Living abroad, what to do with savings?

paul-japan

Hello all,

I was hoping for some advice here. I've been living in Japan for the last seven years and have quite a bit saved up in both my Japanese and UK bank accounts. However since I am not eligible for a UK ISA and the current saving accounts are really low, I am wondering what I should be doing with this money?

I'm worried if I leave the money just sitting in my accounts for years it slowly fall in value because of inflation.

I was thinking about investing in shares, although I'm not sure the best way to do that from Japan.

Is anyone else in a similar situation? What do you do with your spare cash?

Marine_life

I would say, first of all work out what your plan would be if you were unrestricted by location i.e. life objectives, what are you saving for, what sort of risk tolerance are you prepared to take on, how much you are investing etc. i.e. all the normal considerations.

Secondly, are you permanently in Japan or do you ultimately intend to return to the UK?

You say you are "thinking about investing in shares" but how much do you know about that and what would be the purpose?

Once you've answered some of those basic questions then you might be in a better position to get some advice.

soulsaver

paul-japan wrote: »

Hello all,


I was thinking about investing in shares, although I'm not sure the best way to do that from Japan.

I'm aware that you have to be a UK resident to invest via an ISA. Investing in shares while living in Japan shouldn't be a problem ASFAIK; I can invest in worldwide shares while living in the UK?
Unless someone comes along that knows, probably best to enquire of Hl or II etc

grey_gym_sock

you don't need an ISA to invest. you can invest in a taxable account (sometimes called a GIA - general investment account). UK providers may or may not be prepared to open accounts for non-residents, however; but having a UK bank account may help.

http://www.retirejapan.info/ has some info on investment options available specifically for japanese residents. i know nothing about this topic, so i can't say how reliable the site is for detailed info, but it's at least something to start from.

paul-japan

Marine_life wrote: »

I would say, first of all work out what your plan would be if you were unrestricted by location i.e. life objectives, what are you saving for, what sort of risk tolerance are you prepared to take on, how much you are investing etc. i.e. all the normal considerations.

Secondly, are you permanently in Japan or do you ultimately intend to return to the UK?

You say you are "thinking about investing in shares" but how much do you know about that and what would be the purpose?

Thanks for the reply and advice. At the moment I would like to stay flexible for my future, I may stay in Japan, come back to the UK or move to another country. It would be good if I could do something with my money that was safe and gave me a reasonable rate of return rather than slowly falling in value. I don't mind locking it away for a long time if that's a good option.

I have no experience buying or selling shares, and have a fairly low risk tolerance. I was thinking that I would buy a wide range of "safer" shares to try and reduce my level of risk.

If there are other, safer options for investments that return a decent rate of interest I would be happy to know about them.

soulsaver wrote: »

I'm aware that you have to be a UK resident to invest via an ISA. Investing in shares while living in Japan shouldn't be a problem ASFAIK; I can invest in worldwide shares while living in the UK?
Unless someone comes along that knows, probably best to enquire of Hl or II etc

That's good to know! Thanks. I have been searching for a stockbroker that would allow me to invest in shares while living outside the UK, but so far it's a little daunting! What do Hl and II mean? Sorry, I did a google search for those but it didn't help much.

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

you don't need an ISA to invest. you can invest in a taxable account (sometimes called a GIA - general investment account). UK providers may or may not be prepared to open accounts for non-residents, however; but having a UK bank account may help.

retirejapan.info has some info on investment options available specifically for japanese residents. i know nothing about this topic, so i can't say how reliable the site is for detailed info, but it's at least something to start from.

Thanks for the information, the forums there have some helpful discussions so I will read through them!

Yes, it would be simpler and I'd feel safer dealing with a UK provider as that way I would be able to know clearly what taxes I'd have to pay and be able to talk to them in English.

soulsaver

HL & II - Hargreaves Lansdown; Interactive Investor

badger09

I did some research a while ago for my son who is based in Hong Kong

None of the following relates specifically to your location in Japan, but you might find some of them useful as a place to start your own research

https://the-international-investor.com/2011/uk-stock-broker-accounts-nonresidents


http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2515604/I-living-South-Africa-I-want-open-share-dealing-account-UK-Can-I-UK-address.html

http://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2//hsbc-expat/why-hsbc-expat/eligibility?HBIB_dyn_lnk=hme_nav_t1_col4_lnk_1

Good luck and please report back on your progress.

paul-japan

Thanks for the advice! I will report back soon!

paul-japan

Just a quick update here. Unfortunately, most brokers I have contacted so far are not able to offer me an account. Including both HL and II.

However, I was able to open an account with Nutmeg as they do allow Japanese residents to invest so I'm using that for the time being.

Thanks for the advice everyone!