Before you tell me to use IBSJ, yes I have read through many posts in this subreddit about how it’s the only option for US citizens in Japan. However, for the time being, I am still living in the US and will move to Japan later this year. Given that I still have time (and an address) in the US, is there a way I can take advantage of this in order to invest more cheaply/easily when I finally get to Japan? To be clear, I’m not looking to make one big transfer, but rather, figure out a way to steadily invest my savings over many months/years, bogleheads style.
I have also read the [wiki about transfers](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/wiki/index/handling/transfers/), but I noticed that the data is from 2021, so I wasn’t sure if things had changed since.
Some more specific questions:
1. Is another brokerage like Schwab/Fidelity/TD superior to IB in any way? If so, does that advantage outweigh the better foreign exchange rates that IB provides?
2. What about the cost of transferring money from a Japanese bank to IB vs. to another brokerage vs. through Wise/Revolut?
3. If IB is the best choice, is it better to open an IB LLC account in the US now, compared to the IBSJ account that they are migrating people to?
4. Does the equation change if you gain gold/platinum status with any of the Japanese banks?
5. Personal anecdotes about your own investing strategy would also be very appreciated
Thank you!
by kitsunegi