Experts Call for Skipping Daily Coffee to Plan for Retirement Ahead! Why Is Coffee So Expensive?

The Rising Challenge of an Aging Population

When you saw the title of this article, was the first thing that came to mind a meme like this?

According to reports, as of the end of 2021, China's population aged 60 and above had reached 267.36 million, or 18.9% of the national population, while those aged 65 and above numbered 200.56 million, or 14.2%. Projections suggest that by 2027 the elderly share will climb to 20%, making China a deeply aging society.

By 2050, the elderly population will reach 487 million — one-third of the total — meaning a super-aged society will span the entire working lives of those born in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2050, one out of every two or three people you meet will be elderly, with just two working-age people supporting each retiree.

Retirement Planning Challenges

In recent years, news of "pension funds running short in some provinces and cities" has surfaced from time to time, and how the post-80s and post-90s generations will support themselves in retirement has become a source of real anxiety. In response, in 2021 Zhou Yanfang, an NPC deputy and deputy general manager of Pacific Medical Health Management Company, submitted multiple elderly-care proposals, urging faster development of commercial pension insurance and the third pillar of pensions — personal pensions.

During that year's Two Sessions, the Southern Metropolis Daily held a retirement forum with 50 experts. Dong Keyong, the forum's secretary-general, shared his view on personal pensions: because they are accumulation-type pensions, the earlier you join, the better. With the country's tax incentive policies on top, they carry extra meaning for young people — arguably, the system was designed with them in mind.

The Coffee Savings Analogy

The logic went like this: plan early — say, by skipping one cup of coffee a day and saving 30 yuan — and you'd put away 900 yuan a month, roughly matching the country's tax benefit of nearly 1,000 yuan. Give up one cup a day, the argument goes, and you've funded your retirement.

(Editor's note: Under the latest guidelines, the annual contribution limit for personal pensions is 12,000 yuan — 1,000 yuan per month. Once that 1,000 yuan tax-benefit quota is used, taxable income drops by 96.3 yuan, or 9.6% of the quota; the higher your income, the larger this proportion becomes.

In other words, 1,000 yuan contributed monthly to a personal pension account earns roughly a 3% tax-benefit return even with no investing at all — and combined with returns from stable retirement products, the overall gains become even more considerable.)

The Coffee Consumption Reality

But here's the question: how many young people actually drink a 30-yuan cup of coffee every day? That price may be routine for a small minority, yet the share of people spending 30 yuan on coffee daily is extremely small.

Many netizens pointed out that they can barely afford a 10-plus yuan coffee once or twice a week — the price of one cafe cup buys a very filling meal. Others asked, "Drinking coffee is just an occasional little pleasure. Must even this happiness be 'exploited'?" or noted, "Most people who drink it daily probably brew their own beans, which costs only a few yuan per cup..."

A More Realistic Perspective

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with the expert's underlying point — but the analogy may be a poor one. Setting aside 1,000 yuan every month for a personal pension is no easy feat for many young people.

After all, expenses aren't just coffee; everyday living costs are the biggest outlays. Whatever your salary level, your spending adds up, and it can't simply be trimmed by skipping a latte.

Besides, while coffee is a daily ritual for some, many, many others have no coffee-drinking habit at all. If the advice is genuinely meant for all young people, saving on coffee was never going to be the right example.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you do want to enjoy great coffee at home for a few yuan a cup, FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level single-origin lineup is a great place to start. The Ethiopia washed Guodingding (Yirgacheffe) offers jasmine florals, lemon acidity, and berry notes, while the sun-dried Sidamo Huakui brings berry, floral, jackfruit, melon, and honey flavors. From Brazil, the Cerrado Red Bourbon daily-drinker delivers cream, peanut, and cocoa notes — tasty without being pricey — and the Queen Estate yellow bourbon adds sugarcane sweetness on top of classic nutty tones.

Prefer something bolder? The FrontStreet Linh Dong Mandheling and PWN Golden Mandheling (wet-hulled, triple hand-sorted) offer a heavy, smooth, low-acid cup with herbal, woody, and caramel character. And for a bargain-price taste of Panama Geisha, the washed Boquete Geisha delivers the variety's signature orange-blossom honey sweetness with exceptional value.