RetireJapan

Hi, first time post.
Great resource you have created here.

I tried to set up an iDeCo account with Rakuten last year but somehow the process got stuck. Not exactly sure why …

I saw on my main bank MUFJ they offer both iDeCO and NISA through their banking app. Is there any good reason for me not to just set up those accounts with MUFJ?

Thanks
Paddy

General Remark:

Different institutions have different ranges of Funds available in their iDECO and NISA offerings, and usually not the same even between the same institution's iDECO and NISA offerings.

You might want to check the offerings available in each for each institution before making choices for either or both.

Specific Remark:

eMaxis Slim Funds are MUFJ products, so if those are what you want to buy, then they should probably be available in both their iDECO and NISA offerings. Please check.

Thank you

Basically check out their product range, and if you can find things you are happy with then by all means go with them. The reason we tend to recommend the online brokers is because they have low fees and wide range of products, but if you can find reasonable options with your bank no reason not to use them.

According to this they deduct an extra ¥260 (at least) from each contribution and an extra ¥260 (at least) per month management fee, compared to SBI/Rakuten/Monex (the 運営管理機関手数料, which is 0 for these providers).

Over 20 years of savings, that's an extra ¥124,800 in fees.

The selection of funds is not the only reason to avoid the banks, the online brokers charge the lowest platform fees, which can have a huge effect on the end result, especially for iDeCo where the amounts being contributed are relatively small anyway, so every last yen counts.

https://www.bk.mufg.jp/tameru/ideco/tes ... index.html

Thanks @adamu

I guess that ease-of-use gets a lot of people onboard by default.
This has been on my to-do list for about 2-3 years!

Will have another go at getting Rakuten set up again.

Cheers
Paddy