Korean Job Discussion Forums

[winterwawa]

I have 10mil won and am looking for the best place to invest it. Citi Bank has a CD that pays 5.8% interest, which is a good percentage. Does anyone know anywhere I can get a higher rate? I read somewhere on this forum that someone was getting 7%. Is this possible or was the guy blowing smoke? Are there other investments in Korea that pay more and still offer the security of a CD?

What about the Korean Stock market? I used to do some day trading, but my lack of knowledge of the market in Korea cost me, and I lost almost 10mil won. I don't want to go through that again. Can anyone offer advice from personal experience? What stocks are good, bad, ...? You get my point.

What about realestate? I know it is possible to get a loan to buy an apartment, but I was told that I need 50% down. Is this true? How does one go about buying an apartment and getting a loan? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[victorology]

Do you want to leave the money in for a set amount of time?

Personally, I put my money into a Money Market Fund that has a variable interest rate. Right now, it's about 4.7-4.8% but I can take my money out anytime without a penalty.

I also have some money in the Mirae Asset Discovery Fund. I reduced my position in the stock market recently because of the current situation in the United States.

I find these two options suit my needs quite well because I can move my money around whenever I want. I have a lot of investment experience in the United States but I've just stuck to investing in funds in Korea. The reason being I want to stay diversified and I find due diligence quite difficult since most of the research comes in Korean.

[winterwawa]

My goal is to save enough to buy some property as well as save for retirement. I have heard of the funds, but it seems that CD's are out performing funds right now. Plus, I have heard that Mirea Assets is going through some tough times right now.

I also want liquidity, but I can buy CD's with a minimum 1 year maturnity, and plan to invest at least 1 million won a month. Having said all that, I have to add that security of investment and growth are both more important than liquidity.

[Juregen]

To get any decent interest rate you really should come up with a bigger amount then that.


5.8 is already very nice percentage indeed.

[winterwawa]

If I had more than that I would. That is all I have been able to save since my biatch wife ran off with our savings last year. I'm lucky just to have that much.

Actually, what I really need is a way to turn 10mil into 30mil between now and october next year, but I know that ain't going to happen unless I hit the lotto or play with some ricky stocks.

[PRagic]

Just opened up an account paying 7% at '삼화 저축은행'. The branch I visited is near ShinChon subway station, just up from the ShinChon Yonsei Hospital (NOT Severence Hospital!). Check it out.

Their website is: www.samhwabank.co.kr

[winterwawa]

[PRagic]

My name.

Did it all in Korean.

One year account with monthly deposits. It pays 7% if you can go to the bank in a year to close out the account, but only 6.7% if you want e-mai accessability. Odd, but that's the deal.

Go check it out, and take a Korean to help you if necessary. Not a bad deal.

[mysterious700]

Keep your bank account and investments in North America. Wire the money home each month and go from there. Based on my conversations with Koreans, it seems like there is very limited choice here. There is a very protected market and you can't buy individual us and canadian stocks here. when some korean ceo's and senior management are idicted, it doesn't make me want to invest in these companies. just my opinion. online investing through internet banking seems best. set it up in north america when you go home for a visit and switch it all to online banking. that is what i will do.

[mysterious700]

Check this for stock stips, but use your own judgement and you decide which stocks to buy. You can also check individual share prices over the past 5 years on yahoo finance.

http://w3.newsmax.com/fir/fir_43.cfm

[PRagic]

Not bad advice, really. We have an investment account in the U.S., one off shore, and just some long-term savings accounts here in Korea for now. We have property here, but need to be liquid here a bit, too, mostly for business reasons. If you don't need money in Korea, invest it somewhere else.

[Cohiba]

I put 30,000,000KRW into Citibank's Mirae Asset China Growth Fund
in May. I recently sold it for just under 36,000,000KRW. Add to that this
fund was still tax exempt until April. But the manager I deal with
was getting jittery on overvalued Chinaman stocks.

Now this money is going into a BRIC fund with tax exempt status
until December 2008.

Savings accounts are for suckers. If I don't make 20%+ on average
I feel let down and ripped-off.

I also have a 10 year plan that has 15-20% annual interest as a main
feature. I also factored in 10% tax, but my manager keeps selecting
tax exempt areas of investment.

[winterwawa]

[PRagic]

Cohiba gives some sound advice here, especially if you're just playing with smaller amounts like that. If you are younger, you should be agressive in your investments. You can always reschedule your portfolio later on when you have different needs and different risk tolerances.

The BRIC accounts are doing well (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), and area a good way to spread your money around. You could check out any number of funds that manage these.

[winterwawa]