What exactly is 生命保険?

[Roger Van Zant]

People at work are constantly telling me I need 生命保険, but I don't think I do. Am I wrong?
This came up again today as we are all filling in our 年末調整 sheets, and you can claim some money back for 生命保険 it seems.

I am single, early forties, no kids, never been married, don't plan to get married or have kids.

I was under the impression that 生命保険 is like the life insurance my father has back home; if he suddenly drops dead, the insurance company will pay my mother each month just as if my father were still alive. Is that not what this is? Maybe single guys in Japan still pay into this sort of thing?

Since I have no dependents, I never thought to buy into this 生命保険.

I already pay into an iDeCo and NISA every month, so I feel like I am kind of preparing for my future without any extra "insurance" products.

Any help/insights would be appreciated. Thanks!

[sutebayashi]

I agree with you. If you have no one depending on you continuing to breathe, then what good does life insurance do for anyone, other than the life insurance company that sold it to you?

You might consider health related insurance, such as cancer insurance etc. That might do you some good if you happen to get unlucky with those sorts of disease. But you might prefer to take the risk and pay up yourself if it comes to that, I think it's a fair option.

I only bought into life insurance after getting married and having a first kid, as I recall. Even then, there are various types of "life insurance". I've got income insurance to help plug the deficit for my wife and kids should I become unable to work, plus cancer insurance (pretty sure I'll be getting cancer one day and would be happy to live through it), besides others such as fire / earthquake insurance for my home.

I think a lot of young recruits to companies in Japan are indoctrinated to buy into unnecessary amounts of insurance as like an on boarding step. It's a scam if you ask me - financial planners here are always suggesting to people to reconsider any exorbitant life insurance they might be paying for when considering how to reduce monthly costs.

[Roger Van Zant]

Thanks for your reply.

Any recommendations for decent cancer insurance? Or income protection insurance (mainly so I don't lose my house).

[Kanto]

Thanks for your reply.

Any recommendations for decent cancer insurance? Or income protection insurance (mainly so I don't lose my house).

Did you purchase your home with a mortgage through a Japanese company?

You may already have insurance! Check through your documents. It is often required to insure the loan.

(This is my rough understanding).

[Roger Van Zant]

Thanks for your reply.

Any recommendations for decent cancer insurance? Or income protection insurance (mainly so I don't lose my house).

Did you purchase your home with a mortgage through a Japanese company?

You may already have insurance! Check through your documents. It is often required to insure the loan.

(This is my rough understanding).

Yes, through a small Japanese bank (信用金庫).
Indeed, I did have to get insurance as a requirement, but I am pretty sure it is the type where if I die, the house will be paid off.
It doesn't cover me if I am sick and cannot work.

[AreTheyTheLemmings?]

I have cancer insurance (actually, 三大疾病 "big three diseases" insurance, which includes cancer) and can't-work insurance.

I got them through one of those 保険市場 and 保険の窓口 type places that aren't affiliated with one particular insurance company. You work out what your needs actually are, and they search for the best deal.

[RetireJapan]

I have cancer insurance (actually, 三大疾病 "big three diseases" insurance, which includes cancer) and can't-work insurance.

I got them through one of those 保険市場 and 保険の窓口 type places that aren't affiliated with one particular insurance company. You work out what your needs actually are, and they search for the best deal.

Could you write a bit about the 'can't work' insurance? I've looked into it briefly, and couldn't really find anything

[sutebayashi]

My cancer insurance is a 三大疾病 one too, mine is with Orix life, the product is called "新 CURE".
It was the cheapest option I guess when we got into it 7 years ago, so there could well be better things to choose now.

For income insurance (収入保証), I've got a policy with MS&AD (三井住友海上あいおい生命). It has coverage in case of my sickness or having an accident, resulting in either a lump sum payment or a monthly payment to my partner. It isn't a complete coverage for total income - in my case if I were to be knocked out my wife could get either 21 million as a lump sum or 100,000 a month.
When we thought about it at the time we considered her income, what she'd need if I weren't working, and got coverage to that amount only. As a result this monthly premium is in the 3,500 yen ball park in my case.

No claims made on these policies yet, and hoping to keep it that way Interesting to look at it again now though - I've had a addition to the family since then, and another in the oven so probably I ought to reassess things.

[DragonAsh]

You're single with no dependents. You don't need life insurance.

And in general, you should not need any special 三大疾病 insurance unless you think you are in a seriously high-risk group. Reason is in Japan, there's a cap on how much you would have to pay out of pocket. If you make up to just under Y8 million a year, the max you would pay for medical costs in one month is...Y80,000. And that goes down to Y44,000 a month if you hit the max more than three times in any 12-month period. That's the max in any month' most months your out-of-pocket will be lower. My wife had cancer, and the out-of-pocket expense for the the entire ordeal - surgery, hospital stay, chemo etc - over two years was...about Y500,000.

If you were 40 years old taking out that insurance, over 10 years you'd pay around Y800,000 in insurance.

Stick to savings / investment and you're self-insured.

The out-of-work insurance is also wildly over-priced. It won't cover your entire salary, usually maxes out at a fairly low level, and is capped at a number of years. If you're in a particularly vulnerable position, maybe think about it, but that would almost certainly be the exception, not the norm.

Stick to savings / investment and you're self-insured.

[StockBeard]

People at work are constantly telling me I need 生命保険, but I don't think I do. Am I wrong?

+1 here with everybody who told you you don't need life insurance if you're single with no kids.

If I were you I would ask back to the colleagues recommending that you get life insurance, to get their understanding of what benefit you would get from it, considering your situation. Maybe they'll think about it and 1) realize they don't need it either, after all, OR 2) understand your situation is different from theirs and admit it doesn't make sense for your case, OR 3) give you a very valid point that we didn't think of.