Hey dungoofed, thanks for the reply.
Where are you originally from? If it's the US then you'll still have to report and be taxed on global income.
How long will you remain in Japan? If it's longer than 5 years then you are supposed to report global income to Japan.
I'm from NZ/NL, and will be leaving Japan within the year, so neither applies.
I'd rather not name names, but it's one of the big advisories.
I'm not sure where home is anymore, or will be in the future, so sending it there is tricky. I do already have some mutual funds in NL though.
I recently indeed learned that although they don't charge any ongoing fees, the advisor does get a big up front payment, and so has a big incentive to get me to sign up, but no real reason to continue to support me afterwards. This seems like a terrible system (for the consumer).
Steer clear?