Originally Posted by
evergrn
Where are you getting this figure? Anyways, that's still not much and one will most certainly need quite a bit of personal savings on top of that. The thing is, I'm not sure that many people (at least those in Tokyo) have the budget to be able to save much these days, asides from paying into pension.
The whole nenkin thing is extremely difficult to assess. I'm hearing mixed things. Some TV shows paint very bleak pictures, and I've read similarly pessimistic articles. My parents think everything will be fine (but then again they're now in their 70's).
I was actually interviewed randomly about this very topic a few days ago outside a train station in Tokyo. Sadly, I just kept saying I don't know. I'm certain they will not use my clip in their feature.
Where did I get which figure?
The taxes? I pay them. 27 years of returns to look at.
The payout? The nenkinjimusho. I recommend English speakers go to the Shinbashi one if they want to interact in English. You get a black and white printout from them that shows paid in and to be paid out. It's all very easy to access and the people there are very good.
Saving money in central Tokyo is easy. Most Japanese have zero clue about personal finance though. I live very centrally, do not hold an expat job, and find if all very ridiculous how many of my similarly set up peers cannot figure it out.