General information
Elderly people in the Land of the Rising Sun began receiving regular financial assistance from the state in 1942. A third of payments under the “Public Pension” program were made from the state budget. The remaining part was formed through contributions from employed citizens, as well as individual entrepreneurs.
In fact, Japan's pension system began to work only after the reforms carried out in 1954, when the country's economy, which had emerged from the post-war crisis, stabilized. The norms of the updated Japanese legislation guaranteed monthly payments to all members of the population who are working and have crossed the age limit of 60 years.
The Pension Fund (PF) was subsidized by the state. The bulk of the fund included contributions from employers and working citizens (in a 50/50 ratio).
The rate of tax contributions to the Pension Fund gradually increased:
- in 1961, 3.5% was levied on wages;
- by 1996 the rate had increased to 16.5%.
Today, the assets of the Japan Pension Fund exceed 170 trillion yen ($1.61 trillion).
India
In India, only government employees are included in the social benefits program. The retirement age is 60-65 years (each state has its own pension legislation). The size of the benefit and the retirement age of the rest depend on the employer.
Average pension - $5
Average life expectancy of the population of India (according to the World Bank)
What types of pensions exist in Japan?
Many people are interested in whether there is an old-age pension in Japan. The answer to this question will be positive, and there are 3 types of financial support. Let's look at them briefly.
- State pension. Paid to those who worked in enterprises with a number of employees not exceeding 5 people, or to the self-employed.
- Professional pension. Assigned to all officially employed persons who work at least 30 hours a week. The contribution rate to the Pension Fund is 18.3%. It is divided equally between the employer and the employee.
- One-time benefit. Paid by the management of the employing company, not by the state.
Retirement age
The age at which you can stop working in the Land of the Rising Sun is the same for men and women - 65 years. But legislation allows for retirement in Japan earlier, after the 60th birthday. Another option is to continue working until you are 70 years old.
The following persons have the right to retire early:
- injured at work;
- having special merits;
- working in hazardous work.
An employee applying for a pension must have at least 10 years of work experience and pay insurance premiums on time.
Due to a decline in the birth rate and an increase in life expectancy, the Japanese government has begun to consider the possibility of increasing the retirement age to 71 years. The authorities explain this for the following reasons:
- There is a negative trend of a sharp decline in the country's population. According to forecasts, over the next 40 years the number of people living in the archipelago will decrease from 127 million to 88 million. As a result, there will also be a reduction in the labor force.
- After retirement, most Japanese remain socially active for a long time.
- Many Japanese who have received pensioner status are ready to continue working after 65 years.
- One of the best health care systems among countries in the world allows the Japanese to be mentally and physically healthy into old age.
Pension size and retirement age in Japan
For decades, Japan has occupied a leading position in the ranking of countries with the maximum number of local elderly people.
Due to this demographic situation in the state, there is a high load on the economic system in matters of paying pensions to citizens.
Immigrants, after moving to the country and living in it for a long time, are concerned about the question of whether there is an old-age pension in Japan and what social guarantees apply to the elderly population.
Latest changes in Japan's pension reform
The minimum retirement age in Japan was set by law back in 2000 at 60 years.
The state pension reform provides for the approval of the minimum retirement age at the age of 65 by 2025, which is now 5 years less.
Thus, in a few years, the Japanese will not be able to retire earlier than required by law.
The pension reform of a highly developed state is built on three levels, each of which increases the total monthly pension in Japan for older women and men:
- After a Japanese person reaches 65 years of age, he automatically becomes the owner of a basic pension from the state. It doesn’t matter at all what his work experience is and whether he worked at all throughout his life. But the state does not prohibit retiring between the ages of 60 and 65. In this case, the pension amount will be reduced by 25 percent of the minimum.
- In addition to the first level of the system, the state also pursues incentive policies for older citizens with a view to their later retirement. Those who officially register pensioner status starting at the age of 70, that is, work 5 years longer, receive an increase to the minimum basic pension by 25 percent.
- How much pensioners in Japan receive after retirement also depends on the professional part of the pension. It consists of employee and employer contributions to the country’s state pension fund. The level of compulsory pension insurance in Japan is at least 5 percent of an employee's average salary, but can be increased at his initiative. These payments must be made throughout the entire period of the person’s working activity.
- And the last component of the final pension is a one-time payment from the state, which is transferred to the pensioner immediately after he retires in old age. The size of such a payment can vary greatly and consists of two components - the average salary and the total length of service in official places of work, which can be confirmed independently or by the organization where the Japanese worked.
Standard of living for retirees in Japan
The retirement age in Japan for men allows them to continue working and still feel completely healthy. This trend is also typical for the female part of the population. The reason for this is the long life expectancy of the Japanese, who are in first place in the ranking of long-livers among all other countries in the world.
World statistics from the World Tourism Organization also show how pensioners live in Japan. Every year it compiles ratings related to tourism and travel. The Japanese take first place in the world in making tourist trips outside their country among the elderly population.
No country in the world can boast of such results, which proves the high standard of living of the Japanese in old age. Quite often in Moscow or St. Petersburg you can meet organized groups of pensioners from the land of the rising sun, actively exploring the sights of the two capitals.
The longest-living nation in the world does not close itself at home after retirement, but leads a fairly active lifestyle. Most older people in Japan do not consider retirement as old age. For them, this is an opportunity to make their long-time dreams come true, when they no longer have to raise children and are not distracted by work activities.
In the country's squares and parks in the morning, you can find entire groups of pensioners doing yoga or meditating. Their physical activity in old age is so high that they actively visit swimming pools, gyms and sports clubs.
Those who have free time devote themselves to gardening, volunteering and other useful activities.
In Japan you can find a lot of advertisements and places where groups of retirees are recruited to study photography, cooking or acting.
This means that many local residents in the state have free finances to satisfy not only their everyday needs, but also recreation, entertainment and useful leisure.
Despite these rosy statistics, every Japanese in the country begins to save part of their pension at a young age so as not to rely on the state. The annual increase in the elderly population may provoke the state to implement stricter pension reforms, which will work against the local population and immigrants.
Source: https://namillion.com/pensiya-v-yaponii.html
Amount of payments to Japanese pensioners
The size of old-age pension payments depends on a number of parameters:
- Main part. About 73% of the total amount is accrued monthly from the Pension Fund if a person retires at the age of 65. If you stop working at age 60, the amount of financial assistance is reduced by 30%. The average value of the social pension fluctuates around 74.5 thousand yen ($700).
- Professional pension. An important point regarding the calculation of financial assistance of this type is whether a person belongs to a certain category of workers. For example, for those who are interested in what kind of pension civil servants have in Japan, let us inform you: they receive approximately 2/5 of their salary. Savings for subsequent cash assistance in old age are formed from employee contributions to the Pension Fund in the amount of 5% of earnings. In addition, the employer transfers money to his employee’s account in the Pension Fund.
- One-time benefit. The payment amount is calculated using the formula:
SV = EO × KOL, where
SV – payment amount, required parameter;
EO – monthly salary;
KOL – number of years worked at the company.
According to statistics, the average pension in Japan in 2019 is 159,645 yen (1,500 dollars or 100,059 rubles). This is 60% of the average salary in Japan.
Even the minimum pension in the archipelago, equal to 63,830 yen (600 dollars or 40,048 rubles), is several times higher than the average value of this indicator in Russia (14,100 rubles) and, for example, in China (for rural residents - 1,238 rubles, and for urban - 2,4006 rubles).
Detailed information about the pension program in the People's Republic of China is presented in the article “Pension and pension system in China.”
Considering that a person in old age does not need to spend money on raising children or purchasing housing, such provision for old age can be considered quite worthy.
To have an idea of the standard of living in the Land of the Rising Sun, read the article “About life in Japan: conditions, cost, mentality.”
Against this background, it is not at all surprising that the most expensive trading enterprises in the Land of the Rising Sun with goods of well-known brands are aimed at elderly buyers. After all, their solvency is at a high level.
Thanks to the inherent thrift mentality of the Japanese, over the years, pensioners, as a rule, have managed to create their own financial savings. In combination with a pension, this allows older people to acquire even things that they previously denied themselves.
Israel
In Israel, in 2004, the retirement age was increased for men from 65 to 67 years, for women - from 60 to 62 years. By 2020, it was planned to raise the retirement age for women to 64 years (by 2030 - to 67 years), but the authorities are still delaying making this decision.
The average pension in Israel is $1,500.
Average life expectancy of the Israeli population (according to the World Bank)
How to apply for a pension for a foreigner
Let us say right away that pensions in Japan for foreigners are paid only to those citizens of other countries who have made insurance contributions to the Pension Fund and who have a Japanese residence permit. When leaving Japan, they can apply for a lump sum payment. The existing limitation will be discussed below.
But the option of leaving money in the Japanese Pension Fund for use after retirement in the Russian Federation is not feasible in this case. The fact is that there is no agreement between Russia and Japan in the field of pension provision.
In addition, when leaving Japan, you can request to receive the amount of insurance premiums paid under the “kosei nenkin” system (as the labor part of the pension is called in Japanese in Russian transcription).
It's good to know that:
- If a Russian, while living in Japan, worked full time and paid contributions to the Pension Fund for 10 years or more, when returning to Russia to receive pension payments, he can apply to the Japanese Pension Fund. The place of residence of a foreigner at the time of his retirement does not matter for the establishment of a Japanese pension.
- If the period of residence on the archipelago is 3–9 years, upon leaving its borders, foreigners receive insurance premiums paid only during the last three years. Moreover, they must request them no later than 2 years from the date of departure from the Land of the Rising Sun.
- If a resident lived in Japan and paid contributions to the Pension Fund for less than 3 years, when leaving, he can count on the funds transferred by him and his employer being returned to him in full. In this case, the same condition for sending a request for a refund applies - no later than 2 years from the date of departure from Japan.
A one-time allowance is paid to foreigners only after they leave the Land of the Rising Sun. To do this, they need to leave a proxy in Japan, giving him the authority to fill out all the necessary documents.
There is another option, although in some cases it takes a longer time: before leaving Japan, a foreigner writes to the Pension Fund a request to transfer money to the account of a bank operating in his homeland.
