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| Where are your savings? |
| All, or mostly in Japan |
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8% |
[ 1 ] |
| Some in Japan, some overseas |
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33% |
[ 4 ] |
| Mostly overseas |
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41% |
[ 5 ] |
| In gold, or physical assests |
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8% |
[ 1 ] |
| What savings? |
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8% |
[ 1 ] |
| I'm a net debtor, in yen, so I can't wait for the yen to collapse |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 12 |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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 Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:11 am Post subject: Chicken Little economics report |
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Chicken Little here, with a sky-fall update.
You're probably aware that the insane government debt mountain is growing faster than ever. We're getting closer and closer to the day when the entire government revenue is not even enough to pay the interest on the debt, let alone rolling over the principles that come due.
The only reason Japan's got away with it for so long is because it gets such a high price for it's bonds. (I.e. it pays very low interest.) But there's only one buyer left willing to buy at those prices: the no-longer-independent Bank of Japan. And, of course, they're doing it with printed money.
Well, the Finance Ministry has finally decided to take ... um ... action:
| Quote: |
Mandatory broker, bank bids to help jolt listless JGB market
Nikkei, Asian Review: March 12 2014 3:33 am JST
Japan's finance ministry plans to jump-start the government bond market by requiring major brokerages and megabanks to participate in auctions ... The plans will be discussed at a meeting with market participants next week.
...
Currently, the bidding is voluntary, but starting in April, the ministry will mandate that the 20 brokerage houses and three megabanks bid for 3% of JGB offerings. |
You get that? They will force banks to buy their bonds. Well, technically "bid on them", so if they have any sense the banks will just make stupid lowball bids. But I doubt they'll be allowed to get away with that for long. Another domino has fallen -- another taboo has been broken.
Of course, the Finance Ministry claims this is merely a technical measure to improve market liquidity. And, yes, lack of liquidity can be a problem when there's only one buyer! But a "jump-start" won't help when there's no gas in the tank.
As they like to say at Zero Hedge: this cannot end well. I can't predict the outcome with any precision, but the longer we wait, the riskier an asset the yen becomes. And if there's one lesson we can take from previous financial crises around the world it's this: by the time us ordinary people find out that the shit has hit the fan, it's already too late.
I urge you, who are reading this, to move at least half your savings out of yen, and out of the Japanese financial system.
Last edited by Pitarou on Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:48 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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PO1
Joined: 24 May 2010
Posts: 136
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:28 am Post subject: |
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| I fortunately (or unfortunately, however you look at it) don't have much money in savings these days. I wouldn't say I'm the smartest person when it comes to finances, but I've done well in the past. I used to keep about half and half anyway (half my money in Japan and half in the US), but I may start keeping an eye on these kind of things more often. |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:08 am Post subject: |
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Another issue is the IRS.
My money is in Japan, but half is in dollars.
I read that I have to report my wife`s money even though she is Japanese, and will never give up her nationality.
I refuse to do that. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:35 am Post subject: |
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Have a few grand in yen, but my retirement savings are all in dollars.
Monetary policy here isn't too bad, it just is the stupid fiscal policy ie spending way more than we take in. |
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PO1
Joined: 24 May 2010
Posts: 136
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:15 pm Post subject: |
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| mitsui wrote: |
Another issue is the IRS.
My money is in Japan, but half is in dollars.
I read that I have to report my wife`s money even though she is Japanese, and will never give up her nationality.
I refuse to do that. |
Really? That's the first I've heard of that. If that's true, it's ridiculous. I haven't been reporting my wife's income and no one's said anything as of yet. I always overhear things about the way the IRS works. Some have said if you have no plan to return to the US anyway, don't file. However, I may return one day, so I file every year.
I had some kerfuffle (I like that word) with the IRS a while back because I filed the wrong tax form. They said I owed over 2,000 dollars. I got it sorted out, but it's really a pain to get those things taken care of when you're overseas. |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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There is the FBAR form and another one that I haven`t filed.
In the FBAR you have to report if your Japanese bank account went over the equivalent of $10,000 at any point last year.
I think it is about any joint bank account or even if your foreign spouse has his/her own account.
It is Obama that started this. They go after simple English teachers instead of the hotshot business types.
I have read about Americans giving up their nationality just because of the IRS. Tina Turner, for example.
It makes me wonder if I should just put money in an American bank but then the IRS would consider a little dividend as worldwide income. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Ah, yes. The IRS complicates matters, doesn't it. I feel for you Yanks! |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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| PO1 wrote: |
| Really? That's the first I've heard of that. If that's true, it's ridiculous. I haven't been reporting my wife's income and no one's said anything as of yet. I always overhear things about the way the IRS works. Some have said if you have no plan to return to the US anyway, don't file. However, I may return one day, so I file every year. |
I believe you only need to report your (non-US-citizen) wife's income if either 1) you are filing jointly, or 2) she has permanent residency in the US (i.e., a "green card").
| mitsui wrote: |
In the FBAR you have to report if your Japanese bank account went over the equivalent of $10,000 at any point last year.
I think it is about any joint bank account or even if your foreign spouse has his/her own account.
It is Obama that started this. They go after simple English teachers instead of the hotshot business types.
I have read about Americans giving up their nationality just because of the IRS. Tina Turner, for example. |
You need to report your savings if the total amount of your bank accounts is over $10,000. Bank accounts owned by your non-citizen wife only need to be reported if you are filing jointly or if she is a permanent resident in the US. In any case, all you need to do is report the amount in your accounts. The government won't tax you on it. It's really not that big of a deal.
I don't think Obama is targeting simple English teachers. The FBAR law has been around since 1970, and originally targeted money laundering. It is now being used to specifically to target those "hotshot business types" -- i.e., wealthy US people who store their money in offshore banks to evade taxes. The IRS started to become more serious about enforcing this law in 2008, before Obama was elected.
Tina Turner renounced her US citizenship, and took Swiss citizenship, because she's lived in Switzerland for nearly 20 years with her German husband. She owns property and has bank accounts in a number of countries, and having to figure out tax credits for 2 countries (due to dual citizenship) would have been a nightmare. She has stated she has no intention to live in the US again, so she renounced her US citizenship. Switzerland is often considered a tax haven itself -- but mostly for non-citizens, so giving up US citizenship and taking Swiss citizenship to avoid taxes likely doesn't make much sense. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| rtm wrote: |
| I believe you only need to report your (non-US-citizen) wife's income if either 1) you are filing jointly, or 2) she has permanent residency in the US (i.e., a "green card"). |
Or if you have a joint bank account. Maybe mitsui got his advice from a country where joint accounts are the norm? |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Pitarou wrote: |
| Or if you have a joint bank account. Maybe mitsui got his advice from a country where joint accounts are the norm? |
Correct. I left that out because Japan doesn't have joint bank accounts (in my experience, at least), but residents in Japan might have joint bank accounts elsewhere, of course. The law is actually that if the amalgamated amount goes over $10,000 (equiv.) in any bank accounts a US person (citizen, permanent resident, etc.) has signing authority over, then they need to report it. |
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