Missed the NISA Boom? Why Saving Alone Isn’t Enough

One year since the launch of the new NISA. Did those who started investing make a profit!?

One year has passed since the launch of the new NISA. According to a survey on personal asset formation conducted in November by QUICK Asset Management Research Institute, a private financial research organization, targeting 5,075 people nationwide aged 18 to 74, about 30% of respondents were using NISA. The survey revealed that the majority of them had secured investment gains.

For amateurs like me, it seems difficult, likely to incur losses, and risky

The new NISA system has already been in place for a year. The author, a housewife in her 40s and a freelance writer, left her job of 10 years and became self-employed the year before last. Since then, her vague financial anxieties have grown, making her increasingly interested in investments such as the new NISA and iDeCo (individual-type defined contribution pension plans), though she hesitated to take the first step.

The reason? She had a mental block against investing, believing that investment = difficult. She thought investing was something only people with financial surplus could do, that amateurs like her would only lose money, and that it was dangerous without strong numerical skills. These preconceived notions made investing seem like a high hurdle.

However, she gradually started hearing that her peers—friends and former colleagues she assumed were indifferent to finance—had begun using the new NISA. Realizing she was now part of the latecomers group, she felt even more left behind.

Then, during an interview for a magazine, a financial expert bluntly told her: “From now on, simply saving a fixed amount from your salary won’t be enough. Whether you’re a company employee or a freelancer, you need to invest and make your money work for you.” This statement further intensified her anxiety about her financial future.

Interest rates have risen, but is steadily saving money in deposits not enough?

To begin with, investment refers to investing one’s own money in stocks, mutual funds, and other financial assets with the expectation of a profit. Efficiently increasing one’s assets, including investments and savings, is called asset management.

For inexperienced investors like the author, the most interesting question is “Why should I start investing now? Like me, there are probably many people who are saving a fixed amount every month in advance from their income.

Even without investing, if you have enough in your savings account that you have been saving diligently, you probably don’t have to worry about it. I feel that saving in the bank would give me the joy of saving hard and the peace of mind of not losing money. Kenji Matsuoka, a money writer and financial planner, answered these questions.

“One of the reasons to start investing is inflation. While diligently saving through regular or fixed deposits is important, even a 10-year fixed deposit at a bank offers only about 0.4% interest, meaning your money barely grows.

On the other hand, prices have risen by approximately 10% over the past three years. If this trend continues and the costs of goods and services keep increasing, the value of cash will decline, making life financially tougher in the future. That’s why it’s important to take early action. Instead of just holding onto cash, growing your money at a rate similar to inflation is a form of self-protection.”

Indeed, even though prices have gone up, bank interest rates are low, and there is little hope of increasing them. In other words, it is just a safe-deposit box situation.

And for the author, who is also a housewife, the rise in prices is something she has experienced firsthand to the point of disgust. Vegetables that were priced at 98 yen a few years ago at the supermarket have risen to nearly 200 yen, causing me to worry about putting them in the shopping basket and to change the menu for dinner that I had planned to cook.

When eating out, a set meal that used to cost 1,000 yen now costs nearly 1,500 yen. Even if you had 1,000 yen in cash, you could no longer buy the same quantity and quality of goods and services today as you could a few years ago, and the amount of money you pay has certainly increased.

“Once prices rise, they generally do not come down. Fresh produce is highly volatile, and the prices of rice and vegetables can fluctuate due to weather conditions, so they may be lower compared to last year.

However, for example, farmers face rising costs for fuel used in agricultural machinery, increasing fertilizer prices, and labor shortages, which are driving up expenses across all industries. This applies not only to goods like food but also to services. Considering these factors, it is unlikely that prices will decrease in the future.”