I’ve been living in Japan for the last 8 years, and recently realized it’s time to call it, I don’t belong here. My problem is I have been saving up for the last 8 years in a Japanese bank (JP post) since I had planned to live here indefinitely and now I really don’t know what to do. If I’m no longer living here I need to take my money with me (especially since I’ve been denied even a debit card here) But how do I go about doing that? Do I just open an account in the states and transfer all my money? Is there anyways to do that without transferring it from yen to dollars as the yen is tanking and I feel like I’d be losing a huge amount of the value I worked so hard to save? Alternatively can I just leave my money in a different Japanese bank that will give me a card, and leave it open even if I’m not living here? I haven’t quit my job or anything so I have time to get things in order, but frankly I am miserable here, so I would like to move asap. Thanks for any insight and advice. Sorry if leavers concerns are not welcome here
11 comments
Did you delete your previous post accidentally?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/x9oqgm/leaving_japan_yen_rates_abysmally_low_what_do_i/
I’ve started thinking about moving back to my home country as well so I’ve started doing some research on this type of stuff.
I’d recommend getting a Wise account and transferring your money from your JP account to your new account in the states. I have had no problems with Wise and their rates are decent.
You can’t keep your Japanese bank account open once you leave the country as far as I know. Most banks will close inactive accounts after a certain amount of time. So best to transfer all the money in your JP bank account to another one before you leave.
Also, don’t forget to apply to get your Lump-sum Pension Withdrawal. Thats just money that you have the right to.
You could purchase Japanese stock with good dividends until things are back to normal in 3 to 5 years
If you think/hope the rate will recover, question from a non-american ignoramus : non-USD accounts are not a thing in the US ? in which case you open a JPY account there, transfer your hard earned JPY on it, and hope for things to get back on track ?
If you never plan to come back as a resident, you need to move the money out before you leave. If you leave, your bank will lock your account when they do not receive your updated residence card once it expires. The money will remain there and some people in other threads have mentioned that they returned after a few years and unlocked (or closed/reopened) their account to retrieve their money with no problems. However, there doesn’t seem to be a way to do this with out being a resident so you will have no access abroad once it’s locked. If you never come back that money will be in limbo forever or however long the bank is required to keep it.
Converting from yen to dollars now is just terrible timing for anyone that needs to do so and cannot avoid it. Depending on how much you have, I guessssss you could just take it all out as cash, wait until the exchange rate is more favorable and then change it? But I am no finance type guy and that sounds like a major risk/pain and maybe impossible if the yen is the only savings you have. Another person mentioned Wise, if they let you keep different international currencies that could be a safer way to keep it in yen until the timing is better to exchange, but I haven’t used them personally myself.
Open a [wise account](https://wise.com) and transfer into a yen account. Create a USD account. Sit on it until the exchange rate is more favorable to make an exchange. When it is, transfer from your yen account to USD account.
There is no guarantee the exchange rate will get better.
There was talk of “intervention” to support the yen yesterday and a financial package coming in October. Personally my money is in sterling so I like the weaker yen for now but the pound is also weak so I’m about 10% “richer” than when I arrived a year ago but 25% “poorer” than when I lived here in the 90s and 33% “worser off” than when I visited in 2013. Then again I wasn’t moving large amounts of currency at that time. What happens, happens. If you try to beat the current rates you are simply gambling like all investments. Probably best to hold off changing to dollars if you can afford to though.
Another option of course is to use the savings to travel back to the USA via Asia where your yen may go a bit further eg Vietnam etc
One option would be Shinsei Bank. They offer a GoRemit account I believe. Or maybe it’s the PowerDirect account that comes with the GoRemit benefits. You’ll need to look into it. You can then request forms be sent to you from the website to open an account. You’ll also need some official documents to finalize the connection of your home country bank account to your Japanese bank account. Then all you need to do is download an app, click a few buttons and your money is transferred. **The amount you’re able to transfer a month, and the yearly limit, are based on your annual income.** You can submit yearly limit increase requests as well. Good luck 🙂
Maybe tough it out a bit longer until the exchange rate moves back in a more favorable direction before pulling your money out of Japan, otherwise you’re going to take a big hit. What’s going on that makes you feel like you don’t belong here?
Good thread, I’m saving it. I too have to move but in Spring and I too am panicking about what to do with my savings.