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Wedding costs are rising by about 10 million won ($6,844) per year, a Hana Institute of Finance showed Sunday.

Wedding costs averaged 203 million won over the past three years, while people currently preparing to marry are expected to spend around 225 million won on their ceremonies.

About 37 percent said they planned to spend under 100 million won, unlike some 31 percent who said they need over 300 million won.

Residents in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi region said weddings are 25 percent more expensive than in other areas.

About 77 percent of the wedding costs were financed by the couple, with about three in five taking out loans.

Of those who took out loans, two-thirds said the loans were needed to cover more than half of their wedding costs.

The report showed that childless households showed less interest in owning their homes, despite having money.

Childless households had less motivation to own property, as indicated by their homeownership rate 14 percentage points lower than their peers with children. The former surpassed the latter in savings, a result of greater savings that would have otherwise been put into child care expenses.

Households with children were more likely to invest in equity, but were clearly limited by heavy borrowing costs.

The report added that up to 80 percent of the households with children also had their own parents to support as well.

Pocket money for parents averaged 310,000 won for childless households, lower than 420,000 won paid by households with children.

About 71 percent of parents gave their elementary school children pocket money allowance. The rate surged to 92 percent for parents with high school children, before sliding to around 80 percent when they become university students.

As for retirement savings, 80 percent of married couples said they were not financially prepared for life after retirement.

The total assets for married households averaged around 670 million won. They said they expected the figure to climb to around 920 million won before their retirement.

Of the total, 63 percent, or 570 million won, was in property, with only 210 million won held in financial assets.

More than half said they expected life after retirement to be financially insecure. Only 13 percent they will be financial secure.

The report showed that the age at which men and women were most open to marriage averaged 32. Most of them were salaried workers.

They maintained aggressive investment strategies, as evidenced by a higher percentage of holdings in equities, exchange-traded funds and other financial products.

Singles, in contrast, were more interested in insurance products, including nursing care and savings insurance.

Home purchases took priority for men and women considering marriage, whereas those with no plans for marrying placed greater emphasis on saving up for retirement as well as spending on leisure, hobbies or activities that suit their mood and feelings at the moment.