Survivors's Pension (Izoku Nenkin)

[jamesk45]

Wasn't sure where to post this as it straddles a few different topics. It's pension related but also overlaps with life insurance.

Anyway, I am a Brit who has been in Japan for over 21 years. In January of this year my wife (Japanese) died suddenly, leaving behind me and two children (currently 1st and 2nd year of Junior High). The intervening five months have been quite an experience (waking nightmare is another way of putting it) and I have learned a lot of things which I never thought I would have any business knowing at my time of life.

The knowledge I wish to share here relates to how my wife's pension was handled after her death. While I had naturally not given it a lot of thought, I assumed that if either she or I died before reaching old age, the surviving person would be able to claim the other's pension once eligible. However, I discovered that is not how it works. While I was told I may be able to get some money further down the line (between turning 60 and becoming eligible for my own Japan pension if I understood correctly), the more significant benefit comes while my kids are under the age of 18. I did not see exactly how the figures were calculated, although it was based on the number of years my wife had been enrolled in the pension system, how much she had contributed in that time and how many children we have, but the result is that my kids and I are in line to receive just over 10,000,000 yen over the course of the next 6 years. Whether you consider that a significant amount of money is of course subjective, but in my case it will make quite a big difference to our financial position. When combined with the life insurance payment I received and my own salary, our family's financial situation is healthy, despite the loss of my wife's income.

Most of the money will be paid to me (about 105,000 yen per month paid every two months), but my kids will also receive about 20,000 yen per month each as well, paid directly to their bank accounts. All of these benefits are tied to the kids' ages and expire at the end of the March following each of their 18th birthdays. In other words, when they reach the age when they graduate from High School.

I wanted to share this as it is something that those with children under the age of 18 should be aware of. Knowing that their pension contributions will be used in this way may give some readers greater peace of mind that their families will be financially secure in the event of their own death or that of a spouse.

A couple of points to note:

- The benefit is significantly more, perhaps as much as 50%, if the deceased was enrolled in employees' pension (kosei nenkin)at the time of their death.

- You lose the benefit if you remarry, although the children retain it regardless of the surviving parent’s martial status

[captainspoke]

I'm sorry for your loss. And thanks for posting that info.

[northSaver]

Thank you for posting this useful information James. Very sorry for your loss. Everyone thinks this sort of thing happens to other people... sometimes it doesn't. What a living nightmare you and your children have endured these past few months. Best wishes for the future.

[YouMeWeThem]

Sorry for your loss James. Best wishes for the future and I'm glad you were able to find some stability in this horrible situation.

One thing people should be aware of is that the numbers work out very differently depending on which spouse passes away, if you have children, the age of the surviving spouse, and if the deceased was enrolled in employees' pension (厚生年金), probably some other factors too. For example, a surviving wife will receive payouts from her husband's employees' pension for the rest of her life, whereas for a surviving husband it gets paid out to the kids until they graduate high school, after which there's nothing. Not that there's much you can do to plan around such an event, but I just wanted to say that the info you posted is specific to your situation.

There are some more examples with visuals in this article.

[beanhead]

So sorry for your loss.
And thank you for sharing what you have learned about the pension mechanics.

Enjoy your time with your children while you can. They will be independent before you know it.