RetireJapan

Dear All,

Long-term reader of this forum, and first time to post here. I am a UK citizen, long-term resident (with permanent residence) in Japan, so obviously a taxpayer here in Japan too. (I am self-employed.)

I would like to ask everyone's advice.
I have a couple of fixed rate bonds in GBP that are about to mature in the UK. They automatically roll into a pretty useless current account paying almost nothing. The amount is fairly substantial—around 100,000 GBP—and I do not want to see this money just sit there. I was thinking of bringing the money over to Japan but I am reluctant to do this. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am quite conservative with money, having lost money in the past, and having worked hard to get where I am.

There are not many options in the UK as a non-resident that I am aware of. Nutmeg used to take Japan residents, but no longer do so. Most brokers won't. I was able to open P2P lending accounts (RateSetter, Zopa, etc) in the past but not sure if that is still possible.

Anyone else?

doublas wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 5:53 am Dear All,

Long-term reader of this forum, and first time to post here. I am a UK citizen, long-term resident (with permanent residence) in Japan, so obviously a taxpayer here in Japan too. (I am self-employed.)

I would like to ask everyone's advice.
I have a couple of fixed rate bonds in GBP that are about to mature in the UK. They automatically roll into a pretty useless current account paying almost nothing. The amount is fairly substantial—around 100,000 GBP—and I do not want to see this money just sit there. I was thinking of bringing the money over to Japan but I am reluctant to do this. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am quite conservative with money, having lost money in the past, and having worked hard to get where I am.

Why are you reluctant to bring the money over to Japan?
I'm in a similar situation. As I think the GBP is far lower than it will be in a few years that's stopping me from converting to Yen at this time.

You should be able to open a Trading212 account. I'm in the process of creating an account in order to invest GBP I have in a UK current account.
I'm yet to confirm if I can actually deposit GBP and make investments in GBP. And yes. I'm aware that platform is a bit of a meme at this time. But they seem legitimate enough and appear to execute your trades with Interactive Brokers I think. So once invested your money would be "safe".

Other suggestions have been Premium Bonds.

Not the right timing now obviously, but options seem so limited for non-residents, it could seriously be worth moving back for six months or so to get a Vanguard account as a legitimate resident, then move back. I think money laundering regulations require 3 years of addresses (or at least that used to be the case). But as long as you're a resident and they can prove they've done their due diligence, it could work.

Just hypothesising...

The irony is that the money launderers continue to launder, whereas legitimate investors are unable to open accounts.

adamu wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 7:49 am
The irony is that the money launderers continue to launder, whereas legitimate investors are unable to open accounts.

I would choose a stronger expression than irony. It would be interesting to see some stats about how much money laundering all the disempowering restrictions actually have stopped.

For the OP, Moneymatters above mentioned premium bonds; these might not be a bad option at the moment. I believe it is possible, though doubtless arduous, to open an NS&I account as a non resident. They have just slashed their interest rates on savings products to a pittance, but premium bonds still pay a reasonable amount as prizes. You could expect to make something at least with the decent wedge you have, though any winnings would be taxable here.

I was able to open accounts and invest money with Kuflink (P2P) and Fundsmith whilst resident in Japan.

On related note (but not addressing original Q), I was able to transfer a stakeholder pension into a SIPP at AJ Bell too.

ID verification ranged from straightforward to very convoluted.

Many thanks to you all for your suggestions. I am mulling over what to do. I may possibly even bring the cash to Japan and use it here in some way. It would have to be kept in GBP fo some time though as the pound is so weak against the yen, and looking at the UK at the moment, this will continue for a while. Anyway, thanks for your responses.

Personally, I would keep the money in the UK. I bought about half that amount just over a decade ago for a deposit to build a house in Japan, and I had the Japanese tax office asking questions about where was the money from and what it was for. I was honest, and I didn't hear anything more from them, but there is a lot more cooperation between the tax authorities now than there used to be.

Anyway, have you though about a buy to let in the UK? 100,000 is quite a high deposit, and you would get quite good terms for a mortgage now. I have talked about this is the property section of Retire Japan. Stay away from all the big banks- they all want you to have six figure salaries, there are surprisingly number of small building societies that will lend to expats.

Wales4rugbyWC19 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:20 am Anyway, have you though about a buy to let in the UK? 100,000 is quite a high deposit, and you would get quite good terms for a mortgage now. I have talked about this is the property section of Retire Japan. Stay away from all the big banks- they all want you to have six figure salaries, there are surprisingly number of small building societies that will lend to expats.

Was going to ask whether this might be an option so glad to see someone else suggest it. I have a similar amount sitting in a UK bank account's online saver earning very little and am just starting to look into the possibility of buying a buy-to-let property. I was introduced to a family friend that has successfully done so while living in Dubai, and am asking for advice on the process. Obviously there would be tax implications while living in Japan, but it potentially seems like a better option than doing nothing.

I also maintain the intention to move back in the medium term, and having property would (I hope) make that a little easier.

Will check your posts in the property section Wales4rugbyWC19.

Safe options:

- Make sure your National Insurance record is all up to date for the UK state pension. Pay any missing years required.

- £50,000 into NS&i premium bonds for a chance of win up to £1 million. As a Japanese resident you can open an account via post. For that you will need a UK bank account with a UK bank account with cheque book in your name and a £25 cheque (stupid old fashioned way of doing things I know). Opening the account is the hardest part. Once the account is opened you can then just make digital payments into it with your UK bank.

Risk option:

- FOREX. GBP is possibly going to lose even more value with a potential No Deal Brexit just around the corner. Now could be a good time to exchange it into JPY (other currencies?) and then back again after the possible GBP crash.