Using Rakuten Points to invest in Rakuten Securities?

[Whiterose]

Sorry if this topic has already come up before but I couldn't find any other post on it.

I recently opened a Rakuten Credit Card account and am being sucked into the complex Rakuten multiverse I see they now offer a way to begin investing just by using Rakuten points rather than cash. I got a bunch of free Rakuten points already just for opening the CC, so I'm wondering if I should just try it out? Nothing to lose?

Has anyone had experience of Rakuten point investing like this and can offer advice? Am I better avoiding Rakuten Securities completely and doing something else with the points?

I have zero investments aside from my ordinary pension in Japan and the UK so I am a newbie to investing too, just want to get started if I can.

For info:
https://www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/style ... tment.html

[adamu]

The most efficient thing to do with Rakuten points is to use them to pay off your credit card. That effectively turns them into cash which can then earn more points.

If you choose to use them on securities, that's using points that you could have converted to cash, so is equivalent to then using cash to buy securities. Because of this "there's nothing to lose" is not the right way to think about it.

[zeroshiki]

What adamu said except that there's a reason to use 1 point to invest in securities per month and that's to get the Rakuten Securities SPU bonus on Rakuten Ichiba. They've nerfed it to hell though so some people might not want to bother anymore (minimum 30k purchase with at least 1 point used).

[RetireJapan]

Sorry if this topic has already come up before but I couldn't find any other post on it.

I recently opened a Rakuten Credit Card account and am being sucked into the complex Rakuten multiverse I see they now offer a way to begin investing just by using Rakuten points rather than cash. I got a bunch of free Rakuten points already just for opening the CC, so I'm wondering if I should just try it out? Nothing to lose?

Has anyone had experience of Rakuten point investing like this and can offer advice? Am I better avoiding Rakuten Securities completely and doing something else with the points?

I have zero investments aside from my ordinary pension in Japan and the UK so I am a newbie to investing too, just want to get started if I can.

For info:
https://www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/style ... tment.html

I recommend starting to invest, because once you set up the account and start doing it with small amounts of money you will learn a lot and then be able to increase the amount you are investing easily if you want to.

Rakuten Securities is a fine choice, they are similar to the other big online brokers.

Right now mutual funds (投資信託) are some of the best options for low-cost, diversified investing. The eMaxis Slim range, especially the All-Country global stocks and the Developed Country international bonds are a good place to start.

[TBS]

I got a bunch of free Rakuten points already just for opening the CC, so I'm wondering if I should just try it out? Nothing to lose?

Everything adamu & zeroshiki said, but these promotional points could be the time-limited points? In which case you wont be able to invest them on Securities, unfortunately, or use them to pay the CC bill.

If you download the Rakuten Pay app, time-limited points can be spent as cash. Just needs the shop to take Rakuten Ray.

[Whiterose]

Thanks for the advice here everyone! I'm new to Rakuten so I'm still learning about what I can and can't do with the different kinds of points you get. Didn't know some could be used to pay off CC, for example.

I am really curious/eager to learn about investing and am unable to do any in the UK, so I'll take a good look over all the 投資信託 info on their pages and see what the minimum point investment can be.

[hitsuji182]

What adamu said except that there's a reason to use 1 point to invest in securities per month and that's to get the Rakuten Securities SPU bonus on Rakuten Ichiba. They've nerfed it to hell though so some people might not want to bother anymore (minimum 30k purchase with at least 1 point used).

Don't you need rakuten bank and their money bridge service to get that multiplier now?

[zeroshiki]

What adamu said except that there's a reason to use 1 point to invest in securities per month and that's to get the Rakuten Securities SPU bonus on Rakuten Ichiba. They've nerfed it to hell though so some people might not want to bother anymore (minimum 30k purchase with at least 1 point used).

Don't you need rakuten bank and their money bridge service to get that multiplier now?

Hmm you're right. Yeah, maybe a bridge too far for most people now. I don't do the US ETF tsumitate either so its been nerfed quite a lot.

[adamu]

I am really curious/eager to learn about investing and am unable to do any in the UK, so I'll take a good look over all the 投資信託 info on their pages and see what the minimum point investment can be.

What we're saying is don't do point investing. Just pay off your CC with the points, and invest with real money.

Of course, they're your points, you can do what you like. It's just not the most efficient use of them. And adding one more level of complexity isn't very helpful for learning about investing either.

[Whiterose]

I am really curious/eager to learn about investing and am unable to do any in the UK, so I'll take a good look over all the 投資信託 info on their pages and see what the minimum point investment can be.

What we're saying is don't do point investing. Just pay off your CC with the points, and invest with real money.

Of course, they're your points, you can do what you like. It's just not the most efficient use of them. And adding one more level of complexity isn't very helpful for learning about investing either.

Thanks for the advice! Yeah I think I'll do that. After some more time looking over Rakuten Securities products, and reading other forum posts about Rakuten products on here (so much complexity in this one company ) I saw they offer a lot of simple (cash not points) investing plans like NISA too, and iI'm interested in getting one of those going. Seems you can earn points for paying into the NISA using Rakuten CC/bank account.