Ben controversy on FB

[TJKansai]

It says here a pint in the UK is about double the cost in Japan.
https://www.finder.com/uk/international-pint-price-map

Of course, it all depends on the beer. A large Asahi can be had for ¥500 vs ¥1,500 for a pint of imported craft in Tokyo.

I think with spirits especially you are much better off with the lower alcohol tax rates in Japan.

[goodandbadjapan]

It says here a pint in the UK is about double the cost in Japan.
https://www.finder.com/uk/international-pint-price-map

Of course, it all depends on the beer. A large Asahi can be had for ¥500 vs ¥1,500 for a pint of imported craft in Tokyo.

I think with spirits especially you are much better off with the lower alcohol tax rates in Japan.

Indeed - my brother-in-law used to run a whisky bar and I would offer to get him some whisky when we went back to Scotland, He was happy to get unusual stuff not readily available here but generally it was cheaper to buy Scotch Whisky in Japan than it was in Scotland.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

Yes, lots of potential issues with drawning down the equity in your property for retirement income. I don't think this is a good solution for most. But the UK has been running a very generous ISA scheme for decades, which will have allowed anyone with foresight and spare income to build up a very large pot of assets to supplement any state & private pension income. I helped my parents invest in some basic equity tracker fund inside ISA wrappers about 15 years ago and even though they only put in two or three years allowance each the funds have grow to a very sizeable amount now.

I think pension wise in the UK even with the cost-of-living crises you are a lot better off than you are in Japan. UK state pension is a on lot firmer foundations than the Japanese state pension, Japanese loosing 800,000 people this year against net migrant increase in the UK of 600,000 people. The pension allowances are also a lot more generous in the UK which allows a lot more money to squirrelled away. Don't get me wrong there is still lot got right for Japan and I think their health system is second to none, the NHS is no comparison to the Japanese health system.

[Deep Blue]

Yes, agreed there is a lot to like about the Japanese health care system. The NHS is a great concept and I love the fact it is largely free at point of use... and it has a huge amount of public support in the UK... but really, I think a lot of people don't have much experience of other countries healthcare systems to compare it to. We can all see the US system is horrific and as it's mostly private I think a lot of British folk write off private ly delivered healhcare without considering other countries like Japan where it works well.

Ultimately though, Japan's fiscal deficit is worrying and worse than the UK's - so a lot of the better public services like health care are being paid for on the never-never.

It's good to have options, I certainly wouldn't want to bet my life on quality of life in Japan being as good as it is now in two or three decades time.

[RetireJapan]

I certainly wouldn't want to bet my life on quality of life in Japan being as good as it is now in two or three decades time.

That is the billion yen question, eh?

I am predicting that life in Japan will be at least comparable if not better than other countries on a per yen basis. If it isn't I am hoping we'll have the resources to relocate if necessary.

[Deep Blue]

I am predicting that life in Japan will be at least comparable if not better than other countries on a per yen basis.

How do you think Japan will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

[RetireJapan]

I am predicting that life in Japan will be at least comparable if not better than other countries on a per yen basis.

How do you think Japan will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

Not sure. The best case scenario on the demographic front would be a combination of some immigration plus bringing more people into the workforce and automation/robotics.

Almost every other north Asian and European country have the same issues.

Fiscal challenge? Government can always just print money.

We'll see. I'm a big proponent of hoping for the best and having a plan B, plan C, plan D...

[captainspoke]

I am predicting that life in Japan will be at least comparable if not better than other countries on a per yen basis.

How do you think Japan will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

Same question for you:

How do you think the UK will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

[Deep Blue]

I am predicting that life in Japan will be at least comparable if not better than other countries on a per yen basis.

How do you think Japan will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

Same question for you:

How do you think the UK will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

immigration. The good thing about the UK is wages are high enough to attract low-skill labour. The problem Japan has wages are already the lowest in the G7 and the flow of talent is going the wrong way.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Busine ... y-overseas

Even bar work in Australia pays twice as much as Japan...

https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/02/ ... s-overseas

But on a wider point, neither the fiscal nor demographic challenge in the UK is as difficult as it is in Japan though so they can kick the can down the road for a lot longer than Japan is able to. Japan is leading the world in this respect.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

How do you think Japan will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

Same question for you:

How do you think the UK will overcome the demographic and fiscal challenges?

immigration. The good thing about the UK is wages are high enough to attract low-skill labour. The problem Japan has wages are already the lowest in the G7 and the flow of talent is going the wrong way.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Busine ... y-overseas

Even bar work in Australia pays twice as much as Japan...

https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/02/ ... s-overseas

But on a wider point, neither the fiscal nor demographic challenge in the UK is as difficult as it is in Japan though so they can kick the can down the road for a lot longer than Japan is able to. Japan is leading the world in this respect.

Yes and no.... A lot of British debt is held by foreigners, and they are a lot more demanding aka last year's mini budget crises, whilst most Japanese is domestically held.