第205回 WORKSHOP報告(10月5日) /参加者41名

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《 今回のworkshop 》
○workshop参加人数:41名(うち新人の方:4名)
○【前半】:Let’s create a new idea of IoT device
○【後半】:How do you maximize your assets to prepare retirement life.
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≪FIRST HALF≫
Title
Let’s create a new idea of IoT device

The reason I picked up the theme
The other day, there were no ingredients which are necessary to make dishes in my refrigerator when I tried to cook a dinner. To make matters worse, a supermarket near my apartment was already outside hours. That is why, I was not able to eat what I wanted to have. I strongly thought that it would be helpful for me if there were a refrigerator which can monitor the inside of it and informs us of what foodstuffs are about to be short. In fact, this kind of refrigerators have already been lined up in the market.
On top of that, I have often heard the word “5G” these days. It seems like 5G will bring us high speed data communication and simultaneous connections, which are likely to boost the development of IoT society.
For these reasons, I decided to choose “IoT device” as a topic in E’s club. Also, I have an interest in what ideas will be generated in the E’s club where there are a variety of people who have different background.

Body sentence
There are a lot of things around us which are connected to the Internet. People call the system “IoT”, and IoT stands for Internet of things. The word has already been known by many people, and a wide variety of devices which are made use of IoT have already been launched. The products with IoT system are called “IoT device”.
To take you an example, ”Smartwatch” is one of the famous devices using IoT. The innovative item enables us to use some app such as LINE, Gmail and health app which can measure calorie automatically. The function of the device is like that of a smartphone. By using the device, we can save time and reduce belongings.
As I described above, IoT brings us some advantages to improve our lifestyle. However, IoT has disadvantages as well. One of the big drawbacks is “Security”. It is likely to be stolen your information by someone once you lost the device. Smartwatch has a bunch of personal information because it is connected to the Internet. It is easy for some hacker to take numerous information. So, we have to be very careful of using IoT.
A lot of IoT devices have already emerged, but it is anticipated to have more innovative products developed in the future. This is because, 5G will be used in 2020, and we will be able to see some products with 5G in electronics stores.
Under the situation, I think there are many people who are expecting to have amazing items developed by taking advantage of 5G.
Today, I would like you to create ideas of novel IoT device.

Questions
1) Please share with members IoT devices you know. (5 minutes)

2) What are some benefits and downsides of IoT devices? (5 minutes)

3) Please create a new IoT device idea in each group. (20minutes)
-First, please share your ideas with members.
-Second, please pick up one idea or combine ideas, and brush up it.
-Finally, please prepare a short presentation and show us your ideas in front of everyone. (1.5minute/group)

※Please contain the following items when you deliver a presentation.
1. Product name
2. Target users
3. Functions of the device (what benefit can be brought to us)
4. Retail price

≪LATTER HALF≫
<Agenda>
How do you maximize your assets to prepare retirement life.

<Questions>
1. How did you feel when you watched news of the report which estimated 20 million yen was needed to fund retirement life?

2. Have you ever considered a fund for your retirement life? (pension, retirement money, saving money, investment, etc.)

3. Japanese government started to make tax exemption investment schemes (iDeCo, つみたてNISA) to make nationals maximize their assets instead of sustainable pension plan. Do you have any knowledge of it?

4. Please make a plan in the group. How do you maximize your assets to prepare retirement life.

(Additional question.)
5. Another useful tax exemption schemes in our daily life (ふるさと納税), have you ever used it? It might help to increase your saving money.

<Reference>
https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/8137/
All About Investing for Retirement in Japan
Updated April 17, 2019 | Life in Japan, Working in Japan

<Before Investing>
First, this guide assumes you basically have your finances sorted out. This means you don’t have any expensive debts, are saving money every month and have an emergency cash fund to turn to for sudden large expenses or other emergencies. If this is not the case for you, deal with these issues first before you start moving on to investing.

In addition to investing, we strongly recommend you pay into the nenkin national pension system while you live in Japan. Besides being a legal obligation as a resident, the government can freeze or empty your bank accounts if you fail to pay in a timely manner (they will send you a lot of reminders first, of course). If you decide to leave Japan you can apply for a Lump-Sum Withdrawal payment of your contributions, so you will get at least part of the money you put in back. Nenkin is also tax-deductible and allows you to open an iDeCo account.

<Option 1: iDeCo>
For those planning to be in Japan for the long term, and pay both nenkin and income tax, one simple option for preparing for retirement is opening an iDeCo account.

iDeCo accounts were created by the government to encourage individuals to save and invest their hard-earned cash for retirement. They are similar to 401k accounts in the U.S. but the contribution limits are lower – between \12,000 and \68,000 (about US$100 to $600) per month, depending on your employment status.

One of the advantages of iDeCo is that you can contribute pre-tax income, which means you can reduce your income taxes by stocking away your cash in these accounts. You can get an estimate of how much money you could save in taxes each year by using this calculator (Japanese only). The money can be invested in mutual funds, cash deposits or insurance, depending on which bank or service you choose to set up an iDeco with.

Since this is a retirement account, you cannot access the money until you reach the age of 60. When you cash out you get a tax-free allowance based on how long you paid in for, and decide whether you want an annuity (a set amount you receive each year) or prefer to do lump-sum withdrawals. You can read more about iDeCo here.

<Option 2: NISA>
If you already have an iDeCo account, don’t plan to live in Japan long-term or you don’t want to lock up your money until you are 60, then perhaps NISA might suit your needs better.

NISA accounts are modeled on the U.K. ISA account, and are basically a way to invest, tax-free. You invest post-tax income – so you don’t get the income tax-reducing benefits of iDeCo – but you don’t have to pay capital gains or dividend taxes on your investments, allowing your stash of cash to grow a bit quicker.

There are three types of NISA accounts available; two for adults (regular NISA and tsumitate NISA) and one for children, called Junior NISA. You can invest between \400,000 and \1.2 million a year. Each family member can have their own if you really want to maximize your tax-free investing!

One thing to keep in mind is that the tax-free benefits only last for five years (or twenty years in the case of tsumitate NISA), or 10 if you roll them into a new NISA account after the first period is up. However this may change, and you can read more about NISA here, including helpful updates in plain English.

<Option 3: Taxable Accounts>
Finally, you can easily open and invest in a taxable account. There are various versions of these as Japan has some really investor-friendly policies, but tax-reporting tax-withholding accounts (特定口座源泉徴収あり・tokutei koza gensen choshu ari) is one of the best and easiest options. If you use this type of investing account, your bank or broker will calculate your taxes and pay them on your behalf. So (in most circumstances) you won’t need to report your investments on your tax return.

Using online brokers is usually better than dealing with banks or big brick and mortar brokerage firms, as the fees will be lower. You can get a personal account about opening these types of accounts here.