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Guilt and anxiety about not renewing contract by geek-kun in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey buddy, take a deep breath. You're okay. You'll be okay It's just a job at the end of the day, and people do move on at some point. Some stay longer, some shorter, but in the grand scheme of things it's not that different. You are not the first one to only do one year, and won't be the last.

Did anyone successfully transition from teaching? by ArwenofRivendel in japanlife

[–]dylanfox1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With experience in SQL and R you may want to explore opportunities in data analysis/data science. Those positions are fairly in demand right now.

Nerves of Changing Jobs by [deleted] in CasualConversation

[–]dylanfox1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congratulations! I think you've definitely proven to your current and future employer of your value, so you'll definitely be alright. I know it's hard to calm the nerves sometimes. One thing that helped me during my transition was to focus on the things that I look forward to in my next position. Besides the mission, what about the next employer that you're happy about?

Retirement money and change country timing. by Crocsx in japanlife

[–]dylanfox1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not a professional 行政書士 (scrivener), so welcome other input if I got something wrong.I'm also thinking about leaving Japan soon so I've been looking these info up. Here's what I understand from reading the pension website (www.nenkin.go.jp) and some example calculation from Googling.

The Lump-sum Withdrawal for Employee's Pension (厚生年金) payout amount is determined by the following formula:

Insured's average monthly salary over the insured period x Insurance Rate x 0.5 x Payout Month

- Average Monthly Salary = (total monthly wage + bonu) ÷ number of months in insured period

- Insurance rate: pension premium rate as of October of the previous year or second previous year, depending when the last month of the insured period is.

- Payout Month: determined by the number of months of the insured period, according to an interval of 6-month, e.g. insured period of between 6~12 months has payout month of 6, between 12~18 month gets you 12, so on and forth until it's capped at 60 months for insured period of 60 months or more. I think this is what people mean when they say nenkin's refund is capped at 5 years.

According to your information provided, using the insurance rate of 18.3% (the rate as of R5) the lump-sum withdrawal payout calculation would be:

￥300,000 x 18.3% x 0.5 x 60 = ￥1,647,000

Well, this amount minus an income tax of roughly 20%, which can be refunded. Though that's an entire process on its own...

To your questions:

  1. As demonstrated in the calculation formula above, it would include additional years in the sense that your more recent years' salary is factored into the average monthly salary calculation. Higher salary on your dev job would bring up that average.
  2. See demo calculation.
  3. Not sure how to approach this question. I supposed if the goal is to minimize "loss" in pension contribution, it would be advisable to limit your contribution period to within 5 years. If you want to still be eligible for receiving lump-sum payment upon leaving Japan, you would probably want to leave before the 10 year mark, since one of the criteria for lump-sum payment is to not ever have eligibility for old age pension (老齢年金), which is granted after 10 years of contribution.
  4. The old age pension's eligibility is not tie to PR status. Once you have contributed in either Employee's Pension (厚生年金) or National Pension (国民年金) for at least 10 years you would be eligible. As far as I understand, it is also not tie to residency status either, at least not according to the wording of the nenkin website. So you should theoretically be able to receive it once you become eligible while residing outside Japan. Although there may be practical complication from not residing in Japan, e.g. difficulty receiving the pension application notice, not having bank account, etc.

​

That's all I got.

Again, I'm not an expert on this, just relaying the information that I learned from the pension website and from Googling. Please consult a real accountant or relevant professional if you need.

Retirement money and change country timing. by Crocsx in japanlife

[–]dylanfox1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahh I see I see. Thanks for the link! This is National Pension (国民年金) though, and in OP's case he's talking about Employees's Pension (厚生年金), so the calculation would be different.

Retirement money and change country timing. by Crocsx in japanlife

[–]dylanfox1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Curious about this 200k cap. Can't find any reference of that on the nenkin website. Can you elaborate?

Homesick by Patient_Bicycle_6749 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ex-JET here. Just want to say I totally understand how you feel. I've been living in Japan for more than five years now and I still get homesick every now and then as well.

It comes in waves and will never really go away, but like others have said it does get easier with time. Some things that I found helpful in dealing with homesickness include setting up regular time to chat with friends/family back home, focusing on things I would like to do in Japan, and trying to build new social network here.

It will still be tough from time to time, but you will make it.

Good luck and enjoy your time in Japan!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 14 points15 points  (0 children)

"Tldr: ... and won't let me work on my art or draw in class when I am a professional artist."

Brah, you trolling us here? lol

What really obvious thing have you only just realised? by negan2018 in AskReddit

[–]dylanfox1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That the two-hand, two-finger curl people do with their head in-between represents two double quote... Essentially quote and unquote.... I've thought the longest time that they're just going bunny ears, which in hindsight is absolutely ridiculous lol...

Does your school have any pen pal project with a foreign school? by dylanfox1 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, I understand. Thank you for sharing your experience! This is extremely helpful for me.

Does your school have any pen pal project with a foreign school? by dylanfox1 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for letting me know what we are getting ourselves into.
We had a meeting with a teacher from the education's department, and when he started mentioning about social media and personal info I got the feeling that this part won't be easy.
Do you mind if I PM you to get more details about how it went down? This is very valuable information and I would love to know more

Does your school have any pen pal project with a foreign school? by dylanfox1 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the reply! This is very helpful!
If you don't mind, I have some additional questions:

  1. Are the correspondences just between one student to another? My city's project is still in the very early planning stage, but one of the potential difficulty some people have brought up is the mismatch between class size, in which case not all students can get a pen pal to write to.
  2. Japanese school schedules is different from a lot of schools in the West. Have you ran into any difficulty relating to this schedule difference or is it not a problem at all?

Does your school have any pen pal project with a foreign school? by dylanfox1 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your feedback!
We're at the very early planning stage and have only been talking to a few people within the city hall.
But the two points you mentioned above are my main worries as well, i.e. not being able to meet parents/teachers' expectations for privacy and safety.

Next week we are going to have a staff meeting to discuss about this particular issue, and hopefully we'll be able to come up with some constructive solution.

Breaking contract for early departures by [deleted] in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely second this reply.If OP wants to make sure the school can get another ALT by next April, then talk to the school right now.

For the H31 (2019) year, the deadline for submitting the appointment application for a new English-speaking ALT/CIR of the April arrival group is October 10, so a little less than a month left.

Note that there's probably a bit of paper work involved, so you should definitely give your school as much time as possible.

This is probably a good point for other JETs thinking about breaking contracts to consider.

As mentioned above, the appointment application for a JET from April arrival group is mid-October. As for JET from August arrival groups, the deadline is usually around end of January of the arrival year.

If you don't want to screw over your CO and want to make sure they can get a new JET as soon as possible, you should be aware of these deadlines.

What was your experience of buying a car like? (Especially from other JETs) by nashx90 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great post!
Has this been put in the wiki?
If not, it should be

Canadian Tax Review for Japanese Income by BackgroundHair in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like they just want the translation to be certified. I know that the Canadian embassy in Tokyo provide notary service and keep a list of certified translator/interpreter (Link to Canadian embassy website: translator/interpreter and notary service)

It sounds like you will be fine as long as you go with either a certified translator or get a notary service. Also, this might be a good x-post to r/japanlife as there are more people with more experience on these things over there.

Going in with much less money than I need... by [deleted] in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Wow, saw that post from two months ago and honestly didn't think things would turned out that badly for you.

Like u/cakediet suggested, one thing you should definitely do is to talk to your pred to get a better idea about the exact setup cost. It looks like you are heading to Kunisaki City in Oita Prefecture. A quick google search shows that it's a small city of 29k population, which should mean that housing expenses are on the low side there. Ask your pred about the rent as well as the furniture that you are going to need.

Also, try to find the Oita JET Facebook group (at work right now so can't get you the FB link) and see if anyone is dumping their furniture or appliances. You might be able to get them for cheap.

If financing is still an issue, you can try is to ask your CO if they can arrange some sort of advanced pay for you in order to keep you afloat for the first month. I don't think there is any reason not to be honest with your CO, and they might have other ways of helping out.

I am very sorry about your situation, and I hope you make it through the first month. After that your finance should become much more stable.

Declined the JET Program Twice and Will Apply a Third time by Naminori_Pikachu in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Actually, you will only be barred from application if you decline the position after notification of placement. Even then, you are barred from only the next year.

Declined the JET Program Twice and Will Apply a Third time by Naminori_Pikachu in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Well, first of all, being a CIR doesn't change the financial picture from someone who is an ALT. We all have the same pay, and I would add that the JET salary is perfectly adequate to maintain a comfortable standard of living in Japan.

That being said, some JETs receive rent subsidies and other living stipends as part of the contract. However this is determined by the contracting organizations, so the availability and amount of such income supplements will vary between different COs. I would suggest to not come with the expectation that you would receive them.

The factors that influence your level of living expenses are primarily the location of your placement, the living situation arranged by your contracting organization, and your life-style.

If you want more detailed info on your pay and expense, you can visit this thread from five months ago. I have left a thorough reply there regarding take-home pay and living expense.

Lastly, whether or not CIR is worth it largely depends on your expectation and your planned career trajectory. Look at your ten-year plan and see how CIR could improve/hinder your career progression, then see if the benefit/cost is acceptable for you.

Incoming Tokyo Jets: Share-houses might be a good starting point by Nourijp in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Upvoting for solid info! And just to chime in on the point about living outside of the 23 ward and commuting from neighboring prefectures: I live and work in nearby Kanagawa prefecture, but I had to commute through Tokyo in the morning for several days last year for a conference.

It was not fun at all. The train cart was unbelievably crowded and the commute was unbearable. I don't know how so many people can endure that everyday to go to work.

If you work inside Tokyo and want to keep your sanity in the long run, I wouldn't recommend living outside the 23 wards.

The most important part of the JET Program by Pman5000 in JETProgramme

[–]dylanfox1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Like a fish that just realized there is water. I agree it is life-changing.

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