Surveys come up with different average salary figures

PUBLIC VERSuS PRIVATE:The average monthly income, as recorded in two polls, shows that most people are not able to save enough to reach their five-year financial goals

Staff writer, with CNA

The monthly pay for more than 50 percent of employees in Taiwan is less than NT$40,000, a non-governmental poll showed yesterday, while a government survey released the same day found that average monthly salary is NT$50,633.

According to the poll by psychological counseling group the Teacher Chang Foundation and the Citigroup Foundation, 53 percent of workers earn less than NT$40,000 per month and rated their satisfaction with their financial situation at 6 on a 10-point scale.

The government survey, released earlier in the day, showed the average monthly wage for the first eight months of the year was NT$50,633.

Most of the respondents in the non-governmental poll indicated that despite their small paychecks, they wanted to find ways to manage their money so that they could attain five-year goals like travel, studying overseas, getting married or starting a family.

However, most respondents said that the achievement of such goals would require savings of at least NT$21,295 per month on average, more than 42 percent of their total income, according to the poll.

It showed that 34 percent of employees estimated they would need monthly savings of NT$25,633 to meet their goals, an amount that they thought was beyond their reach.

The savings of most survey respondents range between NT$5,000 and NT$10,000 a month, while 26 percent said they are able to set aside NT$20,000 per month, according to the poll.

Time deposits and savings-oriented insurance policies are the two most popular means of savings for the majority respondents, the poll showed.

Teacher Chang Foundation chairman Chang Te-chung (張德聰) said people should learn how to manage their income and spending.