20million pot

[beanhead]

I max out my tsumitate-NISA (33,333) and iDeCo (12,000) each month.
I pay into a company DB pension scheme (10,000 per month).
I pay in to the UK (class 2) and Japanese pensions.

That should get you most of the way there

Agreed. And the 20M in that original study (which may well be flawed!) was for a couple.

[EmaxisSlim Cultist]

I max out my tsumitate-NISA (33,333) and iDeCo (12,000) each month.
I pay into a company DB pension scheme (10,000 per month).
I pay in to the UK (class 2) and Japanese pensions.

That should get you most of the way there

Agreed. And the 20M in that original study (which may well be flawed!) was for a couple.

I do not view the study as that deeply flawed. If anything the adverse reaction to it proves a cautionary tale.

Roger is well on his way, and definitely far ahead of the average Japanese investor.

I am not a nenkin doomsayer. But, I would encourage all retirers to plan for a decreased nenkin payout. That way the worst outcome is a very pleasant surprise.

[JimNasium]

I am single, no kids, no intention to have a wife or kids in the future, so it's just me. (No way could I afford to support them on my salary, and my salary won't go up in any meaningful way in the future.

Sorry, I don’t mean to get all up in your business, but I was in a similar situation as you. However, I’m about to get married at 40. I totally understand about kids, but if the reason you don’t want to get married is because you can’t support her financially I’m sure you could find someone who is financially independent. Although it didn’t work out for me, I’d give a dating app like Pairs a try. The filters on it are really good, and I was able to find quite a few good possible matches.

[Roger Van Zant]

Don't know what else I can do, really....
I have hardly any spare cash left each month after the above, plus living costs.

In that case, you might want to consider different ways to increase your income.

1. Offer freelancing services on Fiverr:
https://www.fiverr.com/

2. Creating an online digital course of any topic you might know well about, then sell it on Udemy:
https://www.udemy.com/

There are plenty of videos on YouTube as well about creating extra income streams - it can be very inspiring, but also would take a lot of effort as well.

Thank you for the ideas.
I sometimes use https://prolific.co/ to earn extra money.
I will look into Udemy. I have niche knowledge of one area in Japan that many foreigners are interested in, but have little information on.

[Roger Van Zant]

I am single, no kids, no intention to have a wife or kids in the future, so it's just me. (No way could I afford to support them on my salary, and my salary won't go up in any meaningful way in the future.

Sorry, I don’t mean to get all up in your business, but I was in a similar situation as you. However, I’m about to get married at 40. I totally understand about kids, but if the reason you don’t want to get married is because you can’t support her financially I’m sure you could find someone who is financially independent. Although it didn’t work out for me, I’d give a dating app like Pairs a try. The filters on it are really good, and I was able to find quite a few good possible matches.

Thanks. I have used Pairs before. I may again in the future. I live in the Japanese countryside, where any woman tends to either be the daughter of a poor farmer, living at home, or working in a poorly-paid job like in a factory or as a dental hygienist. They also expect the man to be the sole breadwinner of the family. The conundrum for me is (a) continue as I am, basically happy and okayish financially, or (b) get a girlfriend and see my disposable income go down, and feel stressed by the whole issue of not being able to be a good provider. I always lean to (a), as I am not really even that lonely; I have come to really enjoy being alone and just going down the mountain when I want to (to meet friends etc.).

[Roger Van Zant]

That should get you most of the way there

Agreed. And the 20M in that original study (which may well be flawed!) was for a couple.

I do not view the study as that deeply flawed. If anything the adverse reaction to it proves a cautionary tale.

Roger is well on his way, and definitely far ahead of the average Japanese investor.

I am not a nenkin doomsayer. But, I would encourage all retirers to plan for a decreased nenkin payout. That way the worst outcome is a very pleasant surprise.

Thanks. Based on my estimation from the UK pension website, I can pretty much live on the UK pension alone if it is just me, single, in retirement. Anything else I am trying to view as a "bonus" (things to make life just that little bit more enjoyable : real beer instead of 'happoshu', a long weekend at an onsen, etc.).

[EmaxisSlim Cultist]

Thanks. Based on my estimation from the UK pension website, I can pretty much live on the UK pension alone if it is just me, single, in retirement. Anything else I am trying to view as a "bonus" (things to make life just that little bit more enjoyable : real beer instead of 'happoshu', a long weekend at an onsen, etc.).

Those class 2 and 3 contributions put Uk-expats in an extremely advantageous position. It is a pretty unique situation.

Happoshu gives me a headache. Life is too short for low-quality liquor. I just picked up a bottle of The King`s Ginger, I am excited to try it.

[beanhead]

For example, let's say a married couple, kids living on their own (already grown up), spend 3 million yen a year. That couple might be able to reduce their expenses as they get closer to retirement, let's say, to 2.5 million yen.

Is this realistic, though? Most of us here are non-Japanese. My thinking is that because of this, there is a good chance that we will need to do more travel overseas than the average Mr and Mrs Watanabe. It could be to see relatives 'back home', or even one's own children, if they choose to live somewhere other than Japan...

@captainspoke , what are your thoughts? Pre-COVID-19, anyway, did you travel much after retirement?

One trip to SE asia--vietnam--for about a month. A year or two later I spent a couple months on the big island (hawaii), but that was kind of a paid trip.An old friend with a B&B was traveling, and another person and I took over and co-managed it while he and his wife were gone. So some work in exchange for tickets and food/lodging.

My mother passed long ago ('74), and my dad in 2015. (a day shy of 97, I hope I have his genes!) I didn't go immediately, but went several months later for an interment ceremony. (His second wife had also passed, and his third wife (a year my junior) wasn't really accepted by my sibs) But that ceremony went okay.

I'm number three. Brother is 75 (who abhors flying), sis 73, me, and one younger sis at 68. To cut to the chase, we've all agreed that it's perfectly okay to skip each other's funerals. Also no need to travel for a last visit if death is imminent. We all Skype or FaceTime monthly, more or less. Both my parents came from big families, lots of cousins, but the aunts and uncles are all gone (except one, dad's youngest sis, just turned 101). Some cousins are a different generation, they have multiple great-grandkids, while our grandkids are just two and four (my sibs don't have any yet). Everyone is long scattered (my sibs, too--three different states). Maybe it sounds cold, but if I'm not going for my sibs, there are certainly no other "relatives" to go for.

Actually, one of our kids (now 28) is in grad school in chicago, where my older sis lives, and they meet up now and then, which gives us all a reason to talk and keep up on things.

Next trip, if anything becomes possible, will be something my wife chooses--someplace on her bucket list.

Thanks. I forgot to thank you for sharing this. As RJ says, who knows what the future will hold in terms of international travel. It would certainly be nice to have the option of traveling when we want to when we don't have work commitments.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

Thanks. Based on my estimation from the UK pension website, I can pretty much live on the UK pension alone if it is just me, single, in retirement. Anything else I am trying to view as a "bonus" (things to make life just that little bit more enjoyable : real beer instead of 'happoshu', a long weekend at an onsen, etc.).

Those class 2 and 3 contributions put Uk-expats in an extremely advantageous position. It is a pretty unique situation.

Happoshu gives me a headache. Life is too short for low-quality liquor. I just picked up a bottle of The King`s Ginger, I am excited to try it.

I would second that, that UK expats are in an extremely advantageous position on retirement in relation to UK and Japanese state pensions, since we can contribute to both and can get both. This is not available to most other English speaking countries. Also they can both be paid out to wherever we decided to retire. Although if you were to decide to retire in Japan you would not get your UK state pension uprated by the Triple lock and you be dependent on the Sterling-Yen exchange rate, which post Brexit referendum has unfortunately stabilised around the 140/150 yen to the pound. Pre-Brexit referendum I had always worked off 200 yen to the pound. Worrying about exchange rates is not really the peace of mind that you would want when living out your golden years.