I want to save 20man every month. Should I do so in a regular account or online bank?

[coffeespoon]

Hi Everyone,

I would like to put about 20 man (200,000 yen) in a bank every month for about 10 years. (to be used after that). I don't want to risk with investing it. Would you suggest that I just deposit the money in a regular bank account? Or would you put it in an online bank account? I know that the Japanese interest rates are low - I read some of the other retirejapan posts on interest rates today - but it seems like no one mentioned SBJ Bank (not SBI!). The rates are slightly better...

https://www.sbjbank.co.jp/individual/interest.html

Thoughts?

Thanks for reading!

[coffeespoon]

or even bonds?

[RetireJapan]

If you are keeping it in cash I don't think it really matters where you put it. Maybe use a couple of different accounts for safety?

[coffeespoon]

Thanks for your input!

[mighty58]

Where you park the money doesn't really matter, I would prioritize ease of use.

Are you prioritizing liquidity or security? (apologies if I'm just stating the obvious) but keeping the money in cash is not a risk-free move. For one thing, the government's inflation targets (not yet achieved) are well above the interest rates offered on savings accounts. And then there's no telling what might happen in a crisis. If this money is a large percentage of your total asset allocation, you'll have a lot of your eggs riding on the stability of the yen.

[Telebroker]

Maybe I shouldn't comment on your storage vs investment style....
but please bear in mind that, as far as I know, the legal deposit insurance for deposits is limited to JPY 10,000,000 per customer per bank.
So once you pass that threshold, you should spread your funds over multiple banks.

(Think about passive index/ETF investing otherwise and let the money grow while you sleep

[coffeespoon]

Thanks for your response! Honestly, I hadn't made "any moves" yet -- so your message serves as a motivation to take action. Yes, I think that I should invest that money through a Japanese investment company, so that it is easy to access when I want (as opposed to a foreign one... don't want to deal with international transactions).

[beanhead]

Most people on this forum would probably suggest that you invest this money instead of putting it in the bank.
Yes, of course, investing it involves risk, but over 10 years there are ways to manage that risk.
Your money, though...

Bonds were mentioned. Rakuten has some Japan ones and some U.S. ones. See below:

https://www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/bond/