Hi all. I've been looking to open an Interactive Brokers account just in case I ever need to transfer my holdings from Vanguard. I have a few questions if anyone is feeling particularly helpful today!
- Does IBSJ require an initial deposit/share transfer of 1,000,000 yen? I've seen posts saying they don't, but this requirement is shown when clicking the "start application" button.
- When buying an ETF (like VT) in IBSJ with yen, is there any special recording you need to do for foreign currency gains? How I invest in Vanguard right now requires me to record the exchange rate from JPY to USD, then using the USD to buy an ETF. Then I need to also record when selling the ETF for USD, and then exchanging it for JPY. So I'm taxed at two points on foreign currency gains: (1) when using USD to buy the Vanguard ETF, and (2) when using USD from a sold Vanguard ETF to repurchase JPY. Is this level of recording necessary with IBSJ? I'm under the impression that when purchasing with JPY in an IBSJ account, your yen is converted to USD and then purchasing the ETF with USD. Or is the exchange so quick that it negates the need to record currency gains because it's just baked into the yen price?
- Does IBSJ withhold taxes from realized gains and dividends? Or would I need to continue manually calculating them as I do with Vanguard?
- I've heard from that in order to use IBSJ you also need to set up a Citi account as the intermediary for buying and selling with IBSJ. Are you able to use both Japanese and US bank accounts to transfer money to IBSJ, or does it all need to come from a Japanese bank account?
Thanks again, sorry if anything is unclear! (Reposted this topic for clarity, last post was a bit jumbled – thanks to the previous poster who confirmed 1,000,000 yen is necessary).
by redfinadvice