RetireJapan

Hey forum,

My wife has got to move some investments made in DC Pension plan (Corporate type) to an individual iDeCo account. She has a Monex NISA account. SInce DC probably had something to do with SMBC, they've sent some papers; hence looks convenient to go with SMBC.
She's also thinking of Rakuten iDeCo.
Monex, SMBC, Rakuten - Do they make any difference when it comes to charges? And is there any other factors to consider?

I'm not sure which SMBC plan you are looking at, but from a quick look in general they appear to charge higher fees, so I'd stay away from them.

I would go with Rakuten or Monex out of those three, for selection of funds and low fees.

https://www.dcnenkin.jp/sp/search/commission.php

It's best to check the lineup for each company and see which ones offer the investments that suit you for the cheapest rates, including with the lowest monthly charge (should not be more than ¥171/mo and no more than 0.2% annual management fee for any index fund).

The forum favourite eMaxis Slim All Country is only available on Monex out of those three.

It seems to be also available on Rakuten securities:

ｅＭＡＸＩＳ Ｓｌｉｍ 全世界株式（オール・カントリー）

gaijin86 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 18, 2023 11:41 am It seems to be also available on Rakuten securities:

ｅＭＡＸＩＳ Ｓｌｉｍ 全世界株式（オール・カントリー）

It's not in the products in Rakuten's iDeco lineup. Each iDeco provider is limited to offering max 35 products to its iDeco users. Rakuten prioritizes i's own products at the expense of the eMaxis Slim series.

Different iDECO providers provide different financial instruments and funds within their iDECO plans, which are (potentially) entirely different from the financial instruments and funds that the same Provider may provide within within their NISA or Tsumitate NISA plans.

iDECO Providers charge a management fee for the plan.

The financial instruments and funds each have different Management and other Fees, but these fees are imposed by the Financial Instrument Provider / Asset Manager, and not by the iDECO Provider.

You should check the list of Financial Instruments and Funds available under each iDECO Provider, and potentially select a Provider that has the Funds or Instruments that you want to invest in.

I think you have up to 6 months after leaving the company to make your decision and process the paperwork to transfer the funds to an iDECO Provider.

Thanks for all the valuable info.

Actually, My wife had very recently entered the company DC option and due to unforeseen situations she had to quit and take a few months break before moving into a new company. Because of the short period of being in the DC plan she has a very small amount of 12000 Yen in there. If the amount is less than 15000 there is n option to sell the funds and withdraw the money! That was unexpected and surprising. Also, since she is starting a new job where she will have a matching DC paid by the company I just wanna be sure that a withdrawal from the old corporate DC wouldn't affect the new corporate DC. I'm definitely calling NRK with my questionable Japanese skills; I thought I'll just post here if anyone has any similar experience.

Dee.Geo wrote: ↑Tue Jun 20, 2023 5:05 am Thanks for all the valuable info.

Actually, My wife had very recently entered the company DC option and due to unforeseen situations she had to quit and take a few months break before moving into a new company. Because of the short period of being in the DC plan she has a very small amount of 12000 Yen in there. If the amount is less than 15000 there is n option to sell the funds and withdraw the money! That was unexpected and surprising. Also, since she is starting a new job where she will have a matching DC paid by the company I just wanna be sure that a withdrawal from the old corporate DC wouldn't affect the new corporate DC. I'm definitely calling NRK with my questionable Japanese skills; I thought I'll just post here if anyone has any similar experience.

She should have the option to transfer the funds from the old DC Plan to the new DC Plan. That would probably be the best option.
Check out how much the new DC Plan will be, and if there is any additional unused allowance that she could also open an iDECO... ???
Or, she can open a Tsumitate NISA commit to save a certain amount of Yen per month, and use the refund for the first (couple of) contriution(s).