Paying half Hoken or full Hoken

[Oliver]

I have really been hanging out with the wrong crowd. It has become painful obvious that Nenkin is the best (safest) investment, if you have no other investment to speak of.
I have a little extra money, should I try to do a Nenkin pay back?
Paying retro for the missed years?

[RetireJapan]

I have really been hanging out with the wrong crowd. It has become painful obvious that Nenkin is the best (safest) investment, if you have no other investment to speak of.
I have a little extra money, should I try to do a Nenkin pay back?
Paying retro for the missed years?

Nenkin is a good foundation (income floor) but you will also need to save and invest on top of that if you want to have a chance at a comfortable life once you can't/don't want to work any more.

If you decide to pay full nenkin, definitely look at fuka nenkin and kokumin nenkin kikin as well, along with iDeCo and tsumitate NISA.
https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/guest- ... ka-nenkin/
https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/japans ... kin-kikin/

[zeroshiki]

If the government has deemed you exempt I'm not sure if they will allow you to do a full payback (I don't know, I'm guessing). The only instances I've heard of people paying back missing years is if they were not exempt but still didn't pay. In that case, the pension office forces you to pay. Because its a tax.

[Haystack]

I have really been hanging out with the wrong crowd. It has become painful obvious that Nenkin is the best (safest) investment, if you have no other investment to speak of.
I have a little extra money, should I try to do a Nenkin pay back?
Paying retro for the missed years?

Nenkin is a good foundation (income floor) but you will also need to save and invest on top of that if you want to have a chance at a comfortable life once you can't/don't want to work any more.

If you decide to pay full nenkin, definitely look at fuka nenkin and kokumin nenkin kikin as well, along with iDeCo and tsumitate NISA.
https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/guest- ... ka-nenkin/
https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/japans ... kin-kikin/

I do get quite annoyed at those who convince their partners/friends not to contribute to nenkin.

A. For non-PR foreigners, it will cause huge issues down the road.
B. They often seem to be LESS prepared for retirement, and did not actual invest or save.
C. The minimal floor/safety net is now gone.

I agree that OP should aim for.

A. Move towards full contribution
B. Add the super cheap Fuka.
C. Then decide on iDeco or Kikin

[zeroshiki]

Are there people who encourage their friends not to pay nenkin? How would that even work? Don't you get big red envelopes asking you to pay?

[RetireJapan]

If the government has deemed you exempt I'm not sure if they will allow you to do a full payback (I don't know, I'm guessing). The only instances I've heard of people paying back missing years is if they were not exempt but still didn't pay. In that case, the pension office forces you to pay. Because its a tax.

I believe you can top up exempt periods. I paid 3/4 pension contributions for about six months when I lost my job, and I had the option of topping them up later (within the two year period you can back pay).

[goran]

slightly off topic, does getting exemption from paying nenkin (during student years) affect PR application? any idea or any insight?

[zeroshiki]

slightly off topic, does getting exemption from paying nenkin (during student years) affect PR application? any idea or any insight?

No it doesn't affect it directly since it doesn't count as missing payment. How it would affect it though is it might signal to immigration that you don't have enough money to live on.

[goran]

slightly off topic, does getting exemption from paying nenkin (during student years) affect PR application? any idea or any insight?

No it doesn't affect it directly since it doesn't count as missing payment. How it would affect it though is it might signal to immigration that you don't have enough money to live on.

Thanks for the response.
My wife got nenkin expemtion when she was a Master's student.
But now that she's working, and we are not financially strapped, it may be a good idea to pay those exempted years off.
(avoiding any indirect impacts on PR applications we might put in the future.)

[ClearAsMud]

I believe you can top up exempt periods.

You can make back payments for exempt periods up to 10 years after the payments were due, counting back from the month in which approval was given for making those payments. The following is the relevant Japan Pension Service web page:
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/kokune ... 50331.html

You receive permission to make back payments by applying directly at your local pension office or by using Nenkin Net to print out and mail the required form (an online auto-entry function can help fill out the form). The pension office will subsequently issue payment slips which can be paid only with cash. The most recent two years incur no extra fees beyond the payment in effect at the time, but periods before that will see a small extra fee added to the monthly payment in effect at the time (the page cited above has a table showing all the monthly payments currently in effect for back payments). Note that in principle you are required to make back payments beginning from the earliest possible exempt period. Back payments are not allowed if you are already eligible to receive a pension.