Shinsei tsumitate (non-NISA) options

[tokyodave]

I am not a big fan of Shinsei Bank, but once you've been in Japan a while it's quite hard to change around all of the various credit card debit instructions, so I keep them as my main day-to-day bank, although not my main savings account or broker.

Recently, in order to maintain Gold status and keep the free ATM withdrawals, I made a separate securities account with Shinsei and set up a tsumitate deposit of 5,000 yen a month (the minimum amount in order to stay Gold). For some reason they make you confirm your risk comfort level EVERY TIME you log on, I suppose in case you changed your mind overnight (or are "feeling lucky" today).

Anyway, I have been looking for a "set and forget" all-share world or US index to put the money into (I am not really picky which, as this is just a small extra account). I was surprised by how high the Shinsei fund fees were, though! I settled on a Nomura Funds-i fund tracking the MSCI-Kokusai (world excluding Japan) index: (野村インデックスファンド・外国株式/Funds-i), which is no-load but has a fund fee (信託報酬) of 0.605% per year.

Is this the best I am going to get with Shinsei at the moment, or does anyone have any recommendations for better funds? They have Emaxis Slim, but sadly only for NISA tsumitate. Grateful for any advice...

[Kanto]

Some really dismal offerings there.

Anyways, this seemed passable -> https://trust.shinseibank.com/detail/240138/

[tokyodave]

Thanks a lot for your reply. I agree that Shinsei's offerings are pretty dismal.

That Nomura fund (野村つみたて外国株投信) would probably be much more attractive, as the fund fees are much lower - but although I can find it under the "ファンドライナップ” tab on Shinsei, there's no link to buy it, and for some reason it won't appear when I search for it under 投信積立.

I wonder if Shinsei limits that fund to NISA accounts (my NISA is with another broker).

(The only other thing I can think of is that it is over my "acceptable risk" level for some reason, but I set that to the highest level and it still didn't appear).

[Kanto]

Instead of going this route, why not just set your gas or water bill to auto-debit from your account?

[tokyodave]

Is that an option? I couldn't see utility bills mentioned under the Gold requirements, on the Japanese or English versions of their website...

(Japanese) https://www.shinseibank.com/powerflex/relationship/
(English) https://www.shinseibank.com/english/pow ... stage.html

[RetireJapan]

Is that an option? I couldn't see utility bills mentioned under the Gold requirements, on the Japanese or English versions of their website...

I have gold by keeping over 300,000 yen's worth of foreign currency with them. I keep some of my emergency funds in Euros.

[adamu]

Rephrase this thread: "Swimsuit recommendations for shark-infested waters" and you have my opinion

You can make the best of a bad situation, but it's probably worth your effort to slowly make the switch. You can get free ATM withdrawals, bank transfers *and* competitive investment options with the likes of Rakuten or SBI.

Another thing to consider: How much do you pay a year in ATM and transfer fees? It might work out cheaper than paying through the nose for bad investment products. Personally I can't bring myself to pay ATM fees though, like paying to go to the toilet...

[tokyodave]

I use cash as little as possible these days: I think I withdraw from ATMs probably twice a month? Which at 110 yen a time would be 2640 yen a year. Like most of us, I really resent paying for ATM usage, though!

5,000 yen a month deposited into a Shinsei account would be 60,000 yen a year, so (leaving interest aside for simplicity) the difference between a 0.2% fund rate and a 0.6% fund rate on that 60,000 yen would be 240 yen in the first year. (Of course that difference would grow every year as the tsumitate grows, unless I liquidate it every so often and move the money to a cheaper fund).

The other good things about Shinsei are those 5 free furikomi transfers with Gold membership, and the T-point program (if you remember to fill in the form every month, it adds up to several thousand points a year).

[MisoSoup]

Shinsei is now offering everyone's favorite eMaxis funds.

[adamu]

Shinsei is now offering everyone's favorite eMaxis funds.

I settled on a Nomura Funds-i fund tracking the MSCI-Kokusai (world excluding Japan) index: (野村インデックスファンド・外国株式/Funds-i), which is no-load but has a fund fee (信託報酬) of 0.605% per year.

Looking at their fund list, there is no eMaxis slim All Country, but all of Nomura Tsumite Foreign Stocks (0.209%, much better than your 0.605% - looks like it's the same fund, just cheaper), eMaxis Slim Developed Countries, and eMaxis Emerging markets say they are eligible for Tsumitate (not just Tsumitate NISA).

https://trust.shinseibank.com/detail/240138/
https://trust.shinseibank.com/detail/240305/
https://trust.shinseibank.com/detail/240306/