National pension vs Private pension

[goran]

One of these days, proof of pension and health insurance payments will finally be required for any and all visa renewals.

this was my concern too.
They already check it for PR applications, all be it for the previous few years.

[TokyoBoglehead]

Everyone I know who has dodged pension payments and retire in Japan live to regret it severely. There's is a popular argument that you take that payment and invest it yourself and you will be better off. However, this seldom happens it seems and these individuals are left with grim prospects for retirement.

Also, choosing a public pension over a private one just is not logical when you're talking about first world countries like Japan in my opinion.

Final, it's the law.

[Gareth]

I listened to the “Don’t bother paying nenkin” people for several years and I totally regret it.

I’ve never met anyone that said to me “I really wish I didn’t have this pension” but I have met people that said “I wish I paid more into this pension”

[taneandy]

That Nissay link is an example of a life insurance company.

My understanding is that whole life insurance policies are not a good deal, because they are basically making investments on your behalf, and keeping a large difference as a fee. Better to do the investment part yourself, and if you need life insurance, get term life for the period where it matters.

In my experience, the types of products offered by insurance companies like Nissay may be referred to as pensions, but the way they work is very different from a state pension that continues to pay out a certain inflation adjusted amount until you die.
Generally you contribute monthly until a set age and then basically just get your money back over the following 10, 15, or 20 years with a slight increase (I don't have the exact figures to hand, but I think I was quoted something like a 20% increase on contributions).

Some advantages of these products might be:
Slightly better returns than just leaving money in a bank account
Tax deductions
Some sort of insurance component (for example, you may no longer have to make the monthly contributions if you become unable to work for health reasons)
Relatively safe so long as the company doesn't go bankrupt

The main issue though is that they don't offer financial insurance against living into you 90s and beyond like a state pension that keeps paying out and don't offer the possibility of a significant return on investment over time like investing in the stock market!

[HeavyMetal]

Thanks again for replies,

I am going to apply for national pension soon an honestly I regret I didn't do it earlier too.
But, this forum is the ONLY place in Japan with positive view on pension, all Japanese around say opposite. Nah...

Regarding my question it's also seem people here vote for national pension, comparing to private (like life insurance)

To those interested, I have PR since long ago, maybe law wasn't so strict that time, but I had a lawyer to help me with papers, and he never asked about pension or said I have to pay it. But maybe now it's different, not sure.

[goodandbadjapan]

Thanks again for replies,

I am going to apply for national pension soon an honestly I regret I didn't do it earlier too.
But, this forum is the ONLY place in Japan with positive view on pension, all Japanese around say opposite. Nah...

Regarding my question it's also seem people here vote for national pension, comparing to private (like life insurance)

To those interested, I have PR since long ago, maybe law wasn't so strict that time, but I had a lawyer to help me with papers, and he never asked about pension or said I have to pay it. But maybe now it's different, not sure.

I didn't use to pay into the pension because when I started work at a company here they said I didn't have to, and when I changed to self-employment my own city hall told me I didn't need to start. Then I realised you do have to and I started paying in. But, as above, I got PR before I had paid anything in. It didn't even occur to me at the time that it would be an issue (as I still thought it was sort of voluntary!) but certainly nobody asked or seemed to care about it. I wonder if that has changed as I often see posts on social media saying late tax payments or not paying pension will affect PR applications.

[RetireJapan]

I wonder if that has changed as I often see posts on social media saying late tax payments or not paying pension will affect PR applications.

Currently paying into nenkin and health insurance is now explicitly part of PR applications. Not yet the case for other visas, but it seems like an obvious and desirable next step.

[TokyoBoglehead]

I wonder if that has changed as I often see posts on social media saying late tax payments or not paying pension will affect PR applications.

Currently paying into nenkin and health insurance is now explicitly part of PR applications. Not yet the case for other visas, but it seems like an obvious and desirable next step.

Just applied for PR. You need to prove that you and your guarantor/spouse have a three years of nenkin/tax payments with zero gaps. Immigration does not have direct access to these records, so you need to provide direct proof.

A single missed month with be an automatic rejection, even if it is the guarantor spouse who has missed a month!

I wonder if that has changed as I often see posts on social media saying late tax payments or not paying pension will affect PR applications.

Google "financial literacy in Japan". People are shockingly uniformed here. Consider the source of the advice. (This is not their fault thought the FSA/MEXT is trying to improve this).

Did you know that the Japanese pension fund is growing, as it is managed like a 4 part, equal weighted index fund? https://www.gpif.go.jp/en/performance/2 ... 805_eg.pdf