Pension agreements between Japan and other countries.

[asv]

Hi,

I am from a European country with a pension agreement with Japan. I have tried to read and understand this agreement, but it is kind of difficult. I am assuming this agreement is common between Japan and other EU countries, so my question is, do you consider this when thinking about your future?

Personally I am 29 yo, so I am one of those who think in the future I might not have a decent public pension to live, therefore my interest in saving for the future. However, it is good to know I can choose between 2 pension systems, because you can always go to the one that will give you the most of it.

If I was to retire in 2017, I would obviously choose my home country, because pensions in Japan are very cheap compared to the ones in my home country, but then, I have tried to understand the calculation method when retiring in my home country having contributed in Japan. Any experiences/ideas?

The way your pension is calculated in my home country is 80% of your salary for your last 25 years contributing before retiring. Imagine I retire at 65. My monthly pension would be 80% of my monthly salary between when I was 40 at 65. Since I am in a very traditional Japanese company, by that time I will be making a good amount of money (More than 8M/year after 40yo). In my home country (South Europe, with a lower cost of living) the maximum public pension per month is 2573,70 € . I think that with my Japanese salary from when I will be 40yo to 65yo I could get the maximum public pension in my home country. Compared to the public pension in Japan, it is a lot more of money.

Is my way of thinking correct?

Also, what are the IDECO implication in case of going back to my home country and getting my public pension there?

[RetireJapan]

Very nice topic.

The UK has a pension treaty, but my understanding is that it is pretty useless. It just says people won't have to pay into both systems. There is no option to transfer qualifying years.

However, UK citizens can pay voluntary contributions.

Not sure about your country agreement, but iDeCo shouldn't have any effect on pensions. iDeCo is a personal investment account with tax incentives. It is not a pension nor does it affect your Japanese pension in any way. I doubt your home country will know what it is, let alone have rules about it

[adamu]

Here's the official list: http://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/e ... tries.html, looks like it's kept up to date.

If you're Italian, you're not entitled to any money in your home country based on your Japanese pension. If you're from one of the other countries on that list, then you're probably fine.

Policy changes so often it's almost impossible to tell what your entitlements will be upon retirement. The best you can do is look at the rules now and maximise your chances of being eligible.

[asv]

Fortunately, my country is on that list.

I am aware there could be policy changes, but then I don't see the reason they would break this agreement as it doesn't really affect a lot of people.

As you point out, yeah, IDECO doesn't seem to affect the pension in my home country, that's a good thing.

I am surprised the UK agreement doesn't allow you to transfer your years into the UK pension system. So if you move to the UK when you retire that means you will have to live on your (cheap) Japanese public pension?

[RetireJapan]

I am surprised the UK agreement doesn't allow you to transfer your years into the UK pension system. So if you move to the UK when you retire that means you will have to live on your (cheap) Japanese public pension?

Yep. I am also making voluntary payments to the UK pension (which is also cheap, unfortunately). Ultimately I am not planning to receive any money from public pensions -it will be a nice bonus if I get some, but I plan to have enough money to take care of myself regardless of what the politicians do

[Jamo]

I am aware there could be policy changes, but then I don't see the reason they would break this agreement as it doesn't really affect a lot of people.

Not affecting a lot of people sounds like a great reason to break an agreement in my opinion Less backlash to deal with, etc.

[RetireJapan]

Not affecting a lot of people sounds like a great reason to break an agreement in my opinion Less backlash to deal with, etc.

I think it's more likely the generous pension provisions will be reduced due to declining government finances.

[Roger101]

sadly my country (New Zealand) is not on the list
I hope this changes!

[Zoomtokyo]

My country, Canada, is on the list, but from what I understand the accord only helps a person "qualify" to get a basic pension by using residency or contributions from one system to use in another.

It seems the only people who wouldn't qualify for the Canadian one would be newly arrived immigrants, since it's based on years of residency. Hence, we expats are ignored, in other words. I hope I'm wrong so interested in hearing what others know or think.