5 year investment plan

[Tōhoku]

So my wife and I are considering to move to Sendai or Akita in the next 5 years from Canada. We're in our 30's, no kids and have some savings in cash but no investments (e.g. house, equities etc.).

Ideally I'd like to save for a decent house deposit over the next 5 years so we can get something nice in Tōhoku (maybe even avoid a mortgage if we can save enough).

Since it's a short investment time horizon, I'm wondering what most people invest in for this time frame?

Mostly what I've been reading is in cash savings such as term deposits, GIC's and so on or even bonds.

Interested to hear how people save/invest for the short-term

[Tkydon]

Bond Interest Rates are quite (really) good at the moment, so you could purchase Mid Duration Bonds paying a good coupon interest rate and have them mature, so you get the money back before you move to Japan.

If the bonds mature in say 2028, and you put the cash into your bank account in 2028, and then you move to Japan in 2029, with the money sitting in cash in the bank account, there will be no taxable event in 2029 and you will be able to send the money to Japan completely tax free...

[TokyoBoglehead]

So my wife and I are considering to move to Sendai or Akita in the next 5 years from Canada. We're in our 30's, no kids and have some savings in cash but no investments (e.g. house, equities etc.).

Ideally I'd like to save for a decent house deposit over the next 5 years so we can get something nice in Tōhoku (maybe even avoid a mortgage if we can save enough).

Since it's a short investment time horizon, I'm wondering what most people invest in for this time frame?

Mostly what I've been reading is in cash savings such as term deposits, GIC's and so on or even bonds.

Interested to hear how people save/invest for the short-term

Open a Questtrade Account (non-residents are allowed) and buy enjoy a risk free rate in Canadian government bonds.

Bonds directly, bond funds, term deposits etc

[Tōhoku]

Bond Interest Rates are quite (really) good at the moment, so you could purchase Mid Duration Bonds paying a good coupon interest rate and have them mature, so you get the money back before you move to Japan.

If the bonds mature in say 2028, and you put the cash into your bank account in 2028, and then you move to Japan in 2029, with the money sitting in cash in the bank account, there will be no taxable event in 2029 and you will be able to send the money to Japan completely tax free...

Thanks for the idea about mid duration bonds and avoiding a tax event, I'll look into this!

Open a Questtrade Account (non-residents are allowed) and buy enjoy a risk free rate in Canadian government bonds.

Bonds directly, bond funds, term deposits etc

Thanks! I've been looking at Questtrade or Wealthsimple but Questtrade sounds good with their fees.