Over the past 100 years, Japan's aging population has rapidly increased from 5% to 36%, bringing about a major transformation in the country's pyramidal structure. While businesses targeting the senior market, which accounts for a large proportion of the population, are expanding rapidly, younger generations are being left behind.
The road to correcting the imbalance between seniors who have money but cannot spend it and young people who want to spend but cannot is a difficult one. Behind this problem is the reality that seniors are unable to transfer assets in time for the times when their children and grandchildren, who will create the future, need money most (for college, marriage, home purchases, child-rearing, etc.).
Under the current tax system, the more assets a senior has, the more advantageous the tax rate for inheritance is compared to gifts made during one's lifetime, which hinders timely asset transfer. For seniors to make gifts during their lifetime, it is not enough to simply have the motivation of wishing happiness for their grandchildren and the financial means to transfer assets; they also need some kind of trigger that will lead to action.
The COVID-19 pandemic has deprived seniors of the opportunity to meet with their grandchildren in person, but in the United States, digital platforms that provide these opportunities have emerged and are attracting attention as a new form of social infrastructure, even in the post-COVID era. While there are differences in tax systems between Japan and the United States, both countries offer preferential treatment, making it possible for seniors to open investment accounts, rather than savings accounts, in their grandchildren's names, allowing them to build up assets with low risk and spend them when the grandchildren need them.
There are two meanings to seniors consuming with their grandchildren: one is to create a future economic sphere for their grandchildren, and the other is to enjoy the present with their grandchildren, similar to buying an annual pass to a theme park.
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