I'm 24, from the US, and currently in a master's program for engineering with no partner or dependents. I'm thinking about the future, and I kinda don't want to work for 40 years after school to save up for retirement in the US and am hoping to retire sooner than that, which I think I could accomplish by getting Japanese permanent residency (not citizenship) since it's cheaper to live there by working enough (1-3 years for HSP visa) to qualify to transition from the work visa to PR, and then going back to the US and working for x years since the salaries are way higher to save for retirement. I know no Japanese except a few phrases to get around as a tourist, but if I go through with this I would want to go to language school in Japan for 2 years to hopefully get to N2 level. However, I'm unsure whether I should go to language school immediately after grad school or rather after x years of working in the US. Here's my thought process:
Start learning Japanese right after graduation:
– More energy, more interesting for young people
– Japanese government seems to prefer young people: more points for HSP, no need to prove 150 hours of prior Japanese language study
– Would probably want to get 10 years (2×5 years) of re-entry permits to work and save money in the US, might look iffy to the government
Start learning Japanese in my mid-30's:
– Have more time for larger USD savings and investments to grow
– No need to rely on 5-year re-entry permit
– Government doesn't favor new "mature" visa holders, need to show 150 hours of prior Japanese study
Either way, whether I work in Japan as younger but with less work experience or older but more work experience, I still would have 80 immigration points. So would anyone have thoughts (or experiences) about having moved to Japan at a younger vs older age or which option would be better?
by Snikerdoodlz