To confirm, I know how the pension refund process works. My question is about what happens to the money if we DON’T do the refund?
I understand that we are not eligible to claim a Japanese pension unless we have 10 years of contributions. However, the money is still ours, and by applying for a refund now, you forfeit your money that you’ve earned. So it is not the best deal. I wonder if there’s a process to receive the invested money at age 65 instead…I’ve been unable to find any info about this tho.
Furthermore, I am a UK passport holder, and I’ve researched about the Japan-UK social security treaty, which does NOT include totalisation agreements. So it’s very unclear to me what the benefit of the treaty is for the average taxpayer. I would like the years that I’ve worked in Japan to be recognised in the UK, but it seems this will not be the case.
Basically I just want to know how to get the best deal for myself, because the refund is literally throwing away money you’ve earned just to receive a small percentage of it now.
It’s quite a niche question, so if no one knows the answer then I’d be equally grateful for pointers as to where else, or whom else, I should ask…
Thank you in advance!
by acnebbygrl