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The story
The thread kicked off with a challenge to people who say “investing scares me because I might lose money”: why not just buy principal-guaranteed individual government bonds? Posters noted these bonds pay more interest than an ordinary savings account and won’t lose principal unless Japan itself goes broke — though others countered that the rate gap isn’t huge and the paperwork hassle barely pays off. As the talk rolled on, it expanded to cover regular investing in All-Country (“Orukan”) and S&P 500 index funds, bank time-deposit promotions, and how big an emergency fund should be, with the thread converging on the idea that bonds, savings, and stocks should be mixed according to one’s risk tolerance.
What people said
Plus you get something like 5-6x the interest of most ordinary savings accounts.
The only real downside is you can't touch it for a year. It's genuinely a great deal, why isn't everyone buying these?
If you put in a large sum, the difference really adds up though.
But there are way more non-self-employed people out there.
I guess the logic is: people who can handle the hassle go for stocks that pay off bigger, and people who find it a hassle won't bother with bonds either if the gains are that small.
Hmm. Setting the second group aside, I'd still want to nudge the stock crowd from the first group into buying at least a little.
I'm in All-Country myself, and even though it'll probably outperform, I hold a solid chunk of bonds too just to keep my head straight during a crash.
Panic-selling would defeat the whole point.
My mom, who just hit retirement age, brought home a flyer saying NISA's too confusing for her now so she wants a time deposit instead — about 1.9% on 3 million yen over 3 years, so a guaranteed +300,000 yen with zero risk of loss isn't bad at all.
Honestly she might out-earn me, and I only started NISA this year.
Bank time deposits have gotten better lately too, though sometimes that rate includes a promotional bonus.
It's decent, but for something like a 3-year term, individual bonds actually beat a time deposit. Time deposits are better suited to 6-month or 1-year terms.
Really? Feels like talk about investing and saving has been on the rise though.
Yeah, it included the promo bonus — seems the condition was opening a new account.
I did look into the bank first before giving the go-ahead, though.
A friend told me it'd pay off more if I borrowed that 3 million and built her a portfolio, but that scared me, so I had her go with the time deposit instead.
You never know how much longer your parents will be around, anyway.
I think that's the right call. Even with a promo bonus tacked on, if the conditions line up it's still a good deal.
Throwing in a few hundred thousand yen I made off semiconductor stocks.
Nice. Shore up your defenses too and build that grip strength (i.e., the nerve to hold through a downturn) 💪
Uh… are they rich, or just completely checked out?
Shifting into defensive assets is a conversation for after you retire.
My risk tolerance is low, so I buy bonds too, for the grip strength. Of course I buy All-Country as well.
Which bank pays 0.1%? My local regional bank's ordinary savings rate is 0.4%.
And right now you get around 1.9% on the 3-year bond and about 2.2% on the 5-year, if I remember right.
Chinese stocks don't come with a principal guarantee though…
What kind of risk are we talking about? Seriously, tell me.
Because inflation is expected to keep climbing over the long run.
Life is long and there'll be times you need cash, yet they assume you can just keep contributing for 10+ years straight.
And not many people have the mental fortitude to keep buying in while watching their losses pile up during a downturn.
This is seriously true. If you don't have that mental margin, better to raise your bond allocation and keep more in savings.
Normally you wouldn't put your emergency fund, or tuition savings if you've got kids, into investments anyway.
You buy All-Country on the assumption that money's locked away for the long haul.
Ordinary savings accounts are the real danger. Go with All-Country or bonds — or at minimum a time deposit with a decent rate.
There's also the risk the US forces a stronger yen on us, so it's hard to say anything for certain.
Buy low, sell high is the basic rule — so if not now while the yen is cheap, when?
Well, if we're going there, a side hustle pays even better rates. This is specifically about ordinary asset management though.
You should factor this in too — a floating-rate individual bond gets you 2%, and a Mizuho Rakuten Card gets you another 2%, so you can lock in 4% just from everyday spending.
True, but there's also a chance rates drop — low, but not zero — so I'll just buy in now while I can.
That's exactly why it's the 10-year floating-rate bond.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Individual government bonds (such as the 10-year floating-rate type) are issued by the state, so they never lose principal value. Current market rates run around 1.9% for the 3-year bond and 2.2% for the 5-year, both well above the 0.1-0.4% typical of ordinary bank savings accounts. That said, they generally can’t be cashed in early for a full year, and the payoff is small unless you’re investing a substantial sum. NISA and All-Country (an all-country equity index fund), by contrast, carry no principal guarantee but open the door to long-term capital gains and tax-free allowances — which demands the mental fortitude to keep contributing even while prices are falling. The thread split over whether to build a portfolio around “principal-guaranteed but slow-growing bonds” or “stock investing that can grow but can also fall,” with many participants converging on the idea that combining both, weighted by age and the size of one’s emergency fund, is the sensible approach. The conversation also touched on how to think about dollar-denominated assets amid the weakening yen — a reminder that this isn’t a topic with one simple right answer.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch “Anything Goes Live G” board thread “Mystery faction says “Investing is dangerous! NISA might lose you money so I won’t do it!” — So why not just buy government bonds?“
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