Choosing an ideco provider

[Michel]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post but I've been reading the forums since last year and I would like to thank everyone for the very interesting information you've been sharing here.

After putting things in order financially I am now about to get ready to start my investing life and like many it is worrisome and I would like to avoid any beginner's mistake.

I am about to open an ideco account and as you know there are a list of different providers.

Through the forum I see that rakuten and SBI are the most used among people here.

I would like to know why that choice ( other then the obvious low fee).
What are the things to watch out for when opening an ideco account.

Alongside with rakuten and SBI there are others with similar fees so why those two in particular? (Friendly interface?)

Thanks

[RetireJapan]

Hi Michel

Welcome to the forum!

When choosing an iDeCo provider you can use this very useful website: https://www.dcnenkin.jp/search/commission.php

The key information is: monthly fees, range of products, and annual cost of products.

Right now I think Monex might have the best range of products, but there is not much difference between the big online brokers (Rakuten, SBI, Monex).

Anyone else?

[Utachiyo]

I just started out too. I would have preferred setting up my account with a regular bank, so I could ask questions in person, but the fees are just too high. I chose Rakuten just because of name recognition, to be honest. And, since Rakuten made a big deal about English being their company language, I figured if I have a serious problem that I can't handle in Japanese, they might be able to dig up an English speaker to help me! Haven't had to put that to the test yet though.

[Michel]

Thank you for the link, I am actually already using it to make my selection.

I was wondering if recognition, especially for rakuten, wasn't the reason of it's popularity.

The three key points as mentioned are pretty basic so I guess there isn't any "hidden" concerns.