Best way to send money back to the states

[laterthanyou]

I searched the forums but found nothing regarding sending money back to the states. Whats the best way? I want to pay as few fees as possible...when doing the exchange. We are talking over a million yen. So I don't have to report it should I do it in 500,000 yen increments? bank transfer? Wire?

Thanks

[samuraiwig]

GoLloyds is a popular service with a JPY2,000 flat fee charge, plus whatever is charged by your US bank for accepting/processing the money. Plenty of info/links through Google.

Another option may be a service like xe.com, which takes a small fee based on the exchange rate rather than a fee. But I haven't tried it myself, so maybe someone else can comment.

[uwabaki]

Stuff your underwear and get on a plane :P

[McTojo]

I searched the forums but found nothing regarding sending money back to the states. Whats the best way? I want to pay as few fees as possible...when doing the exchange. We are talking over a million yen. So I don't have to report it should I do it in 500,000 yen increments? bank transfer? Wire?

Thanks

When you're first starting off I recommend Shinsei Bank over any other bank for sending money home. They do charge a little more than the others, but you get the peace of mind in knowing that you have 24 hours live telephone assistance in English in case something happens to your wire, no other bank can do that as far as I know. I wouldn't dare send one million through a bank that I couldn't communicate clearly with.

Lloyds is OK, but they deal mainly in U.S. and other currencies and they are not as conveniently located.

Plus, once you get all set up with Shinsei, if you need to wire money again you can do it from your home PC instead of having to come in to a branch office.

Other things I have done was set up an intermediary bank back home with a U.S. address, and just use Japan Post to wire money to that bank, that way if I need to handle financial matters I can do it much faster.

[Ketou]

At what amount are you required to report it? If it's 10 grand then carrying half each should be no problem as it should be per person.

[Tsuru]

Stuff your underwear and get on a plane :P

...and if you don't get caught, proceed to get shafted anyway on the exchange rate when you try to use, change or deposit your cash in wherever it is you're going.

Bank transfer is always best.

[GomiGirl]

Lloyds is OK, but they deal mainly in U.S. and other currencies and they are not as conveniently located.

What are you smoking? If you don't already have a shinsei account then GoLloyds is the easiest. You can send money anywhere to any bank account.

Shinsei has lots of pros but a few really annoying cons.