The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's Social Security Council in late August released its report to examine sustainability of the public pension system every five years. This time, the report received particular attention since it followed the recent controversy as to whether public pension benefits are enough to cover people's retirement expenses. However, misguided comments on the issue flooded social media and blogs, and some of the mass-media reports tended to present a one-sided coverage.
What was conspicuous first were the comments expressing concern — and those that seemed aimed at fueling people's anxiety — that the public pension system might collapse and leave future retirees without the benefits.
Today's pubic pension system in Japan is operated by the pay-as-you-go method, instead of the funded system. Under the funded system, people lay aside premiums while they are working and receive the benefits including investment gains after they retire. While the simplest method is to invest premiums from an individual account, it is not impossible to invest pooled premiums.