RetireJapan

Does anyone invest in Japanese stocks that offer benefits such as discounts or free goods? After filling my iDeCo and Nisa allowances, I'm looking to build up a portfolio of individual stocks. The stocks will just be a relatively small part of my portfolio so I don't mind some risk.

MisoSoup wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 10:18 am Does anyone invest in Japanese stocks that offer benefits such as discounts or free goods? After filling my iDeCo and Nisa allowances, I'm looking to build up a portfolio of individual stocks. The stocks will just be a relatively small part of my portfolio so I don't mind some risk.

https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/only-i ... -benefits/
https://kabukiso.com/apply/popular/yuutai.html

IMO do not let these sway your decision to purchase. Buy stocks based on solid due diligence.

The minimum stock amount required to receive these does not make them worthwhile.

Great. Thanks for the link.

Kanto wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 11:22 amBuy sticks based on solid due diligence.

You're a drummer, aren't you?

AreTheyTheLemmings? wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 5:53 am

Kanto wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 11:22 amBuy sticks based on solid due diligence.

You're a drummer, aren't you?

Ha! Maybe the Kanji (株) is to blame!

I hold a variety of stocks that offer perks, and actually recently bought a whole bunch at the end of the year. While I agree that they shouldn't be the sole reason you invest in a company, they can certainly be a factor to consider when choosing individual stocks, especially if they are in addition to a safe set of ETFs, etc.

For example - Aeon offers 3% cashback on all purchases (on top of any other discounts you would get otherwise), as well as (5-15%) discounts at their cinemas, restaurants, etc. Especially if Aeon is your main grocery store, that can be easily work out to a few % return on investment in addition to the dividends. Discount goes up to 5% if you hold more stocks.

Asics gives out 20-40% discount coupons depending on how much stock you hold and for how long. Since I'm a runner and buy a few man worth of Asics shoes & gear every year, it's easily a 5kish benefit for me.

Cookpad gives you access to the membership, which I believe is normally 300/month. The minimum buy is around 30k, so it's basically a 10% return if you would otherwise pay for the membership.

From a management perspective I don't really think the benefits make sense. Especially for the companies that send out physical items, there must be a huge cost associated with the program, and -as in the Asics example above- the discounts will often mean reduced revenue from people who would be buying there anyway. But for individual shareholders, they can be worthwhile.

paul wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:29 am From a management perspective I don't really think the benefits make sense.

They are a shareholder benefit that require neither profit for dividends, nor increasing stock price for capital gains. Pretty useful for management, I guess.

adamu wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:36 am

paul wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:29 am From a management perspective I don't really think the benefits make sense.

They are a shareholder benefit that require neither profit for dividends, nor increasing stock price for capital gains. Pretty useful for management, I guess.

Stockholder perks, like dividends, will result in less growth ultimately.

I do believe in most cases the extra income earned by investing in an index fund (S&P500/FSCI All Capt etc) more than make up for the lack of "free gifts".

Although I a not a fan of dividend investing due to tax reasons, I think buying dividend stocks and spending those dividends on those miscellaneous things would be a better strategy.

I know those who own airline stock (ANA?) in order to receive flight vouchers. They probably regret that decision now....

adamu wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:36 am

paul wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:29 am From a management perspective I don't really think the benefits make sense.

They are a shareholder benefit that require neither profit for dividends, nor increasing stock price for capital gains. Pretty useful for management, I guess.

I mean management in the sense of long-term health of the company, rather than what is good for the management class of a company.