RetireJapan

I've just made my first call with Viber, to a UK landline, and it was great. Very clear, no echo and less delay than Skype. What's more, I couldn't use Skype with my phone due to an annoying microphone problem that only happened with Skype, so had to borrow my wife's phone each time. But Viber - no ...

It's hard to imagine the All Country fund not falling further from here due to a looming recession in the US. This will impact US stocks and the USD negatively, which will have a double impact on the yen-based fund. It probably won't matter in the long run but in the short term (this year) I think w...

Sorry, I forgot to include the x-axis scale on my chart yesterday. You probably figured it was a monthly chart, but here it is again for clarity (first image below). Now down almost 7%. I'll be lump-summing some cash at 10%. Also, the second image below is pretty interesting. It's a bit blurry sorry...

Yes, tsumitate All Country is the way to go. And according to this chart it is still only about 6% down from the highs, which is absolutely nothing. The horizontal blue lines I've added are 10% and 20% down from the highs. The worst this type of yen-based fund has dropped in recent memory is about 6...

Some Japanese banks are offering one-year fixed term deposits at not totally crap rates. I think Shinsei have one right now that offers 0.8%. Also if you can level up to Diamond stage with them using SBI Connect then they'll give you 0.4% instant access. A riskier option is to stick it in foreign go...

SMBC, too. Although I do remember having to write my address in Japanese hundered of times... Argh! The PTSD is kicking in... my mortgage signing took about two hours, mainly because I had to write my full name and address dozens of times (a few of them were more than one on the same page). It almo...

Thanks Ben, I'll give it a try. They do 100 minutes per month to the UK for $1.99, and unlimited minutes worldwide for $5.99. Since I probably do 100 minutes per week the worldwide one is the best option. It covers mobile too, which could be useful.

this is an interesting thread! am having a similar dilemma in that im worried if the emaxis slim is now the best fund to be in for the next few yrs.. i have a lot in the s+p ,also the all country fund.. If you probably won't need the money for at least the next ten years then I would say no problem...

I currently use a Skype subscription to phone my Mum's landline in the UK. It costs £2.40 per month for unlimited minutes. My Mum is technophobic and doesn't use a smartphone, so her landline is the only option. I also use it occasionally to phone UK businesses and HMRC. Microsoft have just announce...

You're essentially paying a few ¥100k insurance to guarantee you won't lose money or pay any tax. A few ¥100k of opportunity cost in insurance, as you wouldn't actually pay anything and would be better off if the prices dropped. I'm not sure if I'm being helpful or just confusing myself, so I'll st...