After living here for a few years, I’ve applied for permanent residency, and hopefully should be hearing back toward the end of the year. Assuming I get it, I’d like to quit my job and retire, [FIRE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_movement)\-style. I don’t need help with the FIRE stuff, just the Japan stuff.
I have plenty of money in my US retirement + taxable brokerage accounts. I’d plan to sell some stocks every month or so to pay for expenses. Probably it’d be a good idea to set up an IBKR account to make transferring it into Japan less painful. But I plan to continue to keep all my accounts in the US and do most investments there.
My main concern is how “the system” in Japan deals with unemployed expats. Although PR takes care of having a visa, I worry that, for example, my landlord might not want to renew my lease, or if I try to move apartments nobody will take me. Or if I apply for a credit card, I’ll get turned down. For some things (e.g. leases) my unmarried partner, who plans to still be working, can probably take care of it. (She’s listed as “roommate” on our current lease.) But I imagine some other things might be annoying. Do you know what parts of Japanese society tend to be difficult for unemployed/low income people, even if they have lots of liquid assets?
I also only have a vague idea of how healthcare works when you’re not employed. I would pay some monthly amount, which might be low because my income is low? How is my “income” from periodic stock sales and remittances visible to the system?
Are there other concerns I should be thinking about, or things that it would be good to take care of before quitting my job?
I understand that some of this might get easier if I set up a sole proprietor business of some sort. But if I understand correctly those have income requirements. Does selling my own US stock and moving it into Japan count as “income”? Anyway, I’m also interested in the baseline experience for just plain retired people.
by JacenSolo