Moving away for a couple of years.

[Michel]

Hello everyone,

My wife (Japanese) is being transferred to Malaysia for the next three years.
I have been in Japan for about 15 years and I teach freelance but I have never left the country for more than a couple of weeks.

My question is how will this affect my Ideco and Nisa contributions?
I'm planning to contact them but I am asking here first to know if anyone has been or is in the same situation.

Thank you!

[RetireJapan]

Assuming you are going with her, you will not be allowed to pay into your iDeCo account while you are away, but can keep it and continue to manage it (switch investments, etc.). Your broker may allow you to keep your NISA account open, but again you won't be able to pay into it.

[Michel]

Thank you for your answer,

I should have been more precise.
I will be going with her, and both my accounts are with Rakuten.

So basically I'll be losing 3 years contributions? That's quite a lot...

[goran]

Hello everyone,

My wife (Japanese) is being transferred to Malaysia for the next three years.
I have been in Japan for about 15 years and I teach freelance but I have never left the country for more than a couple of weeks.

My question is how will this affect my Ideco and Nisa contributions?
I'm planning to contact them but I am asking here first to know if anyone has been or is in the same situation.

Thank you!

When I was sent to Singapore for little more than a year from work, they continued paying for my pension, insurance and other required tax obligations in Japan too. I was basically treated as employed in Japan, so receiving the remuneration from Japan and part of my wages were being paid locally in Singapore.
I think if this is the case, she should be allowed to pay for iDeCo and NISA. (sadly I hadn't found RJ at that time and hadn't started NISA either)

For you, if you are not fulfilling the pension and other insurance obligations in Japan, I don't think NISA and iDeCo contributions are open. I think they are pre-requisites to join the iDeCo and NISA systems.

[Michel]

Her company will cover everything for her, as for me I am paying everything on my own as I work freelance, meaning my insurance, nenkin, ideco and Nisa.

Actually the situation is a little more complicated. We are not officially married yet. We are going to sign the papers in the coming weeks.
Her company won't cover for me if we aren't married (visa etc..)

It also seems that her company will then be paying for my nenkin and my insurance, so I should be covered on that side of things. However, it seems that I won't be able to pay for my Ideco and Nisa meaning three full years of lost contributions and I only started 2 years ago and I am 42 years old...those three years are big at this point.

[Tkydon]

The reason to invest in iDECO is to take advantage of Tax Free contributions against Taxable Income in Japan, reducing your taxes by your Marginal National and Reconstuction Taxes and 10% Residents' Taxes on those contributions.

If you are not paying Japan Taxes, then you are not entitled to the Tax Credits.

The reason to invest in NISA, is to invest contributions that have already been taxed in Japan in a Tax Advantaged instrument.

If you have not paid Japan Taxes, then you are not entitled to use this Tax Advantaged instrument.


If you're in Singapore, the Tax Rates are very low, so this should result in a significant increase in your net income, meaning that you should be able to invest significantly more in a regular investment account.

[Michel]

I see, so my only option if I want to keep investing would be through a regular account.

Sorry for the noob question but other than Ideco and Nisa I don't know much about regular accounts. How and where can I open one?

[zeroshiki]

To get a NISA account, you automatically have a normal ippan and tokutei account. Just use tokutei.

[Michel]

To get a NISA account, you automatically have a normal ippan and tokutei account. Just use tokutei.

Thanks!

[Tkydon]

Just a reminder that even though you move away for a couple of years, you will still be liable for Residents' Taxes payments for Tax Year 2021, which are charged in arrears, and which you will have just started paying (July 2022 to June 2023)