Mostly because they made better decisions than us in their teens and early twenties. If I’d stayed in Canada instead of moving to Taiwan, I could have bought a house in my twenties, and then taken advantage of the stupid increase in real estate value that ensued over the last couple of decades, cashed out sometime in the last two years and moved somewhere cheaper while figuring out how to make my ridiculous profit serve me for years to come.
Instead I went to Taiwan, wasted a whole bunch of time teaching English, struggled to learn a language that is basically just of novelty value now that I’m back in Canada, arsed around and suddenly found myself in my 40s with very little in terms of retirement plan other than either “don’t stop working” or “die young”.
I supposed if I’d gone into investment banking instead of learning something stupid like engineering I could also have been retiring just about now.
Canada has a good social security net for old people with no cash, as long as you live simple.
I regret what you said a little but not really , I enjoy my time in Taiwan and would have regret being a wage slave back home, that life wouldn’t have allowed me to travel as much as I did.
I was more referring to Taiwanese that usually get booted out at 40
I don’t know if that was so predictable, debatable that it’s just the way the cookie crumbled. It’s not like the folks in Canada sitting on their arses.were.rubbing their hands together as their ‘grand plan’ of staying put worked out for them.
If I recall correctly if you are the fuzeren of your company you cannot. Only if you are employed by a company, in which case the company has to apply for you.
Previously not all permanent residents were eligible to be enrolled in the pension system which meant that they did not get the extra 6% employer contributions.
This was passed early last year but only covered foreign professionals with permanent residency - it has now been expanded to cover all permanent residents including foreign spouses.
As of February 8, 2018, the Labor Pension Act applies to foreign professionals in Taiwan who have permanent residence
Publish Date：2018-03-15
The Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (below, “the Act”) was enacted as of February 8, 2018. According to Article 11 of the Act, the new labor pension system shall from that date be applicable to foreign professionals who are hired to engage in professional work and who have obtained permanent residence. Employers shall contribute no less than 6% of foreign professionals’ monthly salary to individual accounts of labor pension established by the Bureau of Labor Insurance (BLI).
As to whether or not your employer decides to offer a lower salary to compensate for this I think that depends on each individual company (I am not entirely sure if this is legal, maybe someone can clarify).
Even if it is just deducted from your own salary, it may be good for many people, because many would just spend the 12% if it is paid now, and would have no money at the time of retirement.
But, in practice, is this in effect a pay raise or is it the employee who pays for it ? Anyone who is effected who can share their experience, did they pocket an extra 6% or ?
Based on my understanding, anyone holding an APRC should be considered a “permanent resident”. I can’t think of any exceptions, but I am an accountant not a lawyer.
I’m not suggesting the salary is immediately lowered, I’m questioning if this leads to a long term 6% increase in total compensation
Next time there is any discussion about a pay raise, I as an employer would point out that the employee just got a 6% increase curtesy of the government or when hiring new staff this 6% would be factored in the total compensation(eg if I used to offer 100k in salary now it’s 94+6)
So either way, I fail to see why this is a good thing in the long run
Look, ROC national already receive this basic benefit. Certain spouses (not all) of ROC nationals already receive this benefit. Non-nationals hired as professionals already receive this benefit. What the new legislation is doing is saying all APRC holders receive this benefit. If anything, this should make your life as an employer simpler as it irons out the (at times very odd) distinctions and makes it fair for everyone with permanent residence here, without discrimination.