Should I Invest in Overseas Stocks This Lunar New Year Holiday?

Major Overseas Stock Markets Open
Brokerages Operate 24-Hour Trading Services
Interest in Tax-Saving Fund Products Also Grows

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] As the Lunar New Year holiday, the biggest traditional holiday of the nation, approaches, overseas stock investment is gaining attention. While the domestic stock market takes a break, major overseas stock markets such as the United States and Europe remain open as usual. Securities firms plan to operate various trading services for investors who want to trade overseas stocks just like on regular weekdays. There is also growing interest in effective financial management methods, such as subscribing to children's funds using the New Year's money children receive during the holiday.

According to the securities industry on the 9th, most securities firms including Samsung Securities and Daishin Securities plan to operate a 24-hour overseas stock desk during the Lunar New Year holiday. By using the overseas stock night desk during this period, investors can place orders for overseas stocks in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, where the stock markets do not close. With the help of professional traders, real-time overseas stock trading is possible.

However, it is necessary to check the overseas market holiday schedules. Like Korea, China, which also celebrates the Lunar New Year, will close its stock market from the 11th to the 17th, and Vietnam will close from the 10th to the 16th. Japan will be closed for one day on the 11th.

There are also products that help cultivate financial investment habits in children using the New Year's money they receive. In the case of children's funds, minors under the age of 18 can receive tax-free gifts up to 20 million KRW every 10 years. Additionally, profits generated from investments are excluded from gift tax, allowing for both long-term investment and tax-saving benefits. The returns are also excellent. Funds such as the ‘Mirae Asset Uri Ai Chindia Sector Representative Fund,’ ‘NH-Amundi Ai Sarang Accumulation Securities Fund,’ and ‘Shinyoung Junior Economic Doctor Securities Fund’ have recently posted returns exceeding 50% over the past year. Additional benefits include providing management reports tailored to children's understanding.

There is also a simple way to gift individual stocks to children or parents. Hana Financial Investment has launched a ‘Stock Gifting Service’ through its trading application ‘Hana One Q Stock,’ which allows users to gift stocks to family or acquaintances using only a mobile phone number. With just the phone number, domestic stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be gifted within a limit of 1 million KRW per transaction. Shinhan Financial Investment introduced a KakaoTalk overseas stock gifting service for ‘Seohak Gaemi’ (Korean investors in U.S. stocks). Through overseas stock gift certificates, major U.S. stock shares can be gifted in fractional units such as 0.01 shares, rather than whole shares.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.