In this week news: Japanese Pension alone is inadequate in aging society

[mule96]

What every member here already knows is a topic in this week news:

https://japantoday.com/category/nationa ... ng-society

https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/fron ... 00080.html

The additional 20 mil JPY needed if you live until 95 seems like a very optimistic scenario.

So hopefully this leads to more flexible pension investment possibilities (no time limit on Nisa, higher contribution in iDeCo). But with the government not wanting to lose taxes I don’t t have too much hopes.

[RetireJapan]

Yes, I would love to see unlimited NISA (like the UK does) and higher iDeCo contributions

[StockBeard]

The comments are the scary part. It seems 90% of the people leaving comments on the JapanToday article have basically no plan.

[RetireJapan]

The comments are the scary part. It seems 90% of the people leaving comments on the JapanToday article have basically no plan.

You wouldn't believe some of the aggressively defensive comments I've heard...

[mule96]

I think that is not limited to JT readership though. How many % of working people in Japan use a Nisa or iDeCo account? That being said with all the advertisement around, one would expect that there would be more interest in the topic now.

[RetireJapan]

I think that is not limited to JT readership though. How many % of working people in Japan use a Nisa or iDeCo account? That being said with all the advertisement around, one would expect that there would be more interest in the topic now.

Almost no one, according to the stats I have seen in the past.

It doesn't help that they make them so complicated -particularly NISA. It should be open-ended, with a yearly contribution allowance and the ability to rebalance within the account.

[Sybil]

The comments are the scary part. It seems 90% of the people leaving comments on the JapanToday article have basically no plan.

I avoid Japan Today. If you notice the most moronic comments get the most 'likes'. The sensible comments get panned.

[Roger101]

The additional 20 mil JPY needed if you live until 95

I assume that is while not working at all (??)

I think everyones case will be different. Some people will choose to live about the same lifestyle as now and probably the same house (??)
I plan to get a cheaper place (have paid off our mortgage already) and work part time for as long as I can

[ricardo]

I’m lucky (also known as ‘I worked bloody hard’) - I have a generous final salary pension sitting in an index-linked UK government-backed scheme waiting for me when I’m 60.

My biggest worry is the exchange rate, given that it will be payable in GBP.

But, for those who aren’t as ‘lucky’ as me, I agree that the tax-exempt accounts available in Japan for those who need to save for their retirement now are strongly recommended.

If anyone ever thought that a state pension, Japanese, British or otherwise, would keep them in the lifestyle to which they were accustomed, then they got it wrong. Maybe in the 1950s it might just have done so, for those few years you have left after grafting away until you’re 65, in the pit or sweeping the streets. But the new reality is that most people will work for less of their lives than they will live. No state can support that. And it was never the plan.

[StockBeard]

This is probably not news to folks here, but my wife tells me that this admission by the government that pension will be inadequate, accompanied by recommendations such as "downsizeyour house to make money" or "work longer" were met with outrage in Japan.

I told her that if people here were believing until now that a JP national pension would be enough to sustain their retirement, they were stupid. She didn't like my take. From her perspective, it's one thing to be "prepared", it's another to hear from the government for decades "keep pouring money into the system, we will be fine", and to suddenly be told "welp, actually no, we're not fine, please sell your house and move to a place you don't know at age 70, thanks".

The way she described it to me, it's not the government telling people in their 30s or 40s "hey, there'll be trouble down the road, please get ready", but instead telling people who are already retired, or close to it "we won't be able to handle you, like in 2 years".