RetireJapan

I have a bunch of money in UK banks that's getting very little interest, and now I have to close at least one of those accounts.

I don't know where I'll be long term, so I wanted the flexibility to be either in Japan or go back to the UK. So I always felt more comfortable leaving the money in the UK.
I always meant to try and move it into a UK-based low-cost stock market account in something like an ETF.. but it was pretty much impossible to find one which I could open from Japan, at least which wasn't horribly complicated. So I never did it.

So, generally speaking, would it be a good idea to try and invest it in something UK / International based, or should I just bring it to Japan and invest it in something Japan based (Nisa, iDeco, Interactive Brokers Japan, etc...) ?

It'd be reasonably long term passive investing, but with the option to pull it out if I needed it for something big like a move / house.

Premium bonds might be an option. The UK has really tightened up on British non-residents not being able to invest in unit trusts in the UK recently- which I personally think is unfair.

If you bring it to Japan then you might make money on the exchange rate difference when you eventually send it back to the UK. Or you might not. And if you invest it in stocks while you're here then you might make money on that too. Or you might not. It's all a bit uncertain but long-term you should be OK.

On the other hand, if you want certainty then Conister Bank in the Isle of Man are currently offering 5.8% on their one-year bonds. It's easy to set up by email for non-UK residents but your money will be stuck there for up to a year. Similarly, NS&I are offering 5% on their one-year bonds. If it has to be instant access then NS&I currently pay about 4% on their premium bonds (with average luck). All of these options are available to Japanese residents.

SwissQuote Luxembourg allow Japan residents to open a brokerage account and use STG base currency

Thanks guys.

Generally speaking, is there any significant tax difference between using something international like International Brokers / Swissquote and bringing it to Japan and using something domestic like SBI Securities / Rakuten, etc.. ?

RetroNewbie wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 11:52 am is there any significant tax difference between using something international like International Brokers / Swissquote and bringing it to Japan and using something domestic like SBI Securities / Rakuten, etc.. ?

If you use a domestic broker, there is a tax-reporting account that generates the documents you need for a tax return. You can also opt to have it deduct the necessary (capital gains/dividend) taxes automatically, which is one of the conditions that can make you exempt from needing to submit a tax return at all.

Swissquote looks tempting, especially as they don't have any custody fees.
But I think I'll probably just bring it all to Japan and but it in either a NISA or just something like an SBI Securities account, or something like a S&P500 fund on SMBC.
Simply because it'll probably be easier.