退休金
tuì xiū jīn · HSK 7
pension
👴💰 退休 (retire) + 金 (money) = the money you get once you stop working
退 means withdraw and 休 means rest, so 退休 is to withdraw-and-rest = retire. Add 金 (gold/money) and you get the cash a retiree collects: a pension.
退 — walk radical 辶 + 艮 (stop/halt)
退 combines the walking/movement radical 辶 with 艮, which carries a sense of stopping or turning back. Together they depict the action of moving backward or withdrawing. The original sense of retreating or stepping back has remained stable through history.
金 — roof 亼 + two dots (metal nuggets) + earth 土
Originally a pictograph of metal nuggets buried in the earth beneath a covering, with the two dots representing pieces of ore. It first meant 'metal' broadly, then narrowed to 'gold' as the most precious metal, and by extension 'money'.