RetireJapan

Hi all! I am trying to fully grasp the base currency setting with Interactive Brokers. Let's say I had an account with IBKR for international markets with plans to invest mostly in Vanguard ETFs. I would be feeding the account with JPY and eventually cash out in JPY as well. Is it safe to assume the...

(US citizen, regularly file US/Japan taxes, FBAR, etc. Fully compliant as far as I know.) In a similar situation except the loan is for purchasing a property. As my account will briefly have a ~900k USD balance I am bit worried this might raise some eyebrows at the IRS, especially since I normally ...

Thank you, all! Good discussion here. :) And if you want further pizzazz /risk--or to complicate and confuse things(!)--add VGT to your watch list. ;) Its holdings are different, but it seems to have a past performance that approaches QQQ (nasdaq). For a moment, I thought I was going to get some pi...

A good question. Along with the housing options, some of the other variables to consider are: a) How much do you want to keep in savings? b) How much do you want to keep invested in the market? c) How do you want to manage your running costs? (i.e. higher mortgage payment without releasing stocks VS...

Thank you, all! Good discussion here.

The taishokukin system is probably the best. Here are a few more on top: a) Many small or private owners file for life insurance under the company. This can be booked as a cost for the company and benefits yourself and family. b) Book any reasonable costs related to the business such as rent, utilit...

Has anybody else been following the news on the upcoming Invoice Seido (System? not sure what the official English lingo will be) for businesses? Starting in October 2023, this will be a requirement for sending invoices / booking costs. In short, all invoices must have a consumption tax filing regis...

Thank you for the quick feedback! I was worried I might be overthinking. The main KPI I have used when looking at these funds, including VT, is the lifetime return. If you look at the increase from start to current of the different funds, we see: VTI +313.27% VOO +318.26% VUG +536.06% VT +117.68% I'...

That said, you will be looking at 5-10% closing costs each time you buy and sell real estate in Japan. This looks to be a bit on the higher side from I have experienced, both buying for personal and commercial use. Although the agency fees range from 3-5% depending on the price of the property, I t...

This is a topic I am thinking about as well. With me and the kids having US citizenship, options are not too great. Starting with things like the Junior NISA would be nice, but I'm not sure if the selection would be useful or safe from a PFIC perspective. Plus even though it is tax-free in Japan the...