Foreign wife (dependent) - JP pension benefits

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

Hi all

My wife and I (both foreign) got married this year and she has become my dependent.
I have contributed to my JP pension for 8 years prior to us getting married. She has made no JP pension contributions.
I understand that as a dependent she will be ale to claim her pension without making any contributions.
But I have two questions:

1. Will she be able to claim her JP pension once I retire, or will she need to wait until she is of retirement age herself? She is 10 years my junior, so this will be important.
2. Will the amount she can claim be calculated on the length of time I have been paying into the pension system, or the time we have been married?

Hugely grateful for any insights!

Cheers

[RetireJapan]

A dependent spouse is deemed to have paid into kokumin nenkin (without actually paying in).
They need to accumulate at least 120 months of eligibility in order to claim a pension when they reach retirement age (currently 65, can claim smaller pension earlier at 60 or larger pension later at 70).

[Beaglehound]

Basically, although she is credited with kokumin nenkin contributions because of your status as a shakai hoken payer, the actual status of her pension is entirely individual, i.e. when you retire/how long you have been married is not relevant. She will accrue pension entitlement for however many months she is your dependent while you pay shakai hoken. Be aware that if you stop paying shakai hoken, because you retire for example, she will no longer be covered and will need to contribute to kokumin nenkin until she is 60 (exemption or partial exemption from this may be possible depending on household income). As Ben points out, you really want to get her to the 120 month mark by hook or by crook.

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

Thank you both for your replies. Huge help!
Great work on the site Ben! Nice to see it grow.

So just to clarify:
She became my dependent this year, and I have another 24 years until I hit retirement age.
So, if all goes to plan and I continue to pay shakai hoken (and we are still married ), by the time I retire she will have 288 months of contributions in the bag (24 years of being a dependent x 12 months per year).

One more question!
As she is younger than me, she would still have 10 years after I retire until she could claim her pension.
In this time, would she be able to make her own contributions? If so, she could potentially get her contributions up to 408 months by the time she hits 65.

Cheers

[RetireJapan]

As she is younger than me, she would still have 10 years after I retire until she could claim her pension.
In this time, would she be able to make her own contributions? If so, she could potentially get her contributions up to 408 months by the time she hits 65.

Yes. In fact, anyone living in Japan must pay into nenkin (or apply for reduced/waived payments if their circumstances allow) at least until the age of 60. It is currently possible to pay in to kokumin nenkin on a voluntary basis until 65, or if you are working and paying into kosei nenkin you keep paying.

Just on the off-chance, if either of you are from the UK you may be able to pay into the UK state pension on a voluntary basis, and it is a really good deal.

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

Thanks again. Massive help.
I am from the UK but have not made any UK pension contributions so far.

I did a little research into making voluntary contributions to the UK but found it a bit confusing.
Is there information here on the forum you could recommend, or am I better off contacting the UK pension service?

[RetireJapan]

Thanks again. Massive help.
I am from the UK but have not made any UK pension contributions so far.

I did a little research into making voluntary contributions to the UK but found it a bit confusing.
Is there information here on the forum you could recommend, or am I better off contacting the UK pension service?

Oh, in that case I recommend you give this some attention. The current system is a bit of a loophole, but one that is very lucrative for expats paying in.

You could start here: https://www.retirejapan.com/?s=uk+state+pension
There are also some threads here on the forum (in the pension section).

Good luck!

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

Legend!
Thanks so much for your replies and for making this community
Cheers

[JapaneseMike]

Thank you both for your replies. Huge help!
Great work on the site Ben! Nice to see it grow.

So just to clarify:
She became my dependent this year, and I have another 24 years until I hit retirement age.
So, if all goes to plan and I continue to pay shakai hoken (and we are still married ), by the time I retire she will have 288 months of contributions in the bag (24 years of being a dependent x 12 months per year).

One more question!
As she is younger than me, she would still have 10 years after I retire until she could claim her pension.
In this time, would she be able to make her own contributions? If so, she could potentially get her contributions up to 408 months by the time she hits 65.

Cheers

If she hasn't been paying for the last x number of years, she may be able to backpay some of it now. If there will still be time later (and she would want to pay it / work for it later), then there's some financial sense to paying it later (investing those backpayments now would probably give you a better return over a 30 year time horizon). - something to consider.

That being said, the UK state pension is a much better deal, if one or both of you could be entitled to that instead, I'd put your money in there instead

[halfmanhalfsenbei]

Thanks for the advice. I will get onto the UK state pension ASAP.
So 21 years of contributions are needed to get the full UK pension amount? That sounds a lot more reasonable than the 40 in Japan. Is this correct?