So you are in your late 60's and older in Japan

I think many of us on this forum are up there in age. And I am sure one of them. For the last 3 years I've taken some time to enjoy Japan and did some cycling around a few parts of the country. I've seen first-hand of the suffering/financial survival of the aging population here and even in Okinawa around Naha. Times really are indeed tough for us that have been mostly self-employed. Since I can tell you what my Nenkin is since I am collecting it, but the sad part is it is just too low to even let you guys be aware of what may happen to you when you turn 65 and start collecting Nenkin. Currently they are also taking out your National Health Insurance and old age care insurance from our Nenkin. We get paid every 2 months. Here is a video everyone I feel should watch. I'm living with what this guy is talking about. Well, not the dementia part anyway.

In my family history , no male lived beyond 65. At 72 , I'm well over my expiration date , LOL. With major inflation here in the US , Social Security leaves many people just scraping by. I'm super thankful that my wife had a 401K at her job.

I gotta be honest, I didn't find it very funny. Not sure if it's his punch lines or his comedic timing.

That video is definitely on the stupid side--or at least the first minute or so that I could stomach watching.

Ignorance of the system is not an excuse. How it works and what it will pay you (along with the deductions you should expect) has been predictable for many years, if not decades.

My generation (Gen X) was constantly told that we wouldn't have enough social security income to provide for all of our needs in our old age, that we'd need a retirement plan. I think the following generation is getting it even worse ("What's that you say? You are thirty years old and you don't already have $500,000 in your 401k?")
On the other hand, my parents had pension plans on top of social security, so they were well-provided for. Or, adequately provided for. I think its the generation in-between, the Boomers, who were neither adequately provided for, nor were they given the flashing yellow lights that we were given...
Or is that an over-simplification. I know my own parents had pensions from their unions, and my wife's parents (Japanese) had an adequate retirement from the Japaenese public retirement scheme (on top of a decent retirement bonus). Whereas just a generation later, there were dire warnings that we'd all end up in poverty unless we participated in all these exotic-sounding (at the time) schemes: IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401ks, etc. having spent most of my salary-earning years in Japan, I was outside of the orbit of these schemes, and was always paranoid about retirement.

Around 1980, the 401k system began to replace company pensions (which were a complement to social security). And in the US social security is nowhere close to universal--many groups, such as police and fire, other public employees, teachers, etc., have their own separate pension systems, which is the reason social security has the infamous windfall elimination provision, WEP. (And let's leave aside how underfunded some of those pension systems are.)

In japan, there is a big divide between those who can supplement the national pension with shakai-hoken (who work for companies and can participate), and those who are not part of that. For those who aren't, which includes a lot of contract people like foreign english teachers, it should be obvious (should have been obvious?), really, from the get-go, that their pensions would be minimal/trivial.

On other forums, posts from people who don't pay into the national pension system, by choice, are not uncommon. And small businesses employing foreigners--who they assume will only be in japan for a few years--even encourage that, by saying/implying that paying into the national system is not necessary (let alone covering their employees via shakai-hoken).

ignoring this guys presentation, i do find it concerning that 810K were born in japan in 2021 and ***280K*** more nurses would be needed (by [someone's] estimation) by 2025. a third of 2021s babies would be needed to fill that labour. i mean obviously, 4 year olds aren't up to the task, so how do you think the order will be filled? 2 options spring to my mind. the GOV incentivises foreigners with nurse skills (maybe a specified skilled work visa with perks?) to set up shop in japan or the gov has to do something rather...interesting? intervene in the school system and churn out nurses. not sure how that would play out though.

as a kind of desperate measure they could do a spin on "national service" but have them as nurses instead of military.

***330K***
not sure where he's getting these numbers

IronDove said:

the GOV incentivises foreigners with nurse skills (maybe a specified skilled work visa with perks?) to set up shop in japan

Click to expand...

This, to me, seems to be the "low-hanging fruit" of solutions. I think there are a lot of trained nurses in Asia alone who would happily come to Japan to practice nursing. It's the Japanese language proficiency requirements that prohibits them from coming. Even with the relaxed standards of admission (due to Covid), there are still some impediments to foreign nurses practicing here in Japan that could be eliminated.

Majestic said:

there are still some impediments to foreign nurses practicing here in Japan that could be eliminated.

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its been a hot minute since i looked into the nursing scene in japan. could you give some examples please?

There was a long report on this, but the upshot is

"the MNP scheme of JPEPA devises a "double-standard employment," which permits Filipino nurses to work in Japan (recognition of right to employment) but does not permit them to practice their profession (denial of right to practice), until they pass Japan's National Board Examination (NBE) for nurses. As a result, they are prevented from earning a desirable amount. Worse, even if they pass the NBE and are allowed to work in Japan for the long term, the program and other current pertinent laws do not allow them to raise a family in Japan"