The yen at 160 -what can we do about it investing from Japan?

The weak yen is wonderful for visitors and exporters, but people living in Japan are not finding it quite as fun.

What can we do with our investments as the yen gets weaker? Should we change our allocation and take advantage by cashing in foreign investments in favor of yen ones?

[yamachan]

From the perspective of someone living in Japan, I would say now is the right moment to readjust portfolio to buy less foreign funds and more Japanese assets like Topix.

[Ypsilion]

I have my stocks and funds divided between international and japanese, so I have peace of mind in both fronts. I’m not thrilled with the yen being so low, but I will tighten my belt a bit more… specially since energy costs are crazy high coming summer

[sbringable]

I'm leaving Japan with a fair chunk of savings in yen, and am definitely having some difficulty deciding what to do 😅 i do have PR and may return so might try to keep some in yen. As you mentioned though, we really don't know if things will be better or worse.

[AG-sogl]

I see it hitting 180-200. I will then move to Japan

[marcosjframos]

I’ve just started using my NISA account. Maxed out the anual growth portion on an all-countries fund but haven’t decided yet what to do with the tsumitate portion. Should I also go with all countries for it or given the yen price invest in Japan instead?

[GregK]

Good suggestion. Stay consistent with the plan. It is, however, a bad time for relatives who are receiving smaller dollar amounts from their Japanese pension payments every two months here (in the USA).

[shalankwa]

Just starting out. Been living in Japan for 4 years and finally got a NISA account through Rakuten. Not really sure where to begin, but I feel like Im wasting money having it just sit in my bank.

[prieten]

Buy Yen! Buy Yen! Buy Yen! But then expect to get a letter from the Japan Tax Office asking you to explain the source of all these dollars you are using to buy Yen and the purpose of having so much Yen. You better have all your source douments in order! I've had this experience.

[xporkrind]

Correction. My cellphone was a US cellphone but connected to a Japanese provider. And the laptop was bought in the US and is not hooked up to Japanese internet. And I use English on both. Not sure if that makes a difference.

[xporkrind]

I am a huge fan of your videos and watch them religiously. I am having a strange problem. My Japanese wife bought me a Japanese cellphone with a Japanese provider. She also got me Japanese internet access for my home laptop computer with a Japanese provider. But when I try to access some Japanese websites on my phone or on my computer here in Japan, they block me. Is it because I am using English? I even tried a Japan VPN and it still blocked me. Any ideas about why my wife can access Japanese websites on her Japanese cellphone, but I cannot ? I am trying to get reservations at a Japanese Disney hotel through the Japanese Disney resort website. And I am also trying to sign up for massage membership at Karada. But I can't access either site.

[jdskates.]

All fiat currencies eventually got to zero. Save in assets. I like bitcoin and S&P 500

[morita]

happy holidays...enjoy your goldenweek🎉

[davidgaal]

Was wondering if you could do a video regarding the proposed government legislation to revoke permanent residence status to those who do not pay taxes and or social insurance premiums. Presently this is being brought up in various media channels....saw a good article a day or two ago in the Japan Times.

[shibafujiwatches]

Almost all of my liquidity is in foreign stocks, government bonds and gold, so the weak yen has made my net asset value in yen quite high.

However, I don’t plan on cashing out on anything for at least a few more years, so I don’t let myself get excited about it. A stronger yen is better for my daily living in the short term.

[exjockfoodie]

Make money in USD and then retire in Japan. Invest outside of Japan since Japan has no future. Japan is poorer and poorer which means Japan is better for retirement

[andrewimrie]

Take a long term view. Get a brokerage account in your home country and drip feed every month into a global equity EFT. Get a buy-to-let property in a country which has property asset appreciation eg UK, USA, Australia: put down the deposit and rent it out to pay the mortgage. Have some exposure to hard currencies such as gold and Bitcoin. Avoid bonds at all costs as all developed economies are going to have to print money like crazy for the foreseeable future. Anyone living in Japan needs to diversify their investments, which means having exposure to assets outside of Japan because while Japan will remain an amazing place to live, its long term economic outlook is not great. It’s foolhardy to try and predict currencies, but a ¥200 yen to the dollar exchange rate is not out of the question at some point this decade. Do these things and you’ll have the best of both worlds - appreciating wealth and the pleasure of living in the beautiful and safe country of Japan.

[greekdate]

We know: it is going much cheaper.
Japan can't increase rates. The next two inflation waves will imo make the yen weeeaker.

I have no doubt in this.
30 years of bonds. The rates can't get increased. You just can have a temporary relief, as long as you replace us treasuries for local currency. When this ends . . . . .

[GunterD]

my opinion is that if your main income is a salary and that's in Yen then you should definitely invest outside of Japan. I'm 100% invested outside of Japan and my net worth in Yen has skyrocketed. The yen went from 100 yen/usd to 160 yen/usd. That's +60% net worth in Yen just like that.... and the dividends are worth 60% more. it's a good time for me 😂

[ハネウマ-kk]

I am a Japanese and living fire life in Japan from the first of this year.
My main dividend currency is dollar, so I seem to be able to live with relative peace of mind at the moment, but I worry when the yen gets strong.
Foreign assets are expensive right now, so I am interested in J-REITs, which is cheaper than Japanese stocks.