just for Accumulation”—Transitioning toward Helping Seniors Use Their Retirement Assets Well

Kim emphasized that financial companies cannot restrict their roles to mere asset accumulation. He stressed the need to proactively manage financial products, insurance, assets, health, and even residential arrangements before a client’s health deteriorates.

Considering that Korean seniors’ assets remain heavily weighted toward real estate even after retirement, Kim noted the importance of designing both housing and financial plans together. He explained, “For example, if an elderly person owns only real estate and passes away, they might spend their final years as 'house poor' and also face a ‘tax bomb’ when gifting property to their children. To convert accumulated assets into liquid financial resources efficiently, financial companies must engage actively in retirement housing and care planning.”

The most practical challenge in expanding senior business is securing land and obtaining the necessary permits. Building care facilities requires a substantial amount of land, but with high land prices and complex permitting processes in key areas like Seoul and the metropolitan region, this proves difficult.

Kim pointed out, “Land costs account for about 30% of nursing facility project expenses. The more we reduce these, the greater capital efficiency we can achieve, so the competition among major financial groups for bids is inevitably fierce.”

If, due to cost pressures, facilities are built only in outlying areas, there is the risk of poor access to major hospitals and lifestyle infrastructure, which can dilute the intended “premium finance and care integrated service” concept.

Going forward, KB Life plans to expand financial and nursing concierge branches like the Yeoksam Center, as well as intensify work around nurturing caregivers and the “KB Golden Life ON” platform business. Kim concluded, “The group’s medium- to long-term mission is to roll out our financial and care concierge branches nationwide.” This illustrates the rapid spread of the idea that financial companies must manage not just the “money” but also the “life” of their senior customers. In an era when the measure of financial performance was how much was accumulated, the new source of competitive edge lies in helping customers best use their assets for healthy and stable retirement living.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.