Why My Savings Isn’t In Japanese Banks
By Jeffrey Strain, October 21st, 2005 | 5 Comments »
There is a good reason that I don’t keep my savings in a Japanese bank — the interest they pay. While you may think that the percent interest that your bank pays is low, it’s nothing compared to Japanese banks.
As you can see, the Japanese post office pays a whopping 0.02% (note that isn’t 0.2% – it’s 200ths of a percent) for a year commitment of your money. That means if you deposit $10,000 into the postal savings system, at the end of the year you’ll have $10,002 to your name. Nor of course, if you are willing to lock your money up for a longer time, you can get a better interest rate. Agree to have you money locked up for 4 or more years and you’ll make $7 a year for every $10,000 you deposit.
Makes you want to put all your savings into a Japanese banks, doesn’t it?
oh my. an extra year from 1 to 2 is only 0.03, then 0.04.. and at 3 years its 0.06.
funny how the 3 and 6 months period are the same as 1 year.
btw how does this work though? their postal office savings account? are the rates at the banks any better or very similiar?
I always knew their rates werent so great.. but never realize its this low. eesh.
Usually the post office pays better rates than banks, but at such low rates everything is basically the same these days.
Posts offices in Japan do a lot of banking type activities. They sell insurance, do banking, have a extensive ATM system, exchange money, etc.
whoa. that is seriously seriously low (for “locking” up money)
on the flip side the yen has appreciated over 15% against the dollar in the past year!