Making Japan state pension back payments

[JimmyK]

I’m sure this has been covered in an earlier post. If so, could some kind soul please send me the link, as I can’t find it. Essentially, I’m curious to know if it’s any longer possible to back pay contributions to the Japan state pension? Rather like the UK’s system, I think there was a point some years ago where the number of years you could back was extended. I missed the boat then and I’m guessing it’s now too late to rectify. Not holding my breath.

[Tkydon]

I’m sure this has been covered in an earlier post. If so, could some kind soul please send me the link, as I can’t find it. Essentially, I’m curious to know if it’s any longer possible to back pay contributions to the Japan state pension? Rather like the UK’s system, I think there was a point some years ago where the number of years you could back was extended. I missed the boat then and I’m guessing it’s now too late to rectify. Not holding my breath.

Yes, it is possible, with caveats. You would need to call or go to your local Pension Office and get payment slips for Voluntary Contributions

[beanhead]

Once you have made 120 payments, the minimum to receive any kind of pension, you can't make back payments.
That's what I was told by the pension office in my city.

[RetireJapan]

Once you have made 120 payments, the minimum to receive any kind of pension, you can't make back payments.
That's what I was told by the pension office in my city.

That wasn't my experience, but I guess things might have changed. Were you told by the pension office or the desk in city hall?

Either way, best for OP to talk to the pension office about their specific situation (or call the nenkin national phoneline).

[adamu]

My understanding is that you can back pay the last 2 years, 10 if you have a valid postponement arranged.

The 10 years is documented here.
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/kokune ... 50331.html

I was told about the 2 years thing by the pension office about 3 years ago, but I can't find a good official source. Here's one, but it's from 2018 (also confirming the temporary window for longer periods has closed).
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/yougo/ ... -kono.html

[beanhead]

Once you have made 120 payments, the minimum to receive any kind of pension, you can't make back payments.
That's what I was told by the pension office in my city.

That wasn't my experience, but I guess things might have changed. Were you told by the pension office or the desk in city hall?

It was the pension office.
Perhaps I got it wrong. They certainly told me I could not back-pay anything.
I thought it was because I had already reached the 120 months. Perhaps it was timing, and that the unpaid months were too long ago that they were not eligible to be paid any more.

[JimmyK]

Happy New Year all! Thanks for the replies. I’d need to go back more than 16yrs to make missed payments, so the prospects look rather bleak. Long story short, I was employed for a number of years in a contract position where my employer didn’t make these payments. At the time the minimum years’ contributions was 20 and I had no plans to still be in Japan by now, much less retire here (Sound familiar?). Wasn’t as up to speed with options to back pay either. Oh well. I’ll try contacting the pension folk anyway. Not expecting to get anywhere, but it can’t hurt. Alternative is to take the money I didn’t pay into Nenkin and invest in something else, such as NISA. Not as good as pension ROI, but better than nothing.

[ClearAsMud]

You can only pay up to two years of your most-recently-missed payments. The Japan Pension Service's concise FAQ on the time limit will be found here. This period is extended to 10 years for those who want to back-pay premiums for periods during which they had approved exemptions (see this JPS page, the same one cited by adamu).

[JimmyK]

Just discovered I have 2 pension books! No idea how that happened, but the pension numbers and issue dates are different on each. My name and date of birth are correct on both, but obviously I should only have 1 pension book. I think there must’ve been some clerical error by the pension guys at some point, possibly related to my changing jobs and company some years ago. At any rate, I hope the book with the earlier issue date is the correct one, which would give me another 6mths or so. I’ll be able to line it up with the number of months contributions stated in my most recent, annual pension contribution statement. Anyone else have a 2 pension book experience and, if so, did you need to take any action?

[ClearAsMud]

...did you need to take any action?

This is what the JPS says to do if you have more than one pension booklet with different numbers. Basically, if you're an employee currently covered by EPI, you take them -- along with any coverage certificates you were issued -- to whoever handles social insurance for your employer. Otherwise, you take them to your local pension office to get things sorted out.

Pension booklets/numbers were integrated in 1997 and a number of follow-ups were done to resolve the "missing pension" problem for those with multiple numbers, but you may be one of the loose ends that are known to exist. If you were here before the integration took place, you may simply have a leftover pension booklet. But you need to have your record checked officially to be sure.