I mentioned I would post what I am getting on my Kokumin Japanese Pension

[japanville jojo]

Can some one here explain the kanji and what its means. And yes, this is my income for paying into it. And no, I wasn't spending any time in prison here either.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CDlRhr ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C6a26_ ... sp=sharing

[ClearAsMud]

The first amount in each column is your full bi-monthly pension benefit (nenkin shiharai-gaku; this is paid in even months, and the columns are the amounts for Oct. 2021, Dec. 2021, Feb. 2022, and April 2022).

The second amount in each column is the premium everyone is required to pay after the age of 40 for long-term care insurance (kaigo hokenryō-gaku). It lasts forever and is automatically withheld from your pension after the age of 65 (if you're still employed at 65, you get billed separately by the local government until you actually start taking your pension; before that, your employer withholds it). The third amount in each column (can't see all the characters, but they say something like "amount deposited after deductions") is the difference, which is what actually gets deposited into your bank account.

The column on the far right, given for reference purposes, is what you received for the two-month period immediately preceding those on this notice. I don't know what the extra 4,300 yen deduction is for, since there are only asterisks in the explanation column on the left.

[captainspoke]

If you are new to retirement and pension, I think this takes a year or more to settle down--e.g., the 介護保険 is based on your previous year's income (like residence tax). So when you first retire, this is 'clouded' somewhat since you were working (presumably) the year before you retired. Mine's based on 29 years of work, tho I'm not sure what happened with the last five, when I was over 60 and not yet 65. I just assume they got that right. My 介護 number does reflect some passive income.

Here's mine from the same date, 10/15.

[japanville jojo]

The first amount in each column is your full bi-monthly pension benefit (nenkin shiharai-gaku; this is paid in even months, and the columns are the amounts for Oct. 2021, Dec. 2021, Feb. 2022, and April 2022).

The second amount in each column is the premium everyone is required to pay after the age of 40 for long-term care insurance (kaigo hokenryō-gaku). It lasts forever and is automatically withheld from your pension after the age of 65 (if you're still employed at 65, you get billed separately by the local government until you actually start taking your pension; before that, your employer withholds it). The third amount in each column (can't see all the characters, but they say something like "amount deposited after deductions") is the difference, which is what actually gets deposited into your bank account.

The column on the far right, given for reference purposes, is what you received for the two-month period immediately preceding those on this notice. I don't know what the extra 4,300 yen deduction is for, since there are only asterisks in the explanation column on the left.

Thank you for your clear explanation. Much appreciated. I don't know about the 4300 yen deduction either. When I get some time I'll go to the office here in town to find out. When I get an answer I'll update this post. Again, thank you.

[ClearAsMud]

Before the age of 65, long-term care insurance often gets paid along with your health insurance -- and it's already included as part of the regular national health insurance premium -- so it's easy to overlook the fact you're paying for it (although my own employer did list it as a separate item on my payslip). As a result, some people are a little surprised by the separate payments required from the age of 65. Your birthday determines when pension withholding actually starts (until the next fiscal year rolls around, you may get billed separately).

[japanville jojo]

If you are new to retirement and pension, I think this takes a year or more to settle down--e.g., the 介護保険 is based on your previous year's income (like residence tax). So when you first retire, this is 'clouded' somewhat since you were working (presumably) the year before you retired. Mine's based on 29 years of work, tho I'm not sure what happened with the last five, when I was over 60 and not yet 65. I just assume they got that right. My 介護 number does reflect some passive income.

Here's mine from the same date, 10/15.

Thanks. One can probably live on that with their American Social Security. But as you see with my statements, the pension payout is real like this for some of us here in Japan . I posted a while back telling people that my Kokumin was about 34000 yen every two months an no one believed it.
Although I get American Social Security which is less than one grand a month, hopefully I can get into action soon and generate some more income.

Thanks for your post.

[japanville jojo]

Before the age of 65, long-term care insurance often gets paid along with your health insurance -- and it's already included as part of the regular national health insurance premium -- so it's easy to overlook the fact you're paying for it (although my own employer did list it as a separate item on my payslip). As a result, some people are a little surprised by the separate payments required from the age of 65. Your birthday determines when pension withholding actually starts (until the next fiscal year rolls around, you may get billed separately).

Currently I pay the National Health Insurance separately. But I don't know when I'll be charged for the new premiums since I paid it in full a head of time for last years premium. Since our income really is at poverty level, our health insurance is very low. If I can find a statement I'll post it.

Thank you for your post.

[captainspoke]

...
Although I get American Social Security which is less than one grand a month, hopefully I can get into action soon and generate some more income.
...

You probably know this, but for SS there is something called the WEP -- windfall elimination provision. What this means is that if you are getting some kind of pension in addition to SS, then your SS will be reduced to 'account for' that.

I'm american, but have never really worked there, and don't even qualify for the minimum SS (40 quarters), so no direct experience with this. But I have a friend here, we used to work at the same school, who has said his SS benefit is reduced due to his pension here (tho he gets 私学共済 in addition to 国民年金, so more).

WEP is focused on workers in jobs like police/fire, and some teachers (e.g., illinois, but not indiana), and so on, that do not pay into SS. Those workers can in fact qualify for their separate pension, and then by retiring/quitting early can then work another job in order to get SS. The theory is that the WEP levels the playing field, so that those who pay SS taxes are not subsidizing those who paid comparatively little. I think expats with foreign pensions just kind of got caught in this system inadvertently.

Once upon a time, maybe the 80s and before, or even the 90s, US expats could slide under the radar on this and collect SS and a foreign pension. Those days are gone.

[HankNeva]

Hi...Thanks for sharing your form and to those who have commented. I will include mine for reference. This is what I'm getting on the national side after 23 years of university work. As you can see my Kaigo Hokken payment dropped down a bit this October as I went to a lower paid tokunin position two years ago.

By the way, about the US Social Security payment. I was quoted a very small amount for years as I do have 10 years in the system but at low wages, but when the payment came it was only 40% of the quoted amount. I challenged that and it stuck so be prepared for the WEP (Windfall Elimination P) to hit you if you are getting a pension here.

I couldn't attach a jpeg so I'm trying with Google drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z_GVLf ... sp=sharing

[ClearAsMud]

Withholding kaigo hoken premiums from the pension is certainly a way for the government to ensure they gets theirs. It also has the unfortunate side-effect of making it impossible for a spouse to claim a tax deduction for paying a dependent spouse's insurance premium.

For such things as national health insurance, the National Pension, and kaigo insurance, as long as the parties are related members of the same "household," the person who actually pays can claim the deduction (the members don't necessarily have to be living under the same roof). This can be an advantage if, for example, a dependent's income is below the taxable level, making the deduction essentially worthless to them personally (a fairly likely scenario for an above-20 student or a spouse whose sole income is the National Pension). For kaigo hoken, however, this only holds true up to the time premiums start getting withheld from the spouse's pension (from age 65), because the pension is always tied to that individual.