Nenkin Lost Years

[madmick]

Back in the day, 25 odd years ago, employer did not make nenkin an obvious option, certainly not a requirement. Most employees enrolled in private health insurance plans and other savings schemes available to expat community then; TIE Care, InterGlobal, etc... About 6 years ago more info on Japanese pension was made available. Many enrolled, some delayed further. Understanding now is that most are on kokumin and shigaku kousai nenkin plans, new employees automatically. Curious about purchasing years lost. Any info on how many years can be bought back, and whether or not employer has to match payments as they do currently? Much appreciated.

[captainspoke]

The only thing I've heard of is that you can backpay the previous two years, not more (and nothing farther back).

[madmick]

Do you know if this for both kokumin and shigaku kousai?

[ClearAsMud]

Back payments for up to 10 years are possible for those who were officially approved for exemption or postponement during that period (including student exemptions). See this JPS page for that special case.

For others, the current limit of two years came into effect after two special grace periods had been provided that allowed 10 years (2012/10-2015/9) and then five years (2015/10-2018/9) of back payments.

For the National Pension, voluntary payments between the ages of 60 and 64 are possible for those who need the extra time to meet the 10-year contribution requirement.

[madmick]

Thanks very much, I will look into the case linked further.

Some employees feel the employer bears some responsibility for not having enrolled us automatically, or even advised us of our option to opt in. Anyone think there might be some legal ramifications for the employer for failing to do so?

[ClearAsMud]

The thing about Shigaku Kyōsai and kōsei nenkin pensions is that in most cases, payments are compulsory through withholding, so in theory the question of nonpayment doesn't come up (for companies not required to enroll in kōsei nenkin, employees would enroll in kokumin nenkin). Companies do flout the law, screwing their employees, but the government doesn't step in to cover their responsibilities. The affected employee(s) would have to report the employer to the pension office or another government agency to obtain a remedy, and black companies probably count on that not happening.

As for Shigaku Kyōsai, it's hard to imagine a member not being automatically enrolled in their pension scheme. How would you avoid that? In any case, it's impossible to make contributions for periods during which you are not a member.

[captainspoke]

The thing about Shigaku Kyōsai and kōsei nenkin pensions is that in most cases, payments are compulsory through withholding, ...

Yeah, when I started at my uni job here in '88, full time contract employee at first, there was no choice--was enrolled (and paying) for both.

For others, the current limit of two years came into effect after two special grace periods had been provided that allowed 10 years (2012/10-2015/9) and then five years (2015/10-2018/9) of back payments.

I wonder if there were any numbers for folks who took advantage of those grace periods--whether that policy was deemed successful/acttractive in getting those who may not have been paying integrated into the system.

[ClearAsMud]

I wonder if there were any numbers for folks who took advantage of those grace periods--whether that policy was deemed successful/acttractive in getting those who may not have been paying integrated into the system.

Yes, the JPS provides the figures in documents linked to on this page.

See those files for details, but for the first three-year grace period (10-year lookback), 1,184,747 people made back payments out of 1,414,081 who applied. For the second three-year grace period (5-year lookback), 295,582 people made back payments out of 355,814 who applied. Needless to say, many more people were eligible than actually applied, so the policy's level of success is a subjective matter. Still, that's 1.5 million people who ended up with (maybe only slightly) bigger pensions, and the pension service sent out a total of over 28 million notices regarding the temporary extensions.

[madmick]

Companies do flout the law, screwing their employees, but the government doesn't step in to cover their responsibilities. The affected employee(s) would have to report the employer to the pension office or another government agency to obtain a remedy, and black companies probably count on that not happening.

Perhaps a proper conversation with my employer would help enlighten why we missed out on this opportunity? I'll report any findings should someone else have the same experience.

[madmick]

Just back from the nenkin office and was not allowed to back pay for even two years as they deadline for that has expired in my case. I will have an option of paying beyond my 60th bday up to 5 more years to 65 should I wish, but for now it seems I'm not going to be able to top-up unless some future changes happen.