RetireJapan

I have been a reader of RetireJapan for over an year and have learned a lot by following the blog. Would like to learn from the community here about the experience I had with housing loan. I recently saw a property and liked it. The property is in Tokyo, 23 wards. The property in question is 35 yea...

VTI is an ETF right? So you'll be paying transaction fee to buy it, and you're buying it in USD so you might be paying currency conversation at the same time? Emaxis is JPY sold (although will fluctuate in value based on the JPN/USD rate), and is a mutual fund so 0 yen cost to buy. The tax piece i'm...

Wouldn't it be better to wait 3 years and do nothing, then I have a history of three years on my NI record, and then I can then send the letter and say I just moved abroad then I can make sure I can satisfy the 3 years consecutive living in the UK rule? I have 5 years of living in the UK from 1997-...

My wife seems to think we should take some documents with us I recommend you follow her instinct here, there's no such thing as having enough documents with you when dealing with Japanese bureaucracy. (Although there's still a chance that you won't have the particular documents they need) Might be ...

Hi all, Just last week I was rejected for permanent residency, which was slightly surprising considering I have a Japanese wife of 7 years and have been in Japan for a long time, anyway I was wondering if anyone had been in the same boat and could offer some insight into what happens at the follow-...

SBI seems to be making a move for Shinsei. This could get interesting to watch (especially as a Shinsei customer myself). https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/SBI-Holdings-to-buy-more-Shinsei-Bank-shares-through-tender-offer Honestly, with the interest rates where they are, and the clien...

I'm wondering what are everyone's latest thoughts on this topic as I'm currently choosing between the two. Current rate for variable loan+insurance is 0.7-0.8% and fixed for 35 years is 1.52% (Flat35). On one hand variable rate is very tempting, on other who knows what could happen in 35 years... W...

When I spoke to them they seemed to suggest that I got 3 years' credit for post-16 secondary education, rather than tertiary education. But, as others have suggested, their actual decision-making criteria is fuzzy, to say the least. Best of luck with it. My only gap in NICs record is for my three y...

adamu wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:13 am Looking forward to your update here in February when you get a reply.

harsh but fair warning </reality>

HI Everyone, I would like some advice if possible and will first give a bit of background info. I'm British, but when I was young my family left the UK so I never got my NI number, but I went back to the UK for uni and lived there about 5 years from 1997 to 2002, but because I was 19 when I went ba...