FIRE in Japan – Steps to Take

Hi everybody,

I would like to ask you about what steps are necessary to take to go from being full-time employed to being retired early in Japan as a non-US foreigner with working visa, age below 40. Given that the financial side is taken care of.

From my research, those are the steps necessary to take:

1. Change visa to spouse or PR
2. Notify employer about resignation
3. Change health insurance to National Health Insurance (国民健康保険)
4. Notify pension fund (?) about change of employment status (?)
5. Register change of employment status at city hall

Is there anything else necessary to do? Do I need to notify my bank and/or landlord about the change?

Does anything change in regards to how I pay taxes? I won't get the year end adjustment slip (年末調整) since I am not employed anymore.

UPDATE:
Thank you all for your suggestions! That was all very valuable. Based on the answers, it came down to the following steps:

1. Have enough funds to FIRE.

2. Change visa to spouse or Permanent Resident (PR) status. Try to obtain PR before resigning if possible.

3. Before resigning:

• Apply credit card and/or mortgage

• If planning to move, secure a new apartment before resignation.

• If using company iDeCo, convert to individual iDeCo

1. Notify employer about resignation.

2. Handle health insurance changes:

• Calculate and compare costs between current company plan and the national plan. In some cases, it might be possible and beneficial to stay on the company plan temporarily.

• Switch from company health insurance to National Health Insurance (国民健康保険, Kokumin Kenko Hoken).

• Register for National Health Insurance at city hall.

• Be aware that initial payments may be based on previous year's income and could be quite high.

1. Address pension-related matters:

• Notify the pension fund about the change in employment status.

• Handle any necessary pension-related procedures at the city hall.

1. Prepare for taxes:

• Set aside money for trailing resident tax payments (住民税), which will be based on the previous year's income.

• Be ready to file own taxes (確定申告) annually in February-March.

General Notes:

• Understand that renting or buying property may be more challenging when unemployed, so secure housing before resigning if possible.

• Be prepared for potential difficulties in obtaining credit cards or loans after becoming unemployed.

• Consider the impact on any investment accounts like NISA and plan accordingly.