Any benefit to adding extra insurance for a baby?

[Biketokyo]

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are now happy(though sleep deprived) parents of a happy healthy baby now.

We have a little extra insurance through Shigaku Kyousai for ourselves to cover emergency medical and disability/death (a bit under ¥3,000 a month for both of us). Living in Tokyo though, medical care for children is free as far as I understand it. The only costs I can think of that we would have to pay would be if our child needed a special or private room at the hospital. Is there anything I’m missing here, or does it seem pointless to add our child on to our supplementary insurance plan?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[TokyoBoglehead]

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are now happy(though sleep deprived) parents of a happy healthy baby now.

We have a little extra insurance through Shigaku Kyousai for ourselves to cover emergency medical and disability/death (a bit under ¥3,000 a month for both of us). Living in Tokyo though, medical care for children is free as far as I understand it. The only costs I can think of that we would have to pay would be if our child needed a special or private room at the hospital. Is there anything I’m missing here, or does it seem pointless to add our child on to our supplementary insurance plan?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

Congratulations, I wish you a good night's sleep. My wife and I are 1-2 months away from #2.

No, I do not think there is much benefit. They want you in the system, so they can start selling you other packages. Especially the dubious "education insurance" plans.

It is more important for you and your wife to be ensured. The primary earner should definitely have life insurance. I recommend term insurance, not whole life if you are both working.

Do not forget to start a J-Nisa!

[captainspoke]

Not directly for the baby (congrats!), but maybe review how you are insuring yourselves (your kid's future).

[Biketokyo]

Thank you to both of you for the feedback. That's pretty much what I thought. Our plan is ok life insurance wise so we won't be getting anything extra for the little one.

I'm the only one working right now. My wife is listed as a dependent though she still does some freelance work. I will have to look into term vs whole life insurance.

Also, congratulations on the upcoming baby #2 TokyoBoglehead!

[goran]

Nothing to add to the discussion.

Just here to say Congratulations to Biketokyo and TokyoBoglehead!

[Tkydon]

If you get insurance for the baby, then a Tax Deduction can be claimed, either in your Nenmatsu Chosei or Kakutei Shinkoku, for the premiums paid. It may not be much, but you wil get the premiums paid with Pre-tax money.

However, You should start investing for the child's education as soon as possible.

Start a Junior NISA and pay into it. In 20 years, you will have accumulated enough funds Tax Free to pay for College.

How much do you need? Look at today's College Rates

Allow for Inflation - maybe 3.5% over 20 years

72 / 3.5 = 20.6

So the price will be expected to double in just over 20 years....

[TokyoBoglehead]

Thank you for the kind words.

If you get insurance for the baby, then a Tax Deduction can be claimed, either in your Nenmatsu Chosei or Kakutei Shinkoku, for the premiums paid. It may not be much, but you wil get the premiums paid with Pre-tax money.

However, You should start investing for the child's education as soon as possible.

Start a Junior NISA and pay into it. In 20 years, you will have accumulated enough funds Tax Free to pay for College.

How much do you need? Look at today's College Rates

Allow for Inflation - maybe 3.5% over 20 years

72 / 3.5 = 20.6

So the price will be expected to double in just over 20 years....

The program is sunsetting. If Biketokyo scrambles he can probably get a J-Nisa going this year, but he'ｄ only have 2023 after that. 160万 max would be possible。

Worth doing certainly, but probably not sufficient unless you child is a superstar and can gobble up grants and bursaries.

I think the average total cost (depending on private/public) is 800-1000万?

[Tkydon]

Thank you for the kind words.

If you get insurance for the baby, then a Tax Deduction can be claimed, either in your Nenmatsu Chosei or Kakutei Shinkoku, for the premiums paid. It may not be much, but you wil get the premiums paid with Pre-tax money.

However, You should start investing for the child's education as soon as possible.

Start a Junior NISA and pay into it. In 20 years, you will have accumulated enough funds Tax Free to pay for College.

How much do you need? Look at today's College Rates

Allow for Inflation - maybe 3.5% over 20 years

72 / 3.5 = 20.6

So the price will be expected to double in just over 20 years....

The program is sunsetting. If Biketokyo scrambles he can probably get a J-Nisa going this year, but he'ｄ only have 2023 after that. 160万 max would be possible。

Worth doing certainly, but probably not sufficient unless you child is a superstar and can gobble up grants and bursaries.

I think the average total cost (depending on private/public) is 800-1000万?

According to

https://market-news-insights-jpx.com/in ... cle002417/

Date: 12-September-2022

In order to simplify the system, the FSA's plan is to integrate the three NISAs into a "comprehensive NISA" based on the accumulation NISA. The function of Junior NISA will also be incorporated by allowing minors to invest here.

My point was to start investing on the child's behalf now, in case the parents had not yet thought to do so...