Rakuten-Sec iDeCo help/advice

[Chris]

Hi All,

Finally got my iDeCo activated and set up after taking five months!...five fucking months (this country is insanely slow with stuff)! Started applying in July 2020.

Employee so contributing 23,000 JPY a month

Luckily the certificate thing they sent through said they were deducting September 2020 and October 2020 on the 26th of November 2020, which I thought, that's great! (at least I only miss out on two months as opposed to four). So I got the three months in my bank account ready for deduction.

26th of November 2020 came around and they only deducted two months! Which seems weird to not deduct November 2020 too?

Long story short, I guess my first question is do they deduct a month behind? So on the 26th of December 2020 I will technically pay November 2020's contribution?

Second question. The money for the two months was deducted from my bank account 26th of November 2020 but the money still has not appeared on my account. How long does it take the money to appear on the account?

However, I have at least been able to select my funds and this is what leads into my third question. Anyone who uses Rakuten care to offer some advice on what is good. I currently selected this set up:

-Saison Vanguard Global Balance Fund (セゾン・バンガード・グローバルバランスファンド) = 50%
-Straw No-Load Nikkei 225 (たわらノーロード 日経225) = 40%
-Rakuten Target Year 2050 (楽天ターゲットイヤー2050) = 10%

I am kind of thinking just putting 100% into the Vanguard Global fund as opposed to 50%. Would that be considered a wise move or is it good to keep a balance?

Any help and advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

[Kanto]

1/2 - Here is an example

My money is pulled out on the October 28th, for my November contribution.
発注日 2020/11/13
約定日 2020/11/16
受渡日 2020/11/19

These dates can vary a bit.

3. - You are also paying some very high fees.
- You are overweighting Japan by quite a bit.

What kind of allocation are you looking for? This is an individual thing, and factors like age and risk tolerance affect everyone's approach.

Equities - What percentage of each do you want?
American
Japanese
Developed
Emerging

Easiest solution? Go with market weight

楽天・全世界株式インデックス・ファンド（楽天・バンガード・ファンド（全世界株式））
https://www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/fund/ ... 90C000FHC4

Bonds- - What percentage of each do you want?
Japanese
Developed
Emerging - (Do not buy these)

Easiest solution? Go with

たわらノーロード　先進国債券

https://dc.rakuten-sec.co.jp/dc/apps/pr ... 0066100014
https://dc.rakuten-sec.co.jp/dc/apps/pr ... 0066100015

[Chris]

Thanks for the reply.

So are you saying I should wait a few weeks for the 46,000 yen (two months contributions) withdrawn from my bank account on 26th of November 2020 to appear on my Rakuten iDeCo account? As it currently stands the value as of today 6th of December 2020 is still 0 yen

I guess the results I am after with iDeCo is to just contribute and leave it and hopefully have it grow.

I have some experience with equity shares in my NISA, that's the easy part. But the iDeCo is all new to me. It's just a bit difficult to comprehend what's going on because I have never had an account like this before in English language, so I am sort of running before I can walk with it in Japanese language.

I do have an additional question. How do the fees work? Is it a monthly deduction, or do they deduct the 00.xxx% fee form the total value when you sell?


So you don't recommend Saison Vanguard Global Balance Fund?
- セゾン・バンガード・グローバルバランスファンド (https://dc.rakuten-sec.co.jp/dc/apps/pr ... 0025&pre=0)

[Kanto]

Thanks for the reply.

So are you saying I should wait a few weeks for the 46,000 yen (two months contributions) withdrawn from my bank account on 26th of November 2020 to appear on my Rakuten iDeCo account? As it currently stands the value as of today 6th of December 2020 is still 0 yen

I guess the results I am after with iDeCo is to just contribute and leave it and hopefully have it grow.

I have some experience with equity shares in my NISA, that's the easy part. But the iDeCo is all new to me. It's just a bit difficult to comprehend what's going on because I have never had an account like this before in English language, so I am sort of running before I can walk with it in Japanese language.

I do have an additional question. How do the fees work? Is it a monthly deduction, or do they deduct the 00.xxx% fee form the total value when you sell?


So you don't recommend Saison Vanguard Global Balance Fund?
- セゾン・バンガード・グローバルバランスファンド (https://dc.rakuten-sec.co.jp/dc/apps/pr ... 0025&pre=0)

Yes, you need to wait. It should happen before Christmas.

As far as your goals and strategies, You need to decide what sort of asset strategy fits you. I was at the exact same point you are now this April.

Here is a good guide -> https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Boglehe ... _investors

A few points -

An expense ratio is an annual fee expressed as a percentage of your investment — or, like the term implies, the ratio of your investment that goes toward the fund's expenses. If you invest in a mutual fund with a 1% expense ratio, you'll pay the fund $10 per year for every $1,000 invested.
- https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investi ... 0invested.

It is very important to keep these fees as low as possible.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/p ... -ratio.asp


As far as the Saison fund goes, why did you select it to begin with?

[Chris]

My reasons for selecting the Saison Vanguard Global Balance Fund was from my brief research that balanced funds are good and safe for long-term, which is what I am using the iDeCo for.

However, compared to the ones you shared, the funds do seem quite high.

With your recommendations, I have now changed it up a bit.

My set up is now:

- たわらノーロード 先進国債券 = 45%

- 楽天・全世界株式インデックス・ファンド（楽天・バンガード・ファンド（全世界株式) = 45%

- セゾン・バンガード・グローバルバランスファンド = 10%

Basically, I have 30 years until 60. As it currently stands I will pay in the max I can (23,000 yen) every month. I just want to try get this set up right for just leaving it and checking a couple of times a year to monitor growth.

Does this set up seem like a good balance for what I want?

[Kanto]

My reasons for selecting the Saison Vanguard Global Balance Fund was from my brief research that balanced funds are good and safe for long-term, which is what I am using the iDeCo for.

However, compared to the ones you shared, the funds do seem quite high.

With your recommendations, I have now changed it up a bit.

My set up is now:

- たわらノーロード 先進国債券 = 45%

- 楽天・全世界株式インデックス・ファンド（楽天・バンガード・ファンド（全世界株式) = 45%

- セゾン・バンガード・グローバルバランスファンド = 10%

Basically, I have 30 years until 60. As it currently stands I will pay in the max I can (23,000 yen) every month. I just want to try get this set up right for just leaving it and checking a couple of times a year to monitor growth.

Does this set up seem like a good balance for what I want?

I am also in my early 30`s.

It is important to remember the with IDeco you can rebalance (exchange funds) at any time. With no penalty. This is an amazing advantage.

Taking that into consideration....

1. There is no reason to include the balance fund with the other fund choices. The other funds accomplish the same thing.

2. Your bond allocation seems high. This allocation would be appropriate for someone who is 50+/

However, I do not know your allocations in your Nisa and a taxable account. You need to treat all accounts as one big basket.

[fools_gold]

The Saison fund has quite high fees and there's also a fee when you come to sell (about 0.1% if I remember correctly). It's best if you avoid it.

[Bushiman]

I am kind of thinking just putting 100% into the Vanguard Global fund as opposed to 50%. Would that be considered a wise move or is it good to keep a balance?

I'm with Rakuten, am late 30's, and am 100% equities in my iDeco...
75% in the Rakuten/Vanguard US Equity Fund
25% in the Rakuten/Vanguard Global Equity Fund
Both are performing nicely...

I'll probably stick to this for the next 15yrs or so, unless Rakuten start offering the eMaxis Slim range! Then I'll start to bring in a percentage of bonds the closer to retirement I get...

[taneandy]

Just as another point of reference, my iDeCo with Rakuten is 100% たわらノーロード先進国株式.
My wife's is 50%たわらノーロード先進国株式 and 50%たわらノーロード日経225.

Since this is money that is going to be locked away for at least 20+ years and will hopefully only make up quite a small amount of our total savings I didn't see any point in including any bonds, especially with the lack of options in iDeCo accounts and the ability to buy and sell at a later stage. I don't plan on making any changes to this allocation until within 5-10 years of typical retirement age.
Also, I have index fund investments in other accounts that include emerging markets so the fact that these funds don't include emerging markets doesn't really bother me.

[Chris]

I am kind of thinking just putting 100% into the Vanguard Global fund as opposed to 50%. Would that be considered a wise move or is it good to keep a balance?

I'm with Rakuten, am late 30's, and am 100% equities in my iDeco...
75% in the Rakuten/Vanguard US Equity Fund
25% in the Rakuten/Vanguard Global Equity Fund
Both are performing nicely...

I'll probably stick to this for the next 15yrs or so, unless Rakuten start offering the eMaxis Slim range! Then I'll start to bring in a percentage of bonds the closer to retirement I get...

I've done some research since making this post over the past couple of days and funny you say that because I actually changed mine to something similar yesterday:

- 楽天全米株式バンガード楽天ＤＣ =70%
- 楽天全世界株バンガード楽天ＤＣ = 30%

I am actually very glad the money has not appeared on my account yet because I have switched and changed about 5 times in one day lol.

But I feel quite happy with this set up now.

Thanks for the help everyone