Options for paying US federal student loans from Japan. Use Wise?

4 comments

1. Leave the US account open, as long as there are no monthly fee or inactivity fee. You never know when you might need it, for example some sort of stimulus payment. It is difficult to open financial accounts in US while living abroad.

2. I’m not sure about using a Wise account for this. I contacted and asked about using a Japanese account for loan repayment, and was told it -must- be a US bank account. I just use Wise to send money back to my US account. As long as I add money (I think like minimum $300) every month OR keep it above a certain threshold (I think $700), my account doesn’t have maintenance fees, so I don’t see any problem leaving it open. I usually try to keep at least $1,000 in it at all times.

3. If you keep 3,000 yen in your Wise account balance as USD, Wise will give you American banking details. You’ll have to verify your identity in order to get them, but it’s possible. The bank details are those of a Wells Fargo account that is essentially yours via Wise (similar to how Wise gives us PayPay details when transferring money to and from Japan).

   I personally recommend keeping at least one American bank or credit union account open, or even opening a Schwab checking account before moving to Japan.

   Hope that answers your question

4. FYI if you’re one of those people who intends to stay here forever and if they are federal loans then you don’t have to pay at all. Sign up for an income-based repayment plan – so long as you don’t make enough to pay US taxes (around $100k) your amount due for monthly payments will be calculated as $0 because you don’t have any taxable income. The payment plan connects to the IRS and is based on your tax returns for the previous year. You just have to reapply yearly.