"Everything You Wanted To Know About Not Paying Pension"

[mule96]

I know Retire Japan is more optimistic, but personally I am really pessimistic about getting anything back in pension when I retire (in like 30 years). That being said, I never even thought on not paying the pension - it is part of how to current society works and is hold together - and I take my share in taxes and pension on it. Because of my pessimistic view its even more important to plan personally for retirement/future. If the government will help - even better

[RetireJapan]

I know Retire Japan is more optimistic, but personally I am really pessimistic about getting anything back in pension when I retire (in like 30 years). That being said, I never even thought on paying to pension know - it is part of how to current society works and is hold together - and I take my share in taxes and pension on it. Because of my pessimistic view its even more important to plan personally for retirement/future. If the government will help - even better

Ha, ha, I completely agree with you on taking personal responsibility for your life after work! I would never put myself in a position to rely on governments to fund my lifestyle

Having said that, I find it hard to believe any government would allow a state pension scheme to collapse completely. My prediction is that we will receive slightly less than the current pensions (70-100%). Let's find out in 29 years time (when I am planning to start taking my pension after delaying it to age 70).

[captainspoke]

... I find it hard to believe any government would allow a state pension scheme to collapse completely. My prediction is that we will receive slightly less than the current pensions (70-100%). Let's find out in 29 years time (when I am planning to start taking my pension after delaying it to age 70).

Rather than let it collapse, a gov't would be more likely to inflate its way out of the 'problem' of how to pay for it. (tho that doesn't seem like a workable strategy for Japan)

**
There are two components to the pension I now receive. (I contributed for 29 years.) The kokumin/国民 component pays about ¥39,000/month (I wouldn't want to live on that), the other part comes from having worked at a private university and paid into the relevant retirement association there (私学共済組合), and for that I receive about ¥125,000/month. (Both were mandatory, there's no way I could have not paid in.)

Without too much attention to budgeting, the pension covers the bills for my daily life. I can look at my bank balance for last August, and then again 8 months later in April, and the two figures are within about ¥100,000 of each other. (This is a period without any int'l travel or other splurges/oddities.) I think that's about what a pension should do--what it should cover--and I'm glad it does.

To read between the lines--for those who are only on the 国民年金 system, additional saving would seem to be really important, regardless of where you are along the arc of contributions. For those also contributing to a secondary system, you won't be living large, but you won't be destitute either.

[mule96]

Ha, ha, I completely agree with you on taking personal responsibility for your life after work! I would never put myself in a position to rely on governments to fund my lifestyle

Having said that, I find it hard to believe any government would allow a state pension scheme to collapse completely. My prediction is that we will receive slightly less than the current pensions (70-100%). Let's find out in 29 years time (when I am planning to start taking my pension after delaying it to age 70).

I did a small edit on my post - of course I pay my pension contribution. I agree, I don't think that the state pension will collapse, but it will be less significant than now. 70-100% is very optimistic in my opinion. I also think we don't need to delay to 70 years as it will be standard then. I am looking forward to have a meet-up in 29 years

[Dyan Daley]

Having said that I don't have much time for whining about the government/the economy/Japan. At the end of the day you create your own reality. Everyone has problems: it's how you deal with them that makes the difference.

If you're interested in doing that I'd be delighted to help any way I can.

I totally signed up here for a reason. I am 50 years old and I am here to fix my mess.

It's just that the notion of handing my money over to a Japanese bureaucrat and then believing I will get anything back down the road is anathema to my way of thinking.

[ricardo]

It's just that the notion of handing my money over to a Japanese bureaucrat and then believing I will get anything back down the road is anathema to my way of thinking.

It’s worked for millions and millions of people so far!

And, other readers have found out, the UK pension service is worse in terms of efficiency and speed of response. If they were a shop, bank or restaurant I’d never go there...

[StockBeard]

It's just that the notion of handing my money over to a Japanese bureaucrat and then believing I will get anything back down the road is anathema to my way of thinking.

This is an orthogonal problem though, since you are legally required to pay whether you like it or not. A lot of people on this site are with you when it comes to not fully trusting that the retirement benefits will still be in place (or at the same levels as today) when we reach retirement. This is why we build contingencies and invest on our own.

So on the one hand, I think most of us agree with your concern above. On the other hand, nobody here is going to tell you that it's ok that you've been circumventing the law (intentionally or not).

I'm with mule69: I consider it as part of my tax burden (which I accept as a necessary thing for society to work) and move on.

[Roger101]

I'm with mule69: I consider it as part of my tax burden (which I accept as a necessary thing for society to work) and move on.

I agree 100%. I think its very selfish (calling a spade a spade) not to pay and expect to receive

[AustinJapan]

Having said that I don't have much time for whining about the government/the economy/Japan. At the end of the day you create your own reality. Everyone has problems: it's how you deal with them that makes the difference.

If you're interested in doing that I'd be delighted to help any way I can.

I totally signed up here for a reason. I am 50 years old and I am here to fix my mess.

Dyan,
I am even older than you, with less time to sort out/accept my mess. I only started to realize in 2015, at nearly 52, that I was I trouble. I cannot tell you about the stress and despondent attitude I am afflicted with as I started to realize that a) financial advisors are mostly crooks, b) Information web boards are no panacea, c) other folks in similar situations are are out there, but they are running their own gambit, and whilst willing to listen and dispense advice here and there, you had better believe they are not telling you the whole story, and for good reason, (including the acceptance that I cannot afford to myself, so I am part of my own problem) d) asking authorities for information - official government agencies - comes
with its own bag of problems, e) I am yet to meet a gaijin who is not hedging their bets and not aboard what I call,”the grey ship” where critical facts are not clear, rules are vague, risks abound and one keeps an eye out for the nearest lifeboat. f) there are razor blades in the information lemon you have to squeeze. g) Andrew Hallam’s millionaire teacher strategy is seductive but does not take into account the mess that is taxes and pensions for the teacher who is holding on to a lucky job in Japan whilst sacrificing access to a pension from their home country. h) people will laugh at you if you f*()k up whilst taking heed themselves. i) you have to be prepared to be stunned as you accept the creative ways people are going about circumnavigating the rocks under the water, and then if you realize you cannot take those risks yourself, you cannot whine about it.

For what it is worth, I believe in the pension because I have to, and I am still learning about it.

[ricardo]

“There are razor blades in the information lemon you have to squeeze.”

Nice phrase.

But there aren’t.

Just pay. It’s the law.

Days after landing in Japan to start my new life here, my wife hauled me into City Hall and signed us up to the pension scheme. Later I moved onto the one where the company pays 50% - a great deal.

It won’t save you in retirement, anyway...

If you’ve really screwed up and you’re in your 50s then you need to do some serious emergency financial planning. Cut costs. Focus on the reality.

If you’re very poor in Japan there is lots of welfare support available. And, instead of being very poor, you’ll be just poor.