Wife parents need help. How to deal with their money (3000man or more)

[Mialou]

Hello everybody, looking for some advices.

My wife parents are getting old, this week her mom withdrew all her money from her different banks account and stored all of it at home, in a wardrobe.
Apparently it is more than 3000man, 2 days ago she told my wife about what se did and now they are trying to find what to do.

Memory being a problem, keeping all of it home is a bad idea. Putting it all in banks again might be the best but keeping it all in 1 place would be best (memory problem again). The downside is that banks can insure up to 1000man yens if I am right. Is there a way to keep it all simple, easy access for elder parents, while not locked from my wife so that if problem occurs, she can help them withdraw.

As for inheritance, they are already giving my wife and daughter the maximum possible without triggering tax.
Investments? They are afraid of it completly so that is out of the discussion.
Physical gold or silver? They do have a safe, but the door is always left open.

Is the only option to open account in 3 or 4 different banks to keep all of it insured?

[Beaglehound]

Deposit accounts are definitely available which will insure more than the 10m limit. I know this as I had more than this in my account prior to a property purchase and my bank (a local one) simply changed my account to this type when I asked. Can’t remember what the account was called, sorry, and it paid no interest at all, but if security and simplicity is the aim this may be best.

[Mialou]

Thanks, paying no interest compared to paying 5 yens interest a year is not really a big downside, so we will investigate this route.

[TJKansai]

As for inheritance, they are already giving my wife and daughter the maximum possible without triggering tax.
Investments? They are afraid of it completly so that is out of the discussion.
Physical gold or silver? They do have a safe, but the door is always left open.

Is the only option to open account in 3 or 4 different banks to keep all of it insured?

Gold and silver mean you get hit with a 10% consumption sales tax, which is pretty hefty. Gold might rise in value, or not...Plus silver makes no sense as it is bulky.
Giving you some money might make sense too, if they trust you.

[Mialou]

Thanks.

Silver and gold are then out of the question too.

And giving to me, my parents are already doing so up to the limit, so it is also out.

[adamu]

Not sure how power of attorney works in Japan, but if you are worried about their ability to make decisions in their best interests, it could be worth looking into.

[Tkydon]

Thanks.

Silver and gold are then out of the question too.

And giving to me, my parents are already doing so up to the limit, so it is also out.

It is only a Tax Free Limit, it is not a hard limit.

If they give you more than Y1,100,000 in a year, you have to pay Gift Tax on the amount over Y1,100,000 (total gifts in the year), but that is only 10% on the next Y2M...

[Mialou]

Told my wife about power of attorney, she is going to try to set something similar.

Thanks for everything, we will see how things go with the banking and power of attorney equivalent, and hope nothing gets worse.

[mighty58]

Putting it all in banks again might be the best but keeping it all in 1 place would be best (memory problem again). The downside is that banks can insure up to 1000man yens if I am right.

...

Is the only option to open account in 3 or 4 different banks to keep all of it insured?

The likelihood of requiring the deposit insurance is so unlikely that I would ignore it and prioritize convenience instead, and put it all into one account. The chances of a bank like MUFG going bust are virtually zero, they are literally too big to fail.

[Mialou]

If it was my parents, I would do that without worrying about the bank failing, but my wife and her parents do think that even Yucho bank can fail so here we are.
I have already suggested them to make things simpler since a few years ago and they told me everything is fine, there will be no problem. Now they are panicking and still having a hard time accepting that making things easier is a good idea.