Diet battle intensifies with opposition set for no-confidence motion over pension bills

100 years ago they would have used swords. I would love to see it happen in more countries rather than the back stabbing manipulations and dirt digging. a bit of fist-o-cuff gets the job done better.

 

The long term issue overshadowing any near term mismanagement is how the decreasing and aging population of Japan insures that pensions will become relatively less and less.

Either through non-indexed inflation adjustments or face value reductions, the pensions will have to be less than promised.

This is a tremendous problem for Japan and one that gets skirted by sensational stories such as this one.

 

...primary school kids all trying to get their way.

 

Just imagine the ticket sales and the TV ratings for a show like Diet Deathmatch. I'd like to see a few ministers go ten rounds with each other. I'm sure others would too.

I shouldn't let the cat out of the bag: I'm pitching the idea to Fuji this afternoon.

 

The fighting was really childish and immature....
Having opposing views as politicians is understandable, but the babyish brawl was just disgusting.

 

Most men are just kids in suits anyway :-)

 

better we call it "Aka chan poi poi komata na"?! The issue is far more serious and requires thorough discussion/investigation
whereas, LDP is trying to close it as quickly as possible.

 

The real underlying problem is that Japan is going to face a massive shortfall in its pensions. The pensions are high and with the world's highest life expectancy and the baby boomers about to retire and fewer workers to support them, the pension system will be stretched.

Nothing is being done about this or the low birthrate. The country's leaders have stuck their heads in the sand on this for years.

 

Pension debate gets heated in Diet, forcing Abe to miss Matsuoka's funeral
nutsagain

Hmmnnn... I wonder how many foreigners in Japan have been duped by employers on this one?
Take note: It's not unknown for employers to deduct pension payments from foreign workers and 'hold' them as payment to the pension fund. The ruse is this; the foreigner goes home after one or two years, the employer pockets the funds.
Cute huh?

...your employere should give you a blue booklet called the 'nenkin techo' which will have a record of your monthly pension payments. Since most employers only give you the booklet with your first payslip it is upto the reciever to have it updated. The record of how much your company is paying for your pension is also on the slip and you also get a total at the end of the year on a different slip with all the calculations.
So if you are leaving the country even after two years you can claim a refund on the amount you have paid into the scheme. if yur employer has taken out the payment and is holding the money till you go then you have a stronger case of malpractice against the company and could file for damages but, seeing how very patriotic the japanese are, I bet the authorities will turn a deaf ear to eany complaint we make because we are Gaijin.
Also if you are sending money back home regularly for a genuine reason and have proper bank transfer reciepts as proof you can also claim a refund on the income tax your employer deducts from you salary.
Non of these work if you have changed your nationality to japanese or are a permanent resident here. (im not 100% sure but, i think permanent residents can claim tax refunds if they are supporting e.g. parents in their home countries). I know from experience even people who had overstayed their visas were able to successfully claim a 100% refund on their income tax returns.

The most important point is you will have to go these offices again and again and ask them how you can get this done because the officials never volunteer this information and most of the time you might get a wakarimasen. its better if you go to prefectures or wards where there are a lot of foreigners and foreign owned companies registered. A good example for anyone in the Kanto region will be Minato-Ku, the tax and pension offices there regularly deal with foreigners and foreign owned establishments and they know most of the details offhand. I think govt employees in other places skip over chapters related to foreigners in their rule books.
I had a similar problem and since I had done my homework with the tax office in Minato-ku I had the official in my ward call up Minato-ku for confirmation and it all worked to my benefit.

 

you can only make this claim for your pension payments after you leave the country?

 

...but one has to apply while one is still in the country (you can only apply in-person). If you leave after applying they will send you your money after deducting the necessary fees, ofcourse.

 

I know for the incom tax refunds you can apply if you are still in the country and do plan to go back soon. Mainly because income tax is calculated on a yearly basis so you can apply every year.

 

..I meant..do not lan to go back soon

 

will keep this in mind when I return home.

 

Since japan have invested trillion of dollars in the US treasury,america will not be able to finance japan pension ,that it had already spent when japan ,lent trillion of dollars to the US too help finance our government , lots of japanese can kiss your pension good buy ,we could default on these bonds japan bought at anytime,the war in Iraq is were some of your money had been spent,go too yahoo and search"US Debt Ceiling Limit" and see how shaky the american government is in trouble with it finance lots of you can consider your pension as a donation to the american people,an american view