In the first week of October, brokerage apps in Korea started pushing alerts about year-end pension deposit events. The message is simple: three months remain before year-end tax settlement (연말정산)...
Pension Tax Credit in Korea: How Much to Put Into Pension Savings and IRP Before December 31, and Who Will Not Get the Full KRW 1,485,000
Monthly Dividend ETF in Korea: Why a 15% Distribution Rate Is Not a 15% Return, and What KRW 100 Million Pays After Tax
Put in KRW 100 million and KRW 1.25 million lands in your account every month. That is the usual pitch for a monthly dividend ETF (월배당 ETF) in Korea advertising a 15% annual distribution rate...
Installment Savings in Korea: 7% on KRW 500,000 a Month Pays KRW 227,500 Before Tax in a Year, and When a Time Deposit Wins
Put KRW 500,000 a month into a 7% installment savings account in Korea for a year: how much interest comes back? Many people picture 7% of the money paid in, KRW 420,000. With every bonus condition...
Bogeumjari Loan in Korea: From October 19 Newlyweds Can Qualify on One Spouse’s Income, and What It Does to Your Limit and Rate
A newlywed couple in Korea earning KRW 40 million and KRW 50 million a year, with no children, cannot apply for a Bogeumjari Loan (보금자리론) today. Their combined KRW 90 million is above the KRW 85...
IPO Subscription in Korea: What One Share Really Costs in Deposit, Equal vs Proportional Allotment, and the New Deposit Interest
How much money did it take to win one extra share in a Korean IPO that pulled in KRW 6.7 trillion of deposits? A KOSDAQ offering that took orders on October 1 and 2 closed at 1,741 to 1 (Newspim...
Withholding Tax in Korea for Freelancers: 3.3% May Drop to 2.2% in 2027, and What Happens to Your May Refund
In 2023 alone, 3.49 million freelancers and gig workers in Korea got back KRW 850.2 billion. That was withholding tax taken out of their pay at 3.3% and reclaimed the following May (Korea Tax Times...
Silson Insurance Claims in Korea: From October 7 You Finish Inside Naver or Toss, Which Clinics Still Need Paper, and the 3-Year Deadline
You walk out of a neighborhood clinic after paying about KRW 20,000, and the Silson insurance (실손보험) claim gets pushed to “later”. Photographing the receipt and typing the clinic name and...
US ETF From Korea: Buy the Korean Listing or Go Direct? The KRW 8.33 Million Line and Your Tax Bracket
Search for the S&P 500 in a Korean brokerage app and the same index shows up twice: a version listed on the Korea Exchange and bought in won, and the original US ETF bought in dollars on a US...
Parking Account in Korea: Why an 8% Rate Earns About 2.6% on KRW 10 Million, and When a CMA or Parking ETF Fits
Put KRW 10 million for a year into a parking account in Korea that advertises a top rate of 8%, and even with every bonus condition met the pre-tax interest comes to KRW 255,200, a real rate of 2.55%...
Tax-Advantaged Account Withdrawals in Korea: What Closing an ISA, Pension Savings or IRP Early Costs
When you suddenly need a lump sum in Korea, which tax-advantaged account should you break first: the ISA, the pension savings account or the IRP? Each one lets money out in a different way, and each...
