When to take your Japanese pension?

[TJKansai]

Nenkin is not usually big money, though it may be enough for the frugal to maintain a simple lifestyle.

The pensionable age for the Old-age Basic Pension is 65 in principle. However, you may opt to receive pension at whatever age after 60. The pension amount is adjusted depending on the age you start to receive your pension. You may opt to start benefits before 65 with lower benefits amount, or you may opt to start benefits before 65 with higher benefits amount. Specifically, your early pension amount receivable at the age of 60 is 76 % of that for age 65 and your delayed pension amount receivable from the age of 75 or older is 184 %.
https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/ ... html#cms04

[TJKansai]

Appologies.
I see there was already a poll on this in 2021.

viewtopic.php?t=1935

[RetireJapan]

Appologies.
I see there was already a poll on this in 2021.

viewtopic.php?t=1935

Good to have an update though!

[captainspoke]

Since I've already started collecting pension (as have some others), me for a number of years now, how should I vote?

It might be more inclusive (respect for the elderly?!?) to have separate sections in the list of choices--one for people looking at pensions prospectively, another for those who are already collecting their riches?

[Tkydon]

If you are paying Basic National Pension Contributions, they will stop collecting Contributions at age 60.

The Pension will be calculated based on Number of Months of Contributions to Age 60 for the Basic National Pension, payable at 100% of the benefit based on those contributions, Not on the Full Basic Pension.

If at age 60 you have contributed say 25 years (300 months) then at 65 you will receive Basic Pension of 100% of that 300/480 of the Full Basic National Pension.

If you are contributing to the Basic National Pension, then it would be a good idea to continue paying Voluntary Basic National Pension Contributions to age 65, so you get an additional 5 years' (60 months') Contributions to bring your pension at 65 up to 100% of say 360/480 of the Full Basic National Pension. You have to visit the local Pension Office to apply to make Voluntary Contributions, and you can do so from the day before your 60th. birthday.

https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/ ... nsion.html

See the Benefits Section and the Voluntary Contributions Section.

If you are in employment, then you and your employer will be paying into one of the employment Pension Systems

https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/ ... loyee.html

https://www.pmac.shigaku.go.jp/en/index.html

or other...

You will keep paying Contributions as long as you are working up to age 70, and benefits will be calculated accordingly.


Whenever you start receiving the pension, it will be based on Contributions to that date at the rate receivable at age 65, and either discounted if under 65 (100% - % shown)

https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/ ... 21-01.html

or increased if over 65 (100% + % shown)

https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/ ... 21-02.html


Some people (a guest on the Rational Reminder Podcast with Ben Felix) did some calculations (in Canada) concerning whether it was more beneficial to take the Pension at 65 or to postpone taking the Pension to a later date. I can look up the reference. I have quoted it before.

Their conclusion, based on the way the Benefit Increases are calculated based on Inflation and the Markup, was that it would be better to take the Pension at age 65, and not postpone. They calculated that the Pension Office increases the amount receivable in line with inflation, but you reduce the amount you will receive as you have less years to receive it...

Pension Income is taxable in Japan, both National and Residents' Income Taxes, and assessed for National Health Insurance Premiums, but it is eligible for the big Public Pension Tax Deduction in addition to standard allowances and deductions (along with National Pensions from other countries; UK State Pension, Aus SuperAnnuation, Canadian RSS, US Social Security, and so on... which are only taxable in Japan, unless you are receiving US Social Security as a US Citizen, in which case it is also taxable in the US).

If you need the money at 65, you can take the Pension and spend it.

If you don't need the money at 65, you can take the Pension at 65 and feed it post-tax and NHI directly into a NISA, after which future gains will be completely Tax Free, and probably better than the increase the Pension System will give you for postponing.

[AreTheyTheLemmings?]

"When to take your Japanese pension"... that "to" is doing some heavy lifting, bearing the load of two very different, very weighty connotations: When do you hope to start taking your Japanese pension, and when will you likely end up having to take your Japanese pension.

[TJKansai]

Since I've already started collecting pension (as have some others), me for a number of years now, how should I vote?

It might be more inclusive (respect for the elderly?!?) to have separate sections in the list of choices--one for people looking at pensions prospectively, another for those who are already collecting their riches?

Good point. You probably aren't the only retiree here.
I suppose I should have written when do/did...

[Bubblegun]

Interesting! I'd love to vote on this but I can't decide. There are a few factors I'm struggling with. I won't have enough years in Japan to get the full japanese pension, and i missed out on a number of years because the rule (before we could back pay) was, we needed 40 years to get a pension. It meant paying for 30 years was pointless.(at that time) (even though legally we were supposed to be in it) not to mention employers weren't always forthcoming with explain rules, laws and regulations.

Anyway, I won't get much, so would it be worth waiting those extra 5 years, to get 37,000 yen a month.That includes the time we were allowed to back pay the full ten years,Fukanenkin too, and pay until I'm 67. That is nowhere near enough for even a dog to live on. So like so many who here,whose employers never enrolled us, or told us they MUST PAY, and we lost out on valuble years. I guess its a sign that they never expected people (foreigners) to stay and retire here. Like the video Ben from retireJapan posted, of poverty stricken japanese, how many are going to fall through this crack? I wouldn't want to call it a crack, but more like a cavern. Trying to catch up is near impossible for me, as we can't pay more in, and the NISA IDECO can only do so much in 15 years.

So should i just take whats there at 60,knowing I'm going to have to work, or wait until 65 and still know I'm going to have to work?

Sad to say or I'm lucky enough (if i can say that) to have had enough to back pay those 10 years. Sadly no joint totalization with the UK.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

Interesting! I'd love to vote on this but I can't decide. There are a few factors I'm struggling with. I won't have enough years in Japan to get the full japanese pension, and i missed out on a number of years because the rule (before we could back pay) was, we needed 40 years to get a pension. It meant paying for 30 years was pointless.(at that time) (even though legally we were supposed to be in it) not to mention employers weren't always forthcoming with explain rules, laws and regulations.

Anyway, I won't get much, so would it be worth waiting those extra 5 years, to get 37,000 yen a month.That includes the time we were allowed to back pay the full ten years,Fukanenkin too, and pay until I'm 67. That is nowhere near enough for even a dog to live on. So like so many who here,whose employers never enrolled us, or told us they MUST PAY, and we lost out on valuble years. I guess its a sign that they never expected people (foreigners) to stay and retire here. Like the video Ben from retireJapan posted, of poverty stricken japanese, how many are going to fall through this crack? I wouldn't want to call it a crack, but more like a cavern. Trying to catch up is near impossible for me, as we can't pay more in, and the NISA IDECO can only do so much in 15 years.

So should i just take whats there at 60,knowing I'm going to have to work, or wait until 65 and still know I'm going to have to work?

Sad to say or I'm lucky enough (if i can say that) to have had enough to back pay those 10 years. Sadly no joint totalization with the UK.

Sadly no joint totalization with the UK? Are you sure about that? You can contribute to two state pensions. Have you been contributing to the British state pension or are you receiving it now?

[Bubblegun]

Interesting! I'd love to vote on this but I can't decide. There are a few factors I'm struggling with. I won't have enough years in Japan to get the full japanese pension, and i missed out on a number of years because the rule (before we could back pay) was, we needed 40 years to get a pension. It meant paying for 30 years was pointless.(at that time) (even though legally we were supposed to be in it) not to mention employers weren't always forthcoming with explain rules, laws and regulations.

Anyway, I won't get much, so would it be worth waiting those extra 5 years, to get 37,000 yen a month.That includes the time we were allowed to back pay the full ten years,Fukanenkin too, and pay until I'm 67. That is nowhere near enough for even a dog to live on. So like so many who here,whose employers never enrolled us, or told us they MUST PAY, and we lost out on valuble years. I guess its a sign that they never expected people (foreigners) to stay and retire here. Like the video Ben from retireJapan posted, of poverty stricken japanese, how many are going to fall through this crack? I wouldn't want to call it a crack, but more like a cavern. Trying to catch up is near impossible for me, as we can't pay more in, and the NISA IDECO can only do so much in 15 years.

So should i just take whats there at 60,knowing I'm going to have to work, or wait until 65 and still know I'm going to have to work?

Sad to say or I'm lucky enough (if i can say that) to have had enough to back pay those 10 years. Sadly no joint totalization with the UK.

Sadly no joint totalization with the UK? Are you sure about that? You can contribute to two state pensions. Have you been contributing to the British state pension or are you receiving it now?

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.
I have been paying into the UK NI system, and have 35+ years.
But my understanding is it is NOT totalization. So we feel into that crack of "it was not worth paying the japanese pension when we arrived as i would never reach the qualifying period, but when the law changed, I would qualify for something, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO LIVE ON. So some will still fall through that crack.Arriving in japan 40 ish meant I would have to work until 80,to get a japanese pension for maybe just a few years. but when the law changed, i backed payed he 10 years, but again, the max I could probably contribute is going to be about 25-30 years. I can imagine there are a lot of people who ( that being nature of being an english teacher) are going to have a very hard time when they hit 67+ Its going to be very hard for some people to be doing kindergarten English,or trying to compete with a YOUNG, blue eyed, bond, female, male for that job. And age discrimation is pretty much accepted.There's a lot we can do, but there's also only so much we can do with IDECI/NISA too.Especially if we have kids.
i'm kinda thinking of taking the Japanese state pension, a bit early,depnding on how much, and how many years, a tad early. Is it really that big a difference between getting 37,000 yen a month and say 30,000 yen a month, if we still have to work? I could cut a few hours back a week.Not exactly F.I.R.E, more like a part time retirement.