I will be working in Tokyo as Software Engineer for 2 years. I’m aware that the yen is currently weak as such I’m thinking of strategies that I should do so I can get the most of what I will earn during my 2 year contract.
Below are my questions:
1. Is it possible to open more than 1 savings account in Japan? I want to separate my “expenses”, “emergency fund”, and “tax payments”. I’m just afraid of the possibility of my account getting compromised, if so… then I will lose all my hard earned money.
2. Is it good to open yen savings accounts offered by PH banks? If so, which bank is good?
3. Currently in the Philippines, most of the banks now offer big interest rate for savings account. Does Japan also have the same?
4. Should I convert a certain amount of yen to php monthly or should I just convert all yen to php in one go at the end of my contract? are there any limitations?
5. I have been seeing post that income tax or resident tax can be refunded. Can this also be done if I only have a 2 year contract?
6. I’m sure this depends on a person, but around how much is the food expenses of someone who is living alone in Tokyo?
Thank you so much!
6 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Money concerns of a Filipino Software Engineer who will be working in Tokyo for 2 years**
I will be working in Tokyo as Software Engineer for 2 years. I’m aware that the yen is currently weak as such I’m thinking of strategies that I should do so I can get the most of what I will earn during my 2 year contract.
Below are my questions:
1. Is it possible to open more than 1 savings account in Japan? I want to separate my “expenses”, “emergency fund”, and “tax payments”. I’m just afraid of the possibility of my account getting compromised, if so… then I will lose all my hard earned money.
2. Is it good to open yen savings accounts offered by PH banks? If so, which bank is good?
3. Currently in the Philippines, most of the banks now offer big interest rate for savings account. Does Japan also have the same?
4. Should I convert a certain amount of yen to php monthly or should I just convert all yen to php in one go at the end of my contract? are there any limitations?
5. I have been seeing post that income tax or resident tax can be refunded. Can this also be done if I only have a 2 year contract?
6. I’m sure this depends on a person, but around how much is the food expenses of someone who is living alone in Tokyo?
Thank you so much!
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You want to ask this in r/japanfinance
1. At the same bank? I don’t believe so. You could open accounts at multiple banks.
3. No. Interest rates in Japan are some of the lowest in the world. Great for borrowing (mortgage, etc.) but awful for savings. The interest rate of my [SBI Shinsei savings account is currently at 0.001%](https://www.sbishinseibank.co.jp/english/rate_list/yen.html).
4. I guess it depends on what works out better. More conversions will mean more fees but a single conversion will be affected heavily by the exchange rate at that time. Also, if you are getting way better interest in PH, it might be better to move it there earlier and get some of that.
5. Can you link that post. I don’t believe so, no.
>Is it possible to open more than 1 savings account in Japan?
Sure, I personally have 3 (two of which at the same bank) and my wife has 6 or 7.
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>I have been seeing post that income tax or resident tax can be refunded. Can this also be done if I only have a 2 year contract?
I think you’re confusing tax with pension. You get a tax refund if you over pay on the taxes you owe, but other wise you owe taxes to japan. Pension on the other hand, you can get a refund. Details here: https://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/japanese-system/withdrawalpayment/payment.html
1. Not sure why you are being paranoid, Japanese bank accounts are not safer or unsafer than anywhere else. Just don’t go around telling people your account details and you’ll be fine.
2. I am not Filipino but I have spoken to a few who are here on the trainee visa. According to them, all the PH organizations that offer support for people to come to Japan are exploitative and not worth your time. Again, not my personal experience but maybe worth looking into.
3. No, interest rates have been always pretty bad in Japan and its currently at one of the lowest rates ever.
4. Dunno, seems like a pain in the ass so I wouldn’t do it. Keep in mind that you have to pay a fee for converting money so any gains you make from a better exchange rate might be lost to that fee.
5. No refund on taxes but you can get pension payments refunded once you leave Japan. Just google for “Pension lump sum withdrawal”, there should be loads of articles on it.
6. Noone can answer this for you but if you want a ballpark figure maybe around 20000 to 30000 JPY a month? Depends on how often you want to eat out, if you want to buy ingredients from back home etc.
If I was you I would just open an account at IBKR and deposit my yen there. Then you can invest in japanese or worldwide stocks. The conversion is really cheap so you can easily convert back to yen and withdraw to your japanese bank if you need money. I would keep at least 2 months of expenses in the japanese bank account though, just in case.