No matter what era, financial management is accompanied by risks. In today’s turbulent times, how do you guard your own property? Different countries have different financial concepts and methods.
India: Buy jewelry every month
There are more than 3,000 Indians living in the Indian Village in Tokyo, Japan. The author came to an apartment in Nishikasai, Edogawa District, and the 64-year-old Bella went out to greet us. She wore an exquisitely embroidered high-end saree and showed us her jewelry. “I only wore a little.” She wore dazzling, crystal clear earrings, luxurious bracelets with rubies and other materials, all made of pure gold.
Gold is a necessity for Indian families. Indians will buy gold on special days or for special memories and keep it in a bank vault.
Bella wears traditional Indian hollow earrings, gold jewelry will be passed from mother to daughter.
Tanaka Precious Metals Jewelry Ginza Main Store on the 4th floor. When the reporter came to the store, all independent reception rooms were full, and there were a dozen guests sitting in the waiting seats.
Bella said: “In Japan, I rarely have the opportunity to go out wearing gold jewelry. Most of my jewelry is kept in my home in India. There are more than 80 pieces in total.” Husband Jakumohan Chandrani stroked the length. White beard smiles. Chandrani is an industrialist, engaged in black tea sales and restaurant management, and he is also the “face value” of the Nishikasai Indian community.
He said that the traditional Indian method of property preservation is to buy gold. He has been in Japan for 39 years, and he has been adhering to this method of financial management, not buying gold bars, but jewelry worn by his wife and two daughters. He will buy jewelry for his family on meaningful days such as family birthdays, family anniversaries, and Hindu festivals.
Chandrani said with a smile: “There are many festivals all over India. Indians buy gold every month. Of course, it is women who decide which jewelry to buy. Men can only follow and say’good, good’.”
Why? Are Indians so keen to buy gold? Hearing this question, Chandrani unconsciously opened his eyes: “In the history of thousands of years, India has been invaded by foreigners and the dynasties have been constantly changed. Once the power is changed, the former currency will become worthless. Last year, India suddenly abolished high-denomination banknotes. Poor Indians have experience, no matter how the political situation changes, gold will not lose its value. Such lessons have taken root in the hearts of Indians. ”
People who are interested in diamonds and platinum recently . It keeps increasing, but people still have an overwhelming sense of trust in gold.
Chandrani said: “In the event of a crisis such as war, can you escape with your house? At that time, your bank account may also be frozen. But we can wear gold jewelry on our body and flee immediately. During the war between India and Pakistan, I This is what my parents did. They survived on the gold. ”
For Indians, buying gold is for insurance, and there is no sense of value-added saving. As long as there is no crisis, they will not exchange gold for cash. Until now, “accumulating pure gold” has been passed down from generation to generation, and the gold handed down by the family has also become a historical witness. In India, even poor rural areas have shops for buying and selling gold, especially on the first day of the largest Hindu festival “Diwali”, gold shops are often crowded.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange
There are also new trends in the Indian economy recently. India’s GDP growth rate reached 7.1% in 2016, and the active consumption of the middle class is the main force. They diversify their assets into the stock market and real estate. The 44-year-old Sanjib Suiha graduated from a well-known Indian Institute of Technology. He came to Japan 21 years ago and worked at Goldman Sachs. Now he is the Japanese director of TATA Asset Management and is a professional asset manager. He said: “In India, domestic stock purchase using a mobile phone people are on the rise, although taking into account the exchange rate risk, in the overseas Indians to invest less, but the domestic industry to grow, the stock channel television content is also richer than Japan.”
Sue Ha said that Indians are accustomed to diversify investment risks: “In India, trains and buses do not operate according to the schedule. People often consider the best and the worst in advance and decide to act accordingly. In addition, Indians do not like to follow the schedule. Flow, self-confidence in independent judgment. We often talk about financial management with relatives and friends, and children will naturally acquire relevant knowledge when they hear this.”
Japan: purchase physical gold and platinum
In the lively corner of Tokyo’s Ginza Main Street, you can see a sign with the words “GINZA TANAKA”. This is the Tanaka Jewelry Ginza Main Store opened by the Tanaka Precious Metals Group. Many people buy physical gold and platinum here.
A woman from Kanagawa Prefecture said, “I started buying paper gold and paper platinum from the bank for about 3,000 yen per month since 7 years ago. This is the first time I bought a real product.” She bought 100 grams for about 400,000 yen. Platinum. She said that the purchase in kind was for the elderly. A couple from Mie Prefecture bought 1/4 and 1/10 ounces of gold. Considering the possibility that banknotes may become waste paper, they started investing in physical precious metals three years ago and saved 500 yen a day. , Buy gold from local and tourist destinations and store it carefully in the vault.
Despite the upsurge of precious metals investment, when should one buy which precious metal? Tanaka Precious Metals Retail Department Minister Eiichiro Kato said that the Japanese have paid more attention to gold in the past decade. Under the influence of Trump’s presidency in the United States, Brexit, and negative bank interest rates, the price of gold has also changed. Kato advises consumers to “purchase gold on a daily basis.” Usually, if they have spare capacity, they can buy physical gold or paper gold, and the purchase amount matches their own income and assets, so don’t force it.
So what about the market for silver and platinum? Kato said that of the global demand for platinum, investment accounts for 10%, jewelry accounts for 30%, and industrial demand such as automobiles accounts for 60%. The downturn in platinum prices in recent years stems from the decline in the demand for jewelry in the Chinese market. In 2017, the supply exceeded demand. Tanaka Precious Metals also sells silver, but the minimum purchase amount is 30 kg (approximately 2 million yen), and only a few people will come to buy silver a year.
Morita Takata, director of the Morita Investment Consultants Association, said that in China, WeChat and Alibaba have opened platforms for small-value gold purchases to make buying gold easier and more convenient, and Japan has also begun related popularization efforts.
Israel: Buying diamonds before difficulties arrive
”We must create wealth for our children and grandchildren.” Joseph grew up in Tel Aviv, the economic and cultural center of Israel, and his father, a doctor, told him this way many times. Joseph’s parents immigrated from Bulgaria when Israel was founded in 1948. They started from scratch and now own multiple properties in Tel Aviv. Although they are in good health, they have given equal assets to Joseph and his two brothers more than 30 years ago.
Joseph runs a trading company in Japan, and his asset preservation method is “buy diamonds.” He said that the Israelis have a deep obsession with diamonds, which is related to the experience of the Jews who had no “mother country” before the founding of Israel and were persecuted everywhere.
Joseph said: “Diamonds are small in size. Once in danger, you can take them to escape. Diamonds are basically not affected by political and economic influences and can be directly left to children.”
There are also many Israelis whose real estate is still in existence even if they live overseas. Israel. Joseph’s wife is a Japanese women, she said:. “Israel is the only place where Jews can live at ease, in different countries, religious life will make them uneasy, and they want to set aside their own children and grandchildren can go back home”
by living in Due to the influence of overseas Jews’ investment, Israel’s housing prices remain high, especially in Tel Aviv, where housing prices have risen to two to three times the past over the past decade.
Venezuela: Life is the most important property
Last spring, 40-year-old Venezuelan woman Yoko left her motherland and came to live in Japan. She said that human life is the most important property. The former paradise has become hell, and the instability of the living environment has a long history. In 2004, my husband signed the presidential referendum on dismissal, and lost the work originally entrusted to him by the state. In about ten years, no matter how hard he worked, his career did not improve, and he eventually collapsed due to physical and mental exhaustion. The company also closed down.
But now they only care about peace. Over the years, Venezuela’s economic situation has deteriorated sharply, and the political aspect is also unstable. Yoko’s home is in the capital Caracas, which has become “the place with the highest homicide rate outside the war zone.” Demonstrations took place one after another, causing many casualties, and ordinary people were also implicated. Last year, Yoko’s daughter was doing yoga instructors in the square, and was censored as “inciting the public.”
The inflation rate in Venezuela this year is 800% to 1,000%, and an unprecedented food shortage has broken out. Poor people looking for food and wild dogs rummaged through the trash can. They could only feed their babies with rice soup or noodle soup, and the most basic medicines were also difficult to obtain.
When in Venezuela, Yoko once a week avoided robbers while searching for food in various markets. Barbed wire fences and alarm devices are also installed in the house.
She said: “I always feel that I will be killed and I am very upset mentally. My friend invited me to take refuge in Japan first.”
As a result, Yoko could not return to Venezuela. Her husband was still living in Caracas, and Yoko went abroad. A few months later, my daughter also went to other countries. Among Venezuelans who go abroad, it is not uncommon for wives to disperse like this.
