Seoul  - All that glitters is not gold. The Shakesperean saying may well apply to being one of South Korea's so-called "Gold Misses" - unmarried, rich and professional women in their 30s and 40s.

The glamour is still glowing while they work as professionals or high up in the corporate world, but an empty life may await them after retirement if they've squandered their wealth, life planners warn.

A South Korean housewife is sometimes jealous of an unmarried friend. Her single friends seem to be witty and attractive with a decent income. While the housewife tries to save every dollar to send her child to a decent school, the Golden Miss can spend her money on whatever makes her happy.

"My miss friend usually looks younger and vibrant. She gets spa massages. She travels around. She can buy luxury bags, fashion, cosmetics - all that I can seldom afford to," says a 37-year-old housewife in Seoul.

To be defined as a Gold Miss a woman should be in her 30s or 40s, unmarried, professional and earning at least 4 million won (3,300 dollars) a month.

The spending power of the Gold Miss has drawn the attention of marketers. These women typically spend their money on fashion, cosmetics, plastic surgery, travel or marriage agencies to name a few.

However, the prospects post-retirement are not always glittering if the Gold Miss has not planned in advance. Life insurance planners say that these women tend to be the least prepared for life after retirement.

"Gold Miss tends to spend much as if she works forever," said Soe Myung Soo, a life planner at Prudential Life Insurance in Seoul.

In the competitive South Korean corporate world early retirement is becoming common and better health care means that people are living longer.

"This means she would have a long, long life to sustain herself after she retires," the life planner said.

Yet surveys have found that the South Korean professional woman is less prepared for post-retirement life than her Taiwanese or US counterparts. Only one in every four Gold Misses has a plan for life after retirement, according to a survey of 102 such women by Prudential Life.

The same survey found that 59 per cent of US women and 62 per cent of Taiwanese women have made preparations for life after work.

Without a plan the spendthrift Gold Miss may face an old age without money.

"Housewives will be with children and husband even if she lacks money. Gold Miss will find her life empty if she has no money," said Soe Myung Soo. (dpa)