Living help (tax, health insurance etc).

[KCLenny]

As this covers a variety of forum topics I thought it would be best in general.
I’m an English teacher, I get about ¥210,000 a month (on 27 hours a week). Up until this week, my health insurance was ¥2600 a month (which covered me and my wife [english, and doesn’t work] for the last 2 years we’ve been living here). We received our new health insurance pay slips this week and we’re floored at the increased. Now, ¥19,900 a month!
Also up until recently, I’d never had a residence tax bill (¥71,000), I was expecting it so it’s not a shock.
But combined with the increase in my health insurance, and no increase in my wages last year or this year, how on earth am I supposed to cover all these expenses on such a low wage? Is this normal? My rent is ¥75,000 for a decent size apartment, we don’t eat out a lot and try to buy cheap food wherever we can. There’s just not a lot more we can do to save money short of cancelling Netflix which will leave us with nothing in the evenings.
This isn’t even including pension payments which so far we have been exempt from paying. But who knows how long that will continue.

So, is this a normal amount for my wage? Is there anything I can do to lower the payments at all? Any advice would just be greatly appreciated.

[Beaglehound]

Health insurance has both a per capita (regardless of income, so payable for your wife too) and a percentage element. If your income was about 2.5 million last year, the 19.9k per month seems about right. I believe a reduction in the per capita portion is possible if household income goes below a certain level but not sure what that level is. I am guessing you qualified for that previously (as 2.6k per month is very low) but no longer do.

As your wife is dependent on you, you should be getting a deduction of your taxable income, with consequent reduction in taxes, both national and local. Maybe you are claiming this already?

[goodandbadjapan]

I know it is easier said than done, but I think the better solution would be to increase your salary. Maybe what you are paid is normal for new teachers these days, but it is a lot less than the bog standard starting wage 25 years ago and I suspect with two years under your belt you could maybe find something that paid a bit more. If that's difficult then maybe get a few privates on the side.

I hope I don't sound like I'm just saying get a better job because I know that's often quite hard, but if possible I would try to find a bit more money and have some comfort / enjoyment in life rather than cut back so much that there is nothing spare for fun.

[KCLenny]

As your wife is dependent on you, you should be getting a deduction of your taxable income, with consequent reduction in taxes, both national and local. Maybe you are claiming this already?

I honestly don’t know how to claim it. I obviously filled out my end of year tax form in December with the amount of health insurance I was paying then, the income I’d earned that year and that was about it. I haven’t done anything since.
The other thing is we collectively pay over ¥100,000 a year in health care as we both have mental health issues (depression and sleep problems) which are quite costly and I believe there’s something I can do to reduce costs but I don’t know how or where

[Beaglehound]

Sorry to hear about your issues. I remember you posted your end of year tax slip in another thread so had a look and it seems you are already claiming the spouse deduction, which is good, but no help in lowering your payments...

Yes, you can deduct annual household medical costs, but only the amount over 100k. Link below suggests you need to ask local tax office for procedures. Am sure someone on here will have done it, might be worth a forum search or a new thread?

https://www.ibmjapankenpo.jp/eng/member ... tem02.html

[TokyoWart]

I get about ¥210,000 a month (on 27 hours a week) ... Also up until recently, I’d never had a residence tax bill (¥71,000), I was expecting it so it’s not a shock

A 71,000 yen residence tax on a 210,000 income seems off. In my "ku" the residence tax is 10% of gross income. If I remember correctly the residence tax corrects each June and for the first payment there can be higher than subsequent months but even considering that this ratio seems wrong. I just bring this up because the proportion here seems off.

I searched your prior posts and understand that you work at a small company with a difficult boss. My wife's experience as an English teacher first at a very small company and then at a still small but larger and more professional firm was that salaries are unusually low at the smallest companies. When she switched employers (without any special qualifications as a teacher) her salary doubled and the work conditions improved.

[Kanto]

It is possible to apply to lower your nenkin payments -> https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/pamphl ... nglish.pdf

Here is the formula for national health insurance -> Calculated by multiplying the total residents tax paid by all NHI members in the household by 0.80. This is the income levy. Then multiplying the number of insured household members by 39,000. This is the per capita levy. These two levies added together are the annual premium that must be paid. The maximum possible is 580,000 per year.

At 210,000 a month your focus needs to be on increasing your income, as much as reducing expenses. Assuming you have a bachelor's, like most that is very low pay.

Have you considered a little professional development and networking? Joining JALT and other organizations? Touching up your CV and checking out Ohaiyo-sensei, and other job posting sites? The market was very hot for teachers in Feb. - March, and there is usually a rekindling in the summer months.

[TJKansai]

Like the others, I would focus on income. Your working hours are close to what a part-timer does.

When I arrived I worked for a national conversation company and put in 45 hours a week, earning about ¥300,000/month.

[Beaglehound]

Like the others, I would focus on income. Your working hours are close to what a part-timer does.

When I arrived I worked for a national conversation company and put in 45 hours a week, earning about ¥300,000/month.

Not sure if OP means he does 27 contact hours. If so, that would be more than enough in terms of workload IMO. I would agree there are better paying schools though.

[RetireJapan]

My wife's school is 40 hours a week, 24 contact classes (40-60 minutes), and pays 280k in the first year with annual raises. There still seems to be a shortage of teachers so might be worth looking for a better job. Do give your current place adequate notice though if you are going to leave during your current contract!