FSA estimates couples need retirement savings of up to ¥30 mil

The Taro-kun & Shin-chan Show: We don't like the results, so we'll simply refuse to accept the report.

One thing NOT being reported here, but was on the "Sunday Morning" talk show, is that according to one poll taken by an independent service, somewhere in the neighbor hood of 1/4 of people over the age of 60, here in Japan of course, have less than 1 Million yen in savings. Less than 10% of the people surveyed had over 20 Million.

Going to be awfully hard to make that up!

Overly expensive, poorly managed, over staffed, dismal return.

Thanks LDP

Maybe if they stopped building a few hundred extra bridges, tunnels, unnecessary tetrapods and seawalls, they'd easily be able to cover these expenses.

The reality is worse for lots of people, but slightly better for the ones this is aimed at.

These studies assume that everyone is married and has a fully paid-in kosen nenkin pension. In the model case, it pays out 220,000 yen a month. If the husband dies, the wife gets 70% from then on. The 20 or however million shortfall is for people already getting this much money. My guess is that this is one person in three or fewer. Everyone else has much less to start with.

https://mainichi.jp/articles/20190617/k00/00m/010/254000c

To state the obvious, lots of people are not married, lots of people do not have fully paid-in shakai hoken pensions, lots of people have shakai hoken, but paid in off a lower salary or. Lots of people are registered for the 70,000 a month max payout kokumin nenkin pension intended for the self-employed, but don't actually pay in, and will only get a fraction of that. I think the average payout is actually 45,000 a month. All these people will have to work as before.

The slightly better bit is that this is assuming those middle class people need 250,000 yen a month in retirement. That tax-free will be more than some young families already survive on while renting. If you don't have the savings to support this lifestyle, you'll just have to budget like everyone else, many of whom don't own their own home. For old people who've always rented, there are plenty of 5 million yen or less homes in the countryside they can move to.

dismal return.

The model case in the mainichi link says a kosei nenkin pension pays out 221,000 yen for 30 years, making a total of 80 million yen. Thats off paying in 40 years. In the first say fifteen years, where compounding gains the most, the person will probably have paid in less than 30,000 a month. This means the return is actually huge. I don't see how it is remotely sustainable.

Well, looks like with my Military Disability pay from the United States is way more than enough according to these numbers. I will be a rich old man, apparently. 30 million yen for retirement is NOTHING.

So now that we know the people will need this in the future, what will A&A do about this? Nothing, just sit on their hands and enjoy their own retirement payouts.

Forget about getting married and move to Pattaya, Phuket, Medellin, or Estonia for retirement. Avoid Philippines if possible. Thank me later.

Aso and Abe will never connect with the ordinary working man and woman who have to pay out most of their earnings in taxes, fees and insurance. People work because they have to.

Finance Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as minister for financial services

Wait - does he get a double paycheck for this? Because if he does, I just spotted a savings opportunity.

Aso's convenient lie that pension fears are unfounded is all of a piece with his infamous "the elderly should be allowed to "hurry up and die" to relieve pressure on the state to pay for their medical care, a mission statement which also chimes with that of his old buddy Yutaka Harada, a member of the board of Japan’s central bank who praised Hitler, (also praised by Aso for having "the right motives"), for his “wonderful” fiscal and monetary policies, adding the caveat they had enabled him to go on and do “horrible” things. The future for the elderly in Japan looks bleak with these monkeys riding on their backs.

Whether it's a 20 mil yen shortfall or 30 mil yen shortfall, those are pretty huge shortfalls! Or should I say longfalls?

Also, there's no clear base as to which kinds of people are going to experience how much of a shortfall. For example is this based on a single person with 50,000 yen monthly rent/mortgage? Or a couple with no rent or mortgage? The baseline is missing which is also causing a lot of angst and confusion among the populace.

Edit: international bank.

As a Wealth Manager here in the US, I am usually advising clients to save 4 times that amount, unless they have a pension in addition to their Social Security income. ¥30mm won’t last very long.

If the consumption tax were directed toward social services as it was advertised instead of being siphoned off for vote buying - the Ninkin shortfall could be solved even if the disbursement were increased to cover the individual 20/30mm shortfall.

In the first say fifteen years, where compounding gains the most, the person will probably have paid in less than 30,000 a month

I don't know where you're getting your figures from.

Pension premiums are doubled by the employer's portion, which means you'd have people paying only ¥15000 a month from their pay check? That's the premium for the kokumin nenkin, the minimum anyone pays (if they pay). The kosei nenkin is on top of that, based on income and usually a lot more (with a huge chunk also taken out of the twice-yearly bonus).

if he does, I just spotted a savings opportunity.

Or they could put him out to pasture on a kokumin nenkin. If it's good enough for us geese, it's good enough for the gander, no?

Is it perhaps the silver spoon firmly lodged in his cheek that distorts his lips so when he speaks?

As a Wealth Manager here in the US, I am usually advising clients to save 4 times that amount, unless they have a pension in addition to their Social Security income

It sounds like you have a different system. The problem here is that the pension, which everyone is supposed to have, is not enough.

I don’t know what the average person paid in, but I paid in way more than I can recover even if I lived to 100.

Don't tell Aso! And if you do, he won't listen.

sorry to hear, on other hand.. I am totally sorted both with savings and with full nenkin.. besides I am def not planning on living in Tokyo on my retirement cash... rural south asia is best, somewhere by the ocean with coconuts

So, people pay 10-15% of their into this pension fund, depending on their age, for 30-40 years, which works out to more than ¥15 million (150 grand). They receive no returns or dividends on their investment and will only receive a full reimbursement in pittance payments if they live to be over 90? It’s not a pension fund. It’s a pyramid scam.

Household financial assets in Japan are at an all-time high, with more than half of it in cash and must of the rest in life insurance. Japan's state pension systems are contribution based. Conclusion: the Japanese public are cry babies who need a grip on reality.

Jeff lee, are you serious? I know of of know one who has such cash.

most are hand to mouth! But I don't live in Tokyo.

So it really doesn't matter for you.

keep an eye out for a starved to death gaigin news story, after paying into the stystem for 25 years.

@Cricky - keep an eye out for a starved to death gaigin news story, after paying into the stystem for 25 years.

I've been dodging this scam fo nearly twenty years. I have a private superannuation fund in Australia that I've been paying into for 35 years and will pay me handsomely when I retire. Just the accumulated interest adds up to nearly 25% the total over that period of time.

Making foreigners pay into this scam is extortion and theft. Very few foreigners living in japan will retire here. If you wish to leave Japan and get your money back you will have to wait year to apply and you will only receive one-third of your contributions back - if you are prepared to wade through the mountain of red tape and name stamps. If you try to get out of paying it, they will just keep stating that Japan has a pension agreement with 'X' country, but most of those countries do not have a contribution based pension system, so you are being scammed! I got stuck paying into this scam for nearly three years, despite many attempts to get out of it by contacting the ministry directly. I've paid over ten grand into this fund. I'll be leaving Japan in a year or so and I'll have to wait another year to apply to be reimbursed, which will only be three grand. It's a scam! Oh, I forgot to mention, the forms have to be lodged from within Japan. You cannot apply internationally. SCAM!

@Crickey

jeff lee, are you serious? I know of of know one who has such cash.

You need to get out more: Reuters: "Japan households' financial assets rising thanks to Abenomics: survey"

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj/japan-households-financial-assets-rising-thanks-to-abenomics-survey-idUSKBN1DA0QJ