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matador
Joined: 07 Mar 2003
Posts: 281
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 Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2003 5:24 pm Post subject: How much HAVE things changed in Japan??? |
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| Please fill me in. Every week I hear bad news about Japan. In fact I hear that it has been pretty tight there for about 10 years. Is this true?? How much harder have things become in Japan for average people and companies....?? Is the economy in trouble?? Do job losses affect many people?? |
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Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 1:57 am Post subject: |
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what I heard is that my pension will be cut.
I would like to know if anyone knows about this.
Someday I will leave Japan, so I want to be paid my pension.
I know that it will be taxed at the rate of 20%, and I wonder if it will be cut too.
A friend of mine was working in Kyushu 8 years ago, and those must have been the golden days. The yen was at about 80 yen to the dollar, and good money could be made with privates. Well, things have changed. Japanese people don`t have as much money to spend and/or the cut back and save. The 100 yen stores are doing well, and near where I live there is a 99 yen supermarket. Of course, some things there cost more, like alcohol.
There are stores that sell used goods, like TVs, furniture, etc.
My girlfriend said that she saw something on TV about the possibility of 50 yen stores in the future.
The competition at language schools is tough. Junior colleges have closed and young women are tending to go to universities.
I am wondering if taxes are going to go up. I doubt the birth rate will. |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 2:52 am Post subject: |
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| Brooks wrote: |
what I heard is that my pension will be cut.
I would like to know if anyone knows about this.
Someday I will leave Japan, so I want to be paid my pension.
I know that it will be taxed at the rate of 20%, and I wonder if it will be cut too.
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In order to collect a Japanese pension when you retire, you have to pay into it for the full 25 years, even if you are living overseas. I would say an offshore pension plan is a much better proposition.
If you pay into it and go back home you can only claim a refund of the first three years payments. If you are here for 10-18 years you are stiff out of luck claiming a refund on the extra years you are in Japan.
I dont have exact figures but if you are in your 20's and paying into the pension fund your chances of collecting on it are approximately nil. The government fund as it is at the moment is technically insolvent and they can not afford to pay for all the baby boomers that will retire in the next ten years. |
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homersimpson
Joined: 14 Feb 2003
Posts: 569
Location: Kagoshima
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Please fill me in. Every week I hear bad news about Japan. In fact I hear that it has been pretty tight there for about 10 years. Is this true?? How much harder have things become in Japan for average people and companies....?? Is the economy in trouble?? Do job losses affect many people?? |
Yes, the so-called "bubble economy" burst about 12 years ago (give or take a year). Regarding conditions for the average person and companies, there is a rise in bankruptcies, borrowing from loan sharks, lack of consumer confidence and spending, etc. The economy is not "in trouble," it's dead! Job losses affect not only the one who loses the job, but the families in general. Suicide is a huge problem in Japan (among all age groups), especially among older working men who can no longer pay their bills.
However, as with everything in Japan, most of what occurs does so just below the surface (i.e. not widely reported or discussed). |
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tjpnz2000
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 118
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 6:17 am Post subject: |
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The only big change I have seen over the last 2 years is the exchange rate, 48 yen to the New Zealand Dollar to 68 yen to the New Zealand dollar. Mind you the NZD is at an all time high to the USD as well.
However, I think most people see the past through rose coloured glasses. I am starting to find myself speaking of the `good old days`.
T |
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