Low cost index funds

[deepdishj]

Hello all,

I am writing for some advice.
I am interested in putting away some extra money every month into an index fund. But, being a UK citizen who is now a Japanese resident in Kobe I'm finding it difficult to set up an account online. I've contacted Vanguard but they are unable to help me as they do not offer an individual personal investor service in Japan.
I'd much rather prefer setting up an account online myself rather than to have to physically go to a broker. So, does anyone know of a company that does provide this service in Japan? My wife is Japanese, so I could always set it up under her name if there are restrictions on non-Japanese.
If this service is not available in Japan, can anyone recommend a decent broker in the Kobe or Osaka area?

Thank you for your help and for any suggestions,

Jason

[RetireJapan]

Hi Jason

Good question. Happily it should be relatively straightforward for you to accomplish what you want to do.

You can open an account with SBI Securities (https://www.sbisec.co.jp/ETGate). I think they might be the best option at the moment in terms of low fees and wide range of products. Alternatively I use Rakuten Securities and am happy with them, although their fees are higher and they don't have as many products. Both of them are online brokers and you can sign up online (they may send you some paperwork to sign).

There is a requirement for you to read and understand the terms and conditions, but I just skimmed them as I assume most customers do. If you run into trouble with this quasi-language requirement I'm sure your wife would be able to either help or open her own account.

I recommend opening a NISA account (http://www.retirejapan.info/nisa.html) or an iDeCo account (http://www.retirejapan.info/ideco-j401k.html) for the tax benefits. You can buy index funds or mutual funds in a NISA account and mutual funds in an iDeCo account.

Hope that helps and please post any questions/problems you run into.

[deepdishj]

Thank you very much.
I'll take a look through this and let you know how it goes.

At this time, it's my understanding that being self-employed and on private health insurance, that I don't qualify for the NISA or iDeCo services.

Thank you again for your help.

[RetireJapan]

Hi Jason

For iDeCo you need to be paying into the national pension scheme (kokumin nenkin or kosei nenkin), or be a dependent spouse of someone paying kosei nenkin.

For NISA you just need to be a resident over the age of 20.

[deepdishj]

Ah yes, that's a mistype. I meant the pension, not healthcare. That's why I'm not eligible.
I'll take another look at NISA.

Thanks again.