RetireJapan

My pension took a little jump after full retirement. I was not told about this by my university’s accounting department beforehand so it came as a nice surprise. I started taking my university Shigakko Kyosai Kumiai pension at 66. From 65 I changed from full time professor to a Tokunin kyoshi 3 classes/one day a week position. At 67 I retired completely. So for a year and a half I was getting 103,000 monthly from the university pension. I wasn’t happy with this amount as I recalled being told I would be getting closer to 150,000 monthly. But I accepted it and figured that was just the way things were going to be going forward.

Then after retiring completely this past March 31, I got a note saying I would be getting an additional 171,000 yen for the year. I called the pension office and was told I would be getting this amount (they called it the C portion) every year going forward divided and added to my 103, 000 monthly. Really? I wonder if anyone can confirm that?

In addition I was told that my monthly 103,000 (they called it the D portion) was also to be adjusted upward to become 112,000. This results in my new monthly being around 126,000. Better than 103,000 is all I can say.

Has anyone had a similar experience of a post full retirement pension adjustment? Can I trust that my pension will now stay like this going forward or was that C portion a one-time adjustment? Does anyone know what the C portion and D portion refer to?

Thanks!

I am uncertain about any of the the details but after after a year of retirement, I also got a “raise” in my Shigakku Kyosai pension as well as a similar 10-20% new allotment (referred to as the C portion). My wife also received these delayed bumps which she remembers being related to the Shigakku Kyosai being amalgamated into the Kosei Nenkin system but they are distant memories to her now.

So to put your mind at ease, yes these increases seem to be standard operating procedure here. And you are correct. ¥126,000 is better than ¥103,000. But ¥1,260,000 a month would be a lot more fun!

Your Category C benefits were probably being suspended because you were still enrolled in the PMAC after the age of 65 (the suspended amount should have been reported to you on your annual notifications). You now appear to be receiving -- or are about to receive -- your full pension which, subject to annual cost-of-living adjustments, should remain unchanged for at least the next 20 years.

The reason for the C-D split is the distinction between the second-tier portion (Category D) and the third-tier portion (Category C) of a three-tier PMAC pension. Category D follows kousei nenkin rules and will constitute the bulk of your pension. Category C is basically a supplementary DB pension and follows PMAC rules, which changed in October 2015 when mutual-aid association pensions were merged into the kousei nenkin pension scheme. Thus, there is now an "old" Category C pension (technically a "transitional occupation-related supplement," or 経過的職域加算額, rather than a pension) that applies to periods of enrollment before October 2015, and a "new" Category C pension (referred to as taishoku-tou nenkin kyuufu, or 退職等年金給付) that applies to periods of enrollment beginning from October 2015.

My understanding is that the transitional supplement applicable to the period before October 2015 is payable for life. Periods after October 2015, however, are covered by the new scheme, which divides pension benefits into a lifetime half and a fixed-term half. The fixed-term half is in principle payable for 20 years, although it is possible instead to take payments for 10 years or even a lump-sum payment. The notification letter you are sent when you start receiving benefits should give you a breakdown of the respective amounts. I can't speak from personal experience here because although I do receive PMAC benefits, I was enrolled only for a short time before 2015 and on my notice Category C only lists the supplementary payment (the other breakdown boxes are filled with asterisks). Perhaps a more recent retiree (or even OP) would be willing to share what information the other Category C boxes reveal, or maybe a Nenkin Net member can report on the information made available there.

The PMAC does try to explain the consolidated system "as simply as possible" in a Japanese newsletter it sent out in 2015 and which can be downloaded from the following link:
https://www.shigakukyosai.jp/ichigenka/ ... eaf_27.pdf