grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 OK, sort of had something like this before I think but a refresh is due. I have quite a large amount of cash that I have had in a bond for a number of years. It matures next year and I have been asking around in the UK what I can invest in. The answer seems to be....living in Japan, you can't. A few advisors have said they can't help apart from advising to try and get advice in Japan.Y You could before so something seems to have changed. Japan apparently seems keen on keeping cash within Japan. Looks like I'm going to have to bring it over here. So, anyone got any good tips? I'm thinking low-medium 'risk'. Just want this cash to earn a bit. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I have money invested in post office bonds in the UK which are earning me some decent intetest each yeat. I just leave it to carry over at the end of each term. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yes, and you may well be able to keep those going, but the point is that you apparently cannot do that any more. ie. create a new one. I'd be glad to be wrong, but that seems to be what I am being told. If I am wrong please show me what you are in so I can look it up. What I see on the Post Office website is that you need to be UK registered for tax purposes. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 What is decent interest? There hasn't been "decent interest" for quite a while now... Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 You maybe right. I have had these bonds running since before I left the UK so possibly it has changed. Did you ask the post office. Another possibility that may or may nott be doable is using ypur parents address to set up a bond account if your folks are happy with that. Then later on you can change the address to Japan that is what I did. But again that may no longer be possible but worth trying. I beleive last year when I got my intetest sheet to show my earnings on my investments it was 4 poimt something percent. Sorry dont remember of the top of my head. Used to be 6% per annum when I first took them out. Again because I have had them for many years actually around 18 years is maybe why I still get a good rate of return well compared to anything else. I have no idea what a new bond woulf give you though. Buying property can be another good investment if you get your timing right and buy when cheap/rock bottom. In twenty years it will be worth more than now for sure but you need to buy when property prices are low. Not in Japn though they only ever go down. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I've bought real estate... In....Canada. And upon maturation that money is never ever coming back here. Despite a tax treaty I don't trust the J birds not to come along with their hands out. I would like to do some investing here, too .. but I wouldn't know where to start or who to trust. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 How is the real estate market going in the UK? Has it recovered much since the recession? If prices are still significantly lower than pre GFC prices I'd think it would be a good time to get in. We did co-invest in a property development in Niseko pre GFC which did very well and somehow we managed to get away with not ever having to pay any capital gains tax on that. Didn't try and avoid it. Just never received a tax bill from the gov in either Japan or Australia.The bar we bought in Hakodate never made us any money but it was fun. I do know many foreigners who've invested in property in Sapporo. Obviously they are not expecting any capital gains but the rental returns on their investment are quite high. Between 10-15%. Such investments can provide quite a nice monthly income. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Second hand bunjo mansions bought to let in regional cities can make quite a bit of money, as GN says. There is less risk buying in Tokyo, but you won't get 10 to 15%. Given the bleak state of most of Hokkaido's economy, Sapporo may be an especially good buy because many Hokkaido locals wanting to get on will end up there. Inaka thinking means some of them can't settle there for good because they'll be expected to head back and look after oldies and take over whatever remains of the family business. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm in the same boat. Canada doesn't want my money anymore since I don't have an address in Canada. This sounds kind of lame, but in the meantime I'm holding US dollars, within Japan. I'm thinking the dollar could appreciate another 5-10 percent over the next year or two on top of the miniscule interest that I'm getting.... It's hard to say though. People are talking about gold and silver again but it seems like there's a lot of downside risk there... Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 How do you keep the $ in Japan? Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Just a regular bank account with a Japanese bank at the mo. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I have pounds, dollars, euro and yen all in the same bank that being Shinsei. Its good to have more than one currency. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Interesting. Don't really want real estate and associated faffing around. Will ask a professional I reckon in September. Link to post Share on other sites
gvm3373 4 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 To all the expats here what interest rate are you paying on your mortgages(assuming you have one) ? In Australia and NZ it's about 5 %. Link to post Share on other sites
r45 4 Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 is there anther thread that dos just 'getting money'? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 To all the expats here what interest rate are you paying on your mortgages(assuming you have one) ? In Australia and NZ it's about 5 %. not that I have a mortgage, but we've been looking into costs etc and the calculator programs to give you a rough idea of monthly costs are 2.5-3% Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 People on a floating rate will be under 1%. They call it floating but with some lenders its a six month fix. We got ours adjusted and refixed last year so we're on 1.6% fixed for ten years. The loan has another three and half years to run after that. Over the entire twenty years of the loan, we pay just over 20% of the principal in interest. Compared to other countries, it's very low. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 1.2% fixed for us. If we had it floating or varible it would be lower still at the start but could and almost ceetainly would go up as well as down so we opted for a fixed rate. It is very low anyway compared to other countries. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Definitely. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 We're around 1%, (I think slightly lower) on a three-year fixed. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 This maybe a silly question, but what happens after that 3 years? Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 This maybe a silly question, but what happens after that 3 years? Don't know. But this is the second three year term and it was better this time around than the first. .85% is the actually rate. Kind of unbelievable. Link to post Share on other sites
MagSeven 40 Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 This maybe a silly question, but what happens after that 3 years? In most UK mortgages you will revert to the banks standard variable rate. At the moment those are really low, so coming off a fixed rate onto the SVR will reduce monthly payments significantly. The risk is that interest rates are likely to rise soon, so payments will increase. The gamble is choosing when to lock into a fixed rate, and for how long! Link to post Share on other sites
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