There is a lot of information out there about withdrawing a lump-sum if you exit Japan. But this only applies to those who contributed for less than 10 years.
What happens if you have contributed over 10, are eligible for the state pension but exit Japan?
Issues I have are:
1) We are supposed to close our bank accounts when we leave, can we have our pension paid into a foreign account?
2) With no fixed address in Japan, will they even allow you to withdraw?
3) If we have investment accounts in Japan, can we keep these open? Or do we need to close these too?
Basically I want to retire outside Japan, but all my investments are here. Both private and public. Am I essentially stuck here if I want to keep them?
Thanks in advance
1 comment
>What happens if you have contributed over 10, are eligible for the state pension but exit Japan?
Yea, you’d get a Japanese pension. The annuity would be Based on the amount of months/years paid in and which category of pension you paid into. You can see my post here to help forecast that: https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/comments/s50k6w/pension_update_to_wiki/
>1) We are supposed to close our bank accounts when we leave, can we have our pension paid into a foreign account?
Paid into a foreign account. It is Japan sourced though. So if you don’t reside in a country Japan has a tax treaty with for pension income, then Japan will withhold 20.42% of it at source, (which is a pretty big chunk). The countries Japan currently have a tax treaty with for pension income are listed here: https://www.nenkin.go.jp/service/jukyu/tetsuduki/kyotsu/jukyu/kaigaitenshutsu.files/02.pdf
>2) With no fixed address in Japan, will they even allow you to withdraw?
Yea, you just claim it as someone not residing in Japan.
>3) If we have investment accounts in Japan, can we keep these open? Or do we need to close these too?
-IDeCo you can keep open as an “investment instructor” (I.e manage the account, perform switching etc and it can still accrue growth) but you’re unable to contribute to it further.
-NISA/Taxable investing accounts I believe have mechanisms to keep them open for up to 5 years. But you’d no longer be entitled to a NISA allowance and I don’t think you’d be able to contribute to them further. IMO best practice would be to realize NISA assets, utilizing the tax free benefit whilst still a tax resident of Japan.