RetireJapan

beanhead wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 11:27 am I have a mortgage at a very low interest rate. I have investments which are growing at a much higher rate.
I hope this will continue for another 20 years, but understand that there will be ups and downs along the way. Isn't this normal?

Yes! That's what most (?) people do and what I assume I will experience. I think the writer is targeting people who are relying only on NISA to make their repayments in the event of a loss of income, without much of a safety margin. He says that only people who can afford to pay off the mortgage with spare cash should consider NISA but that seems a smidge over-cautious...

ap21 wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 1:11 pm He says that only people who can afford to pay off the mortgage with spare cash should consider NISA but that seems a smidge over-cautious...

That is nonsense, if you ask me...

beanhead wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 1:29 pm

ap21 wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 1:11 pm He says that only people who can afford to pay off the mortgage with spare cash should consider NISA but that seems a smidge over-cautious...

That is nonsense, if you ask me...

Agreed, especially here in Japan. It’s just patent nonsense. There might be some it’s applicable to (maybe those with highly insecure jobs, health issues etc) but for the vast majority of the population it’s very poor advice.

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 1:43 pm

beanhead wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 1:29 pm

ap21 wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 1:11 pm He says that only people who can afford to pay off the mortgage with spare cash should consider NISA but that seems a smidge over-cautious...

That is nonsense, if you ask me...

Agreed, especially here in Japan. It’s just patent nonsense. There might be some it’s applicable to (maybe those with highly insecure jobs, health issues etc) but for the vast majority of the population it’s very poor advice.

The author has little real expertise, and is just telling his audience what they want to hear. Many people want to be told NISA is too risky, so they do not have to bother learning the details and can be comforted in knowing they decided "not to gamble/take a risk".

Nothing makes a salaryman sweat more than hearing his colleagues are using the New Nisa, and he himself has 0 knowledge of investing, let a long his own salary and net worth, because he unfairly makes his wife handle all the stressful finances.

The author of the article seems to be worried that mortgage rates might go up a lot. Of course, the rates have been pretty low in Japan for decades, so you shouldn't be too worried. On the other hand, it might be an idea to get a fixed rate mortgage if you're risk averse...

Here's a historical chart of Japanese mortgage rates from 1984 to 2022:


https://zuu.co.jp/media/housing-loan/in ... using-loan

and the same thing for the States from 1971 to today:


https://money.usnews.com/loans/mortgage ... gage-rates

ChapInTokyo wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 5:08 am The author of the article seems to be worried that mortgage rates might go up a lot. Of course, the rates have been pretty low in Japan for decades, so you shouldn't be too worried. On the other hand, it might be an idea to get a fixed rate mortgage if you're risk averse...

Here's a historical chart of Japanese mortgage rates from 1984 to 2022:


https://zuu.co.jp/media/housing-loan/in ... using-loan

and the same thing for the States from 1971 to today:


https://money.usnews.com/loans/mortgage ... gage-rates

In what universe were Japanese mortgage rates over 2% in 2022?

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 7:56 am

ChapInTokyo wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 5:08 am The author of the article seems to be worried that mortgage rates might go up a lot. Of course, the rates have been pretty low in Japan for decades, so you shouldn't be too worried. On the other hand, it might be an idea to get a fixed rate mortgage if you're risk averse...

Here's a historical chart of Japanese mortgage rates from 1984 to 2022:


https://zuu.co.jp/media/housing-loan/in ... using-loan

and the same thing for the States from 1971 to today:


https://money.usnews.com/loans/mortgage ... gage-rates

In what universe were Japanese mortgage rates over 2% in 2022?

According to the linked article, the universe of the Japan Housing Finance Agency.

住宅金融支援機構（フラット35）が公開する「民間金融機関の住宅ローン金利推移（変動金利等）」によると、住宅ローン金利の過去からの推移は以下のようになっています。

The same chart (8 months on and with somewhat higher rates) pops up on the Mitsubishi UFG Bank’s website so it seems to be a pretty popular source for mortgage rate data.

https://www.bk.mufg.jp/kariru/jutaku/co ... index.html