Guest Post: What happens to iDeCo if you die?
iDeCo and other DC pension accounts are NOT treated like other assets when someone dies. Read about designating a beneficiary and making sure your assets are covered.
iDeCo for Dependent Spouses
Is it actually worth doing? We actually wrote about this last year, but a friend of my wife’s asked me about it last week and I realised I didn’t have a good understanding of all the factors, so I figure I might as well get a blog post out of doing the research (and it […]
Optimizing iDeCo
Just a little spring-cleaning iDeCo accounts are pretty low-maintenance. Once you open the account and decide where you want your contributions to go, you don’t really have to do anything else until you reach the age of 60 and want to get your money (you also have the option of leaving it in the account […]
iDeCo Progress 2018
Slow and steady iDeCo is a retirement account (like a US 401k) that locks up your money until you are sixty years old. In exchange, you get to invest pre-tax income (which reduces your income taxes) and won’t get taxed on your investments while they are in the account. When you eventually cash out you […]
iDeCo and Taxes
You have to pay the piper when the music stops We’ve had a few questions about iDeCo and taxes, so here’s a post summarising some of the main points. For most people who pay income tax, using an iDeCo account to invest is an excellent idea. There are several advantages: You pay into the account […]
iDeCo for Dependent Spouses
Is it worth it? I had an interesting question from a reader last week. They drew my attention to the online iDeCo tax savings calculator, which seemed to show that dependent spouses could save significantly on income tax. In the linked online calculator, choose 専業主婦, then Yes, then input your numbers, then you can see […]
Investment Accounts in Japan
Now witness the power of this fully operational online broker account The three big online brokers in Japan For most people (US citizens see the note at the end of this post), the best option for opening investment accounts is going to be online. Banks and full service broker offices tend to have higher fees, […]
iDeCo in English
What are you waiting for? iDeCo is probably the best investment option for almost everyone who is planning to stay in Japan until retirement. It gives you a decent tax break, tax-free investing, and a mostly tax-free payout at the end. It forces you to invest regularly over the long term and doesn’t let you touch […]
iDeCo Application Success
It was a long time coming My iDeCo application took a long time. I didn’t help matters by writing the wrong numbers on the application form (which meant an extra three weeks back and forth with Rakuten Securities) but my account is now finally up and running. My March payslip shows two monthly payments have […]
iDeCo Application So Far
Hurry up and wait I’ve had a lot of questions about iDeCo, so here’s a summary of my application so far and some background information. I decided to go with Rakuten Securities as my provider, as they have some of the lowest fees (you can see an interactive comparison of iDeCo providers here). Applications for […]