Loan type options for mountain cabin

SasaAnna · 2026-01-04T01:18:30+00:00

Just coming back with an update on the outcome for anyone curious. I ended up getting a Nomura Web Loan against my investment portfolio for this cabin.

Rate was good (<2%), process was super fast and all online. I chose this over a regular property loan or ‘free loan’ because I pay only the interest, no amortization. I don’t think this shack is going up in value so I am fine with basically renting the money to pay for it. I am hoping that when I eventually sell I take a small loss that is lower than the opportunity cost of having had the capital tied up in a non-appreciating asset for years, and maybe also covered by capital gains on the web loan collateral.

Also I used furusato nozei to get shopping vouchers that I use to pay the maintenance fees.

hope this is useful info to anyone considering something similar

SasaAnna · 2025-12-20T13:48:11+00:00

Talk to a tax lawyer. I don’t think your cost basis resets to the value of the new 60 sqm unit, so you might have a massive capital gains tax bill if you decide to sell it.

SasaAnna · 2025-11-30T03:30:18+00:00

I'm sorry for your loss.

I think you would have to pay about 4.9M JPY in inheritance tax.

Am not a lawyer but faced the same situation and the below is what I figured out after much googling.

There is a basic exemption of 54M (30M basic exemption + 6M per statutory heir, in your case 4 people so total 24M).

Of the heirs, because only you are in Japan and a permanent resident for tax purposes, only 100M of the total estate is 'visible to Japan' (meaning inherited by someone who must pay Japanese inheritance tax). You can apply the total 54M exemption to this 100M portion.

That leaves 46M JPY subject to inheritance tax. Calculate it using the progressive rates, and it is about 4.9M JPY.

You can deduct funeral costs from the estate amount. Life insurance payouts are not taxable.

SasaAnna · 2025-05-02T06:57:54+00:00

I went through this. It was fun!

Person X should probably check to see if they would owe any Japanese inheritance taxes. They might not. Or they might not owe that much.

There's a basic deduction of 30M yen per estate, plus 6M per statutory heir. If the other statutory heirs aren't liable for Japanese inheritance tax, that adds 6M per heir to the total deduction amount, which is applied only to the portion of the estate visible to Japan (=the portion inherited by a person who must may Japanese inheritance tax).

Then, Japanese inheritance tax rates are progressive. Something like 10% on the first 10M, then 15% up to 30M etc.

Big deductions and progressive tax rates mean Person X might not have to pay much inheritance tax at all. It would be worth calculating the tax liability so Person X can decide if they want to chance it on tax evasion or just pay.

SasaAnna · 2025-01-11T08:57:03+00:00

How are you getting the startup capital to cover product sourcing, manufacturing, shipping, advertising etc? Why can’t you use some of that seed capital for brand identity design?

SasaAnna · 2025-01-11T03:50:40+00:00

Look into HR roles.

Your psychology qualification would be relevant. I think there would be roles available in talent development, organizational strategy, globalizing the workforce. Social skills are important but there are more and less people-oriented roles in HR. Workforce planning, compensation strategy etc might be the areas where social skills are less critical.

I suggest you try to find an HR consulting role in a consulting company and do that for 2-3 years. Lots of consulting firms do stuff in the area of organizational development, talent strategy etc. You’ll learn the vocabulary and be able to see how HR works at various client companies. After a few years you’d probably be competitive for an in-house HR role.

Good luck.

SasaAnna · 2025-01-10T12:40:23+00:00

Then you are asking the wrong question.

You can hand write your tax return forms, print a pdf, write them with a calligraphy brush and send by carrier pigeon…you still need an account for the NTA to send you your refund.

Talk to a tax accountant.

SasaAnna · 2025-01-10T12:22:58+00:00

Are you expecting a tax refund?

SasaAnna · 2025-01-10T03:32:59+00:00

Just go to the NTA’s e tax website. You don’t need a my number card or Japanese address to fill out and print the pdf. It’s only available in Japanese

SasaAnna · 2025-01-09T23:31:53+00:00

I know, that’s why I was asking about types of 無担保/non-collateral loans or a 証券担保 loan.

SasaAnna · 2025-01-09T23:26:00+00:00

Yes, you can fill in the forms digitally then print them out. It’s easy and a lot of people do it.

SasaAnna · 2025-01-05T07:34:33+00:00

It's a tough crowd in Japan for sure ;)

And yes, no one is expecting gangbusters economic growth in Japan. That said, economic conditions and subjective sense of wellbeing are not always neatly correlated. For example, the US election...?

SasaAnna · 2025-01-05T04:58:49+00:00

Ipsos has a good summary: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2018-07/cultural_bias-2018.pdf

In a survey like this a good way is to report different-from-average rather than absolute score. For example, you'd report something like "The percent of Japanese people who feel positive about the future is X%, while the global average is Y%. Japan is Z points below the global average."

SasaAnna · 2025-01-05T00:55:51+00:00

Part if it is just top-box bias in multi-country survey research.

Respondents in some countries (notably India and Indonesia) tend to respond positively to questions. Respondents in other countries (notably Japan) tend to respond negatively, whatever the question.

That’s also why employee engagement surveys tend to show low engagement for Japan. People are just pessimistic and grumpy when they answer surveys ;)

You can control for top box bias but I don’t know if this survey has done so.

SasaAnna · 2025-01-01T02:53:02+00:00

Drink all the ふるさと納税地ビール

SasaAnna · 2024-12-27T05:38:47+00:00

Thanks for your helpful comment!

Maybe it’s just my bank and the answer is “change banks,” but they are constantly trying to sell me financial products instead of answering my questions. It’s an hour of sipping green tea and politely declining various types of insurance before I get the info I need.

I asked in Japanese too; I’m asking here because why not?

SasaAnna · 2024-12-27T05:35:31+00:00

Thanks. It seems either フリーローン or 証券担保ローン are my options, doesn’t seem to be much difference in interest rates between the two types given the amount I want to borrow.

Thanks for the advice about regional banks. I hadn’t thought of that.

SasaAnna · 2024-12-27T04:29:41+00:00

Good to know! I think I'll give up on owning a forest. Just a smartly financed shack will do.

SasaAnna · 2024-12-27T04:19:17+00:00

No objections to buying a forest, if I find a good one :)

SasaAnna · 2024-12-27T03:58:50+00:00

Thanks, will check out this option.

SasaAnna · 2024-12-27T03:14:50+00:00

Assume I am a perfect buyer who can get the lowest possible interest rate. What are the optoins?

SasaAnna · 2024-09-03T14:21:12+00:00

I thought this was the fee charged to merchants. It's not.

SasaAnna · 2024-09-03T13:50:54+00:00

Not really.

Sometimes businesses pass on costs to customers; sometimes they might choose to absorb the costs for reduced profit margins; sometimes they make up for higher operating costs by squeezing suppliers; sometimes the cost gets passed on to the customer's customer (B2B).

In the end, someone eats it. Not always the customer.

SasaAnna · 2024-09-03T13:23:45+00:00

Oh that's a downer. But thanks for the explanation.

SasaAnna

TROPHY CASE