Term Life Insurance

[cooper]

Hi Everyone,

1. What should I be searching for to find term life insurance in Japan? I was searching for "定期保険" but only found plans for JPY 10M. (https://hoken.kakaku.com/insurance/gla/tk/ranking/) I'm looking for something closer to JPY 50 (maybe up to 100M) for 10 or 20 years.

2. Does anyone have any recommendations or idea of how much this would cost?

3. Currently my wife has JPY 100,000 deductions worth of insurance. I saw in another post that I should be able to deduct JPY 40,000 worth for term life insurance. As a couple can we claim a total of JPY 140,000 then?

Thanks,

Cooper

[fools_gold]

Hi Everyone,

1. What should I be searching for to find term life insurance in Japan? I was searching for "定期保険" but only found plans for JPY 10M. (https://hoken.kakaku.com/insurance/gla/tk/ranking/) I'm looking for something closer to JPY 50 (maybe up to 100M) for 10 or 20 years.

2. Does anyone have any recommendations or idea of how much this would cost?

3. Currently my wife has JPY 100,000 deductions worth of insurance. I saw in another post that I should be able to deduct JPY 40,000 worth for term life insurance. As a couple can we claim a total of JPY 140,000 then?

Thanks,

Cooper

If you click on the links and go to the insurance company's homepage you can do a simulation and choose higher levels of cover. For example, Axa charges about 20,000yen per month for 100M yen of cover for a 40 year old up to the age of 55.

[cooper]

Thank you for pointing out that out. I see I can click through and get variations!

[mighty58]

Just as a data point for your reference, I got a term life insurance plan (from Manulife Japan) when I was 39 and in good health, starting with approx 120m coverage, and with a glide-down in the coverage amount yearly as I age (because my presumed increased savings will offset the required coverage amount) until I am 60. I pay about 16,000 yen/month for that.

I just went to an insurance broker in a mall that represented multiple companies, told them what I was looking for, and got them to provide a couple quotations. Easier than trying to do it myself via multiple websites... my Japanese is good but would prefer somebody explaining it personally so I can ask questions and not have to try and decipher kanji terms I'm not familiar with.

I don't think many Japanese people get term insurance with such (relatively) high coverage accounts, and you might get a line of questioning, ostensibly to make sure you understand it's kakesute and you won't be getting the premiums back, but also because they're trying to sell you their investment-linked plans. Japanese people seem to really go for the "guaranteed" investment plans, but in my mind, life insurance is there solely to support my family in case I die, and them getting something in the 10-30m yen range with one of those plans would not be even close to enough to support them long-term if something happened to me.

[adamu]

Not in the market myself, but for anyone with dependents this seems like one of the basics to retiring in Japan along with investments that the site should probably be pushing more?

[RetireJapan]

Not in the market myself, but for anyone with dependents this seems like one of the basics to retiring in Japan along with investments that the site should probably be pushing more?

Definitely. I don't feel I have a good enough grasp of insurance to write about it at the moment.

Something to work on post-retirement perhaps. My current job ends in March 2022, and there seems to be a non-trivial chance that I will be unemployed after then with a lot more time on my hands

[Kanto]

Not in the market myself, but for anyone with dependents this seems like one of the basics to retiring in Japan along with investments that the site should probably be pushing more?

Definitely. I don't feel I have a good enough grasp of insurance to write about it at the moment.

Something to work on post-retirement perhaps. My current job ends in March 2022, and there seems to be a non-trivial chance that I will be unemployed after then with a lot more time on my hands

I agree that for those of us with families life insurance is important.

My standard recommendation is for people to make sure they have (a) life insurance and (b) 4-6 months of savings before they begin investing.

.....

However, many people here seem to be aiming for huge policies with large premiums. They seem to be designed for a household with a single large earner.

My wife and I decided to take your small policies that will cover childcare and school costs for our child if one of us passes, as we both work. We will cancel this policy when our child is 18-20.

.....

There are so many insurance options in Japan it can be difficult to shop around. Be sure to check what is offered through your work, there are often some great deals.

Do not pay for investment insurance plans. Save the money and invest it yourself.

This goes doubly for education/insurance investments. The new changes to the J-Nisa make it a better deal to invest for education. Get in while you still can!