I’m in a bit of a quandary about whether I should contribute to iDeCo. I just paid my income tax last week, and it increased because I no longer have the house mortgage deduction to reduce my taxable income. This is why I’m considering iDeCo. As a category 1 participant, I can contribute up to ¥6,700 monthly (although this is reduced slightly since I also pay the additional pension premium of ¥400).
iDeCo seems like a great, no-brainer option for most people, but my situation is a little different. I’m a Japanese citizen, but I was born and raised overseas. As a result, my Japanese is quite poor, which is my own fault for not making the effort to learn it. This makes it difficult to find information about iDeCo and other important matters. Additionally, there is a high chance that I might move to the US in the future, but I could also retire here in Japan – that part is still undecided.
My understanding is that if I become an American permanent resident, I will lose my Japanese residency status and therefore won’t be able to continue contributing to iDeCo due to potential PFIC regulations. However, can I leave my existing contributions in the iDeco account and withdraw the investments once I retire and regain Japanese residency?
by DroidTraveller
