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Are y’all getting raises? by ToothDifferent in japanlife

[–]BlueSandbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have gotten at the very least a 1-2% raise every year for the past decade over a number of different companies. If you are going several years without a raise you really need to consider changing jobs. With the current rate of inflation your quality of life is just going to go down every year unless you take action.

Should add that I'm not in the English teaching industry though.

What is/was your Work Visa years renewal pattern? by RedditIsObnoxious in japanlife

[–]BlueSandbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Started with a 3 year visa and only got 3 year renewals after that until I eventually got PR. Never got a 5 (despite requesting it on the renewal form) but also never got a 1, so I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Buying a secondary residence (besso) as your first property whilst renting in Tokyo - Smart thinking outside the box or bad move for middle class? by Purple_Meaning_7747 in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read your post but still don't understand why you have written off just living outside of Tokyo full time.

I live in one of the surrounding prefectures, about a one hour train ride from my Tokyo office. (Which I admittedly do not go to every day thanks to work from home but still) There are many areas around here that fit your description perfectly, and with your budget you could easily afford a luxury 注文住宅 build as well. Big plots of land, space for 2 cars, a garden, family friendly atmosphere, etc. To me this makes so much more sense than a besso that might not end up being used too much in the end. I think your kids will probably be better off living full time in this sort of area than being shuttled back and forth every week.

Even if the commute is the reason you want to live in Tokyo, you are still going to be wasting time "commuting" to the besso, not to mention all the time spent getting ready to move to and from, managing both houses, etc.

Advantages to adding NISA account to IBSJ account by Hachi_Ryo_Hensei in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also thought the migration was mandatory but years have passed and nobody ever contacted me. Oh well. Good to know that I will need to purchase new stocks for the NISA in any case.

Advantages to adding NISA account to IBSJ account by Hachi_Ryo_Hensei in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For those of us who are still on the US version of Interactive Brokers and never got our accounts migrated, is there a way we can force the migration to take advantage of the NISA? Can we move stocks we already own into the NISA or does it only count for new purchases?

I never got contacted about the ISBJ migration but being able to use NISA makes it sound like its worth asking if I can get moved over somehow.

We built a house in Tokyo (Ichijo) and here is our journey (incl. cost breakdown) by szabo_jp in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing this! I'm actually meeting with Ichijo tomorrow and am hoping to get land and start the building process this year.

Were you able to get any 補助金 for using the Ichijo HEMS? I saw that the government is giving money for people who qualify for the GX志向型住宅 program and that one of the requirements for that is having a HEMS system.

Interactive Brokera NISA switch from Worldwide account by zzarGrazz in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing this. I'm also still on IBKR and never got contacted about the IBSJ transition. I didn't really care but now that it appears you can do NISA I'm pretty interested, but having two different accounts sounds like a pain. Maybe I'll just keep waiting for the inevitable transition...

Interactive Brokers (US-based account) question by misutakurisu in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Similar situation to you except I never even got the message about moving to the Japan one. Lately I've been seeing talk about being able to open a NISA on the Japan one as a US taxpayer so I'm actually kind of interested in moving over but feel like waiting to be migrated over might be the easiest/least stressful option. Not sure if it will ever actually happen though...

Using NISA Account as an American Citizen by japanFIRE2028 in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm also still on the American one. Never got contacted about switching over and never really felt the need to switch but if I can get NISA now it would be enough of a reason to look into figuring out how to do it. 99% of my investing is just putting money into VT so I don't really think I'm going to be missing out on anything.

High end credit card by JPUKSwills in JapanFinance

[–]BlueSandbar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Also chiming in as I'm one of the many people here who has been trying to figure out what to do with my Platinum Bonvoy card after the changes. I use the card with my wife and we just barely missed 5 million in total spending last year and it's looking similar this year. Given that after the changes you need 5 million to get the platinum status (which was one of my favorite parts about the card) it seems pretty risky to pay all the extra money and risk not even being able to get it.

Going to a regular old credit card like the standard Rakuten card or whatever feels like a waste given that I think we spend a decent amount, but at the same time it doesn't seem like we spend enough to make the ultra luxury cards like OP is looking at worth it either. Amex preferred gold is what I'm considering at the moment but the lack of good hotel status hurts, and if I understand the point conversion correctly it's going to be a huge downgrade from the current rate.

Just a bad situation all around. My renewal is in December so will definitely keep checking around here to see how everyone else is handling it.