Who will you entrust to your property when you become “one person”? December 13 at 17:15

"You will die with peace because you are there." The 88-year-old woman joked and spoke with a joyful expression. The woman was talking about a credit union in a suit. As the population ages, more and more elderly people live alone. It is not limited to single people. A person who precedes her husband. Someone who can't rely on relatives because of circumstances. A person whose child works far away. Everyone can become “one person” and reach the end by themselves. The movement from managing these old people's money to taking care of them after their death has begun quietly in the financial world. (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Kohei Noguchi)

"One person" service of major trust

The reason for the interview was a service started by a major Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. In February, we established an organization called “Safety Support” at our office in Minato-ku, Tokyo and started activities in February.

The main target of the service is customers of trust banks who do not have a family member or who do not have an acquaintance that can be relied on nearby. While the customer is living independently, a contract of any adult guardianship is concluded. And if you are bedridden or have dementia due to illness, the group will manage daily money, enter a nursing home, funerals, clean up your home, inheritance procedures, etc. as an adult guardian . The main charges for the service are as follows.

According to the organization, it is not a profitable rate setting. Representative Director Shigeru Kimura talks about the purpose of the service as follows.

“With family ties becoming weaker than in the past, I think we can be a substitute for the family. Uka "

Is the bank instead of my family?

But can a bank really be a “family substitute”? I asked the trust bank to talk to people who actually use it, but there were no people who responded to the interview in a timely manner because it had just started. Therefore, I visited Numazu Shinkin Bank in Shizuoka Prefecture, which had started the service in advance.

Shinkin established a general incorporated association “Shinkin Adult Guardian Support Numazu” two years ago. So far, we have contracts with adult guardians with more than 20 people.

Die with confidence in this

I talked to one of them, an 88-year-old woman. With the consent of the person himself, Shinkin introduced me.

Women are single and have no children. When he was a child, he lost his father and lived with his mother. The mother also died 15 years ago. There are no relatives who can rely on nearby. In addition to the reserves that she worked for, women had homes and assets left by their mothers who worked hard. He said he had been worried since the age of 80, saying, "What will happen to this property when I died?" I was particularly worried about leaving my home unattended and disturbing my neighbors.

At that time, I learned about the efforts of Shinkin Numazu, who had been trading for many years. In August, I signed an adult guardianship contract and asked the Shinkin side to enter the nursing home if I had dementia. When it comes to the end, where is the night and where is the funeral? I also decided to have my remains put in the grave of the temple where my mother sleeps. If there is a surplus, we will donate it to the temple and wrote a will.

A woman living alone “When I get older, I'm most worried about the blur. Even when I was asked for an urgent contact information, I had only a care manager who came to my house. There is noble money. The most important thing is that there is no choice but to be mentally safe. "

The story was very heavy, but the woman told me with a smile.

“I will die with peace of mind. I want to use it freely so that no money remains.”

So that my wife is not troubled alone

“One person” anxiety is not limited to single people. The next person I talked to was a 76-year-old man. A younger 4-year-old wife became demented and entered a nursing home for the elderly. The worry for men was that he died first and his wife was alone. Support for daily life is available at the facility, but my wife cannot handle money management or insurance procedures. Considering that his wife would be alone, it was said that the days when he could not sleep continued. For this reason, men also signed an adult guardianship contract and entrusted them to Shinkin.

Kazuo Hashimoto “When I happen to have Nobukin-san, I think I'm a family. Even if I have something, my wife can take care of me until I die.”

The words of a man who cares about his wife made a strong impression. The man puts a paper with the phone number of the person in charge of Shinkin on the side of the bed and seems to fall asleep while watching the number every night. I knew that this person was relying on Shinkin.

Why don't you donate to NPO?

We are also starting a new service for “single” people. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, which was introduced at the beginning, is now focusing on “belief”. This is one of the procedures to write a place to donate property in a will, and to use it for society after death. In autumn, we held the first seminar on the theme of bequests.

Participants include people who say “I don't have children, so I want to make a bequest and give back to society” and “I want to use heritage based on my belief” was doing.

It seems that the number of “donations” due to the will of the person and “donations” that received the will of the deceased are gradually increasing. After confirming the number of “bequests to NPO corporations” (person) and “donations of inherited property” (family members, etc.) to the National Tax Agency, the total was 369 cases and 29.9 billion yen in 2013. Increased to 615 cases, 31.6 billion yen.

Trust banks are deepening relationships with NPOs, such as organizations that support children with intractable diseases and groups that support families with dementia, to introduce beneficiaries. If there is hope, he seems to be thinking about a bridge to observe NPO activities.

“Financial intermediation is the bank's main business. If you have an NPO that lacks funds, and you have a customer who is willing to donate, you want to connect them together.”

After the interview

When it comes to support for single elderly people, I think that the local welfare and caregivers usually play a leading role. In this interview, Shinkin Bank was added. The staff of “Shinkin adult guardianship support Numazu”, the care manager belonging to the local comprehensive support center, and the helper who provides home-visit care were in close contact with each other, so the user trusted the various procedures.

How do you spend the end of your life? How do you leave your way of life? In order not to bother others around after leaving this world. If a financial institution can help and resolve these problems, it may increase the number of people who can say "I will die with peace of mind." I felt so honestly.

Economic Department reporter Kohei Noguchi Joined the Tokushima Bureau in 2008 and was in charge of electrical equipment, MLIT, finance, etc.