Retirees over 50 years old are most glad that they no longer have to deal with stress from work, but many feel that tight finances are dampening their post-retirement life, a survey said Tuesday. 

In the survey by the National Pension Service, conducted between April and September last year on 4,816 respondents, 32.2 percent said the best thing about retiring was being free of work-related stress. Another 17.8 percent were happy they didn't have to worry about interpersonal relationships at the workplace.

The survey said 24.4 percent of the people felt nothing has improved after leaving work.

As for the negative changes from retirement, 46.3 percent cited financial difficulties. For 11.9 percent, not having anything to do was the biggest problem. In the case of 20.9 percent of the people, life did not get worse in any way.

About 56 percent of the respondents said they did not voluntarily retire, with 36.1 percent citing health deterioration as the reason for leaving work.

For men, 81.3 percent said they were personally responsible for planning their lives after retirement. For women, 39.1 percent said their spouses were responsible, while a nearly equal 40 percent said they themselves were.

For the respondents, elderly life began at the age of 67, somewhat later than 65 as defined by the government. (Yonhap)