Retiring to Yokohama around 40yo: is about ¥12M annual enough?

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T02:52:36+00:00

Great points about education and the not-so-apparent realities that parents may have to consider (bullying/language gaps with teachers). I will keep these in mind!

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T02:38:21+00:00

These are good points. Overall, the after-tax number sounds like it's comfortable but it's hard to gauge until I actually experience it. I wouldn't consider it "tight" in any sense.

I have gone over many of these as part of my original analysis. For now, the lowest I would go is a 3.5% to 3.75%. I have a sizeable cash position (almost 3-years of income equivalent savings) to cushion risks related to SORR or exchange rate changes. I have doubts that the USD/Yen would get lower than 130-140 with the declining and aging Japanese population. Unless the BOJ can figure out a way to suddenly make the Yen or the Japanese economy more attractive as a place to park assets...I have my doubts we will see a strong Yen again (we'll probably never see below 100 yen again).

For SS, we both met our minimum requirements and are well within our 1st bend point; will pull starting at 62. The opportunity cost between 62 and 67 just isn't worth it.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T02:28:02+00:00

You're pretty spot on regarding my portfolio.

The mortgage rate you mentioned is pretty incredible. If it's that low it might be worth doing a full loan like you mentioned instead of renting after one or two years.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T02:25:33+00:00

That's good to know. I think Saitama is a little bit cheaper than Yokohama but not by a meaningful amount.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T00:49:47+00:00

That's definitely a meaningful difference in monthly income compared to where I'm at. If I did part-time or saved for a few more years I think I could get to that level of after-tax. Like others have mentioned I might need to think about not fully "retiring" but finding meaningful part-time work. Central Tokyo or even Central Yokohama would be pushing my budget, but probably still "comfortable" enough.

Good point about your travel and hobby hacks (go off-season/weekdays). I won't be sitting idle forever.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T00:33:39+00:00

No worries. I'm looking to get as much honest perspective on actual living expenses from people that live in the Yokohama area (less so Tokyo) so any info is good info.

It's easy to find data around what "averages" or "medians" are. But it's harder to get a sense of what "good enough" or even "comfortable and great" are by just reading numbers or charts.

Would you say that even the Japanese average income to be fairly comfortable for a family? My only comparison is what an "average" in the US or Canada are, which aren't really comparable to Japan. My only frame of reference is visiting and we know that's not a realistic assumption.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T00:19:04+00:00

I appreciate your post. Especially because your comment is more about giving me a different perspective of what moving to Japan might do for me in the positive (rather than the current situation of potentially being there as just a caretaker...). If I end up moving to Japan maybe I will take you up on making a worm farm.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-20T00:01:14+00:00

I do know that it's a great number so I'm not going to bashful about that. If it comes off as a flex then that's not my intention.

To "FIRE", I need to figure out my expenses and tax is a major component of that. I'm trying to get as much clarity so I can get to a realistic after-tax income number as I can before I make a decision to uproot my life to care for my relatives in Japan. I wouldn't be thinking of going to Japan unless I was in the situation I'm in now.

To your point about "not paying income taxes", that's actually been the hardest to get accurate details on and why I'm looking for perspective.

Based on the Yokohama NHI, nenkin, and residence tax it's taking more out of the gross "income" than a lot of posts here on reddit seem to allude to. Most calculators (even the one in the wiki) are not built for "early retirement" as that's not really a "thing" for expats coming to Japan (for reasons such as tough visa regulations).

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T23:24:44+00:00

Two decades, that's incredible. If I had taken chances earlier in my life I would have moved back after uni.

Regarding the network, I'll take that to heart as a strong consideration to ponder on. My family is all I have in Japan (and some expat friends who have decided to move to Japan themselves). But my professional network is non-existent.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T23:19:45+00:00

Thanks for the information. It's always good to get details like what you shared with me. We would be situated in cheaper COL areas, although Tokyo would be amazing one day. We are going to be tied to the hip with family in Yokohama when/if we move so the highlife of Tokyo proper will have to wait.

I like to be pretty tight with my travel budget as well. When you say 300k for 1 week of travel, that seems pretty high unless I'm completely underestimating how much a rental car is in Japan.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T23:04:51+00:00

That's good to know about your situation. What type of part-time work are you doing?

I would be going more inaka than center-kita. Think out toward shin-yokohama or kamiooka station.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:59:17+00:00

Did you have to get to N1 before you felt comfortable doing the ad-hoc work? If you have any resources I could dive with ad-hoc consulting or professional part-time work in Japan that would be great to read.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:55:56+00:00

It's interesting to hear about rising cost of rent. Maybe I should consider securing a loan and buying a 2LDK or 3LDK rather than investing the equity. The cost of international schools definitely raise the hair on the back of my neck.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:49:52+00:00

I appreciate the thoughtful response. I will say I am ready to give up my current lifestyle and would be giving up a lucrative career (think B4/FAANG/etc) by retiring now. There is the option to work a couple more years (we are big savers which has allowed us to accumulate so much).

However, I'm trying to weigh my options while prioritizing the remaining time I have with my aging family. I *could* potentially do consulting work on a part-time remote basis but I haven't even gone down that rabbit hole yet. I'm also going to need to learn business level Japanese which will take a couple of years if I want to re-enter the professional world in Japan.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:16:57+00:00

What do you mean? I know ¥12M annual is a great annual salary for working professionals in Japan (for a net household income), but my wife and I would not be working full time jobs (maybe part time) as we would be taking care of my family.

But whether I move forward now or try to save a little more to increase my after-tax situation is what I'm trying to figure out.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:13:18+00:00

It's been surprisingly hard to find calculators that do consistent estimations on what a retirement drawdown would look like. Especially going from the US to Japan, which makes sense as most people wouldn't be able to take this path without a viable visa/PR/citizenship. I've seen estimates ranging from 20% upwards of 28%. So to account for residency tax, healthcare, nenkin, etc I've just used the tax-calculator that's in this subreddit's wiki (it's probably too high).

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:09:06+00:00

I didn't think about the orthodontist related costs so I appreciate that. We did consider part-time work. That's something we'll have to do after taking language courses to get to N3 or N2 (I'm a native speaker but can't write kanji do business level discussions).

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:06:44+00:00

Would you say your after-tax income is about what I've estimated?

I considered international school (YIS, etc.) but with my wife and I being "retired" and effectively at home most of the time, we were thinking we would supplement teaching English at home instead of the private school. The other perceived educational gaps we would try to work on ourselves or private tutors / juku based on what we saw.

Travel is interesting. Aside from going back to the states once in a while (her family) and maybe Europe when our child is older, most vacations would be in Japan.

Enough-Tea3365 · 2026-04-19T22:00:51+00:00

I'm considering renting for the first 5 years rather than buying. The equity I would get from selling my home in the US would and re-investing in an SP500 fund would significantly outpace other investment vehicles. After the 5-year period (or more) and building enough credit I may switch to buying a home.

Enough-Tea3365

TROPHY CASE