Finance Blog
Practical guides for taxes, loans, exchange rates, and everyday money calculations
12 expert guides
Will switching to a Korean budget mobile plan save money? Compare 12 months of costs
Compare staying, switching now and waiting over 12 months of Korean mobile bills, including promotional prices, repayment charges, lost bundle discounts and device instalments.
2026-09-28
Loan repayment calculations: equal payments, equal principal and interest-only
Compare a KRW 100 million, 4%, ten-year loan using formulas, first installments, total interest, final principal and the zero-rate boundary.
2026-07-27
Calculating mortgage refinancing: outstanding principal, matching terms and cost recovery
Match current balances and remaining terms to calculate refinancing interest savings and recovery of initial costs. A hypothetical 300-month comparison distinguishes lower monthly payments from interest savings.
2026-06-15
Comparing lump-sum and installment deposit interest: payment timing and after-tax returns
Calculate 260,000 South Korean won in interest and 219,960 after tax for 12 start-of-month payments of 1 million at 4% annual simple interest. Also compare the different cash flows of a lump-sum deposit and the costs of preferential conditions.
2026-06-15
Korean one-home capital gains: exemption checks and taxable gain
Check household, ownership and residence conditions before allocating gains above Korea's KRW 1.2 billion threshold; distinguish taxable gain from final tax.
2026-06-15
Euro travel exchange: compare EUR 500 and ATM fees
Compare total won costs for EUR 500, distinguish proportional and fixed fees, and understand DCC without assuming one travel payment mix is always cheapest.
2026-06-08
Korean overseas-shopping thresholds: USD 150, USD 200 and tax calculation
Distinguish Korea's list-clearance thresholds from taxable customs value and calculate duty and VAT using clearly labeled example inputs.
2026-06-02
A solo-living budget: monthly bills, delivery meals and move-in costs
Build a solo-living budget with worked examples for weekly meal costs, moving-cost payback, deposits and irregular expenses, without unsupported city averages.
2026-04-23
How to compare apartment management charges: consumption, shared costs and long-term repair reserves
Break down increases in management bills by item and compare matching areas and periods. Calculation examples explain South Korea's exclusion from the credit-card spending income deduction, long-term repair reserve settlements and the records to check.
2026-04-23
How to compare car-insurance quotes with identical inputs
Compare Korean car-insurance quotations with identical coverage and driver inputs, including deductible minimums, maximums and conditional discounts.
2026-04-08
Early severance settlement in Korea: reasons, evidence and calculations
Check statutory reasons, employer approval, supporting documents and the effect of early severance settlement on later benefits, with a worked gross-pay example.
2026-03-30
How to compare inheritance-tax and gift-tax calculation workflows
Understand Korean inheritance and gift tax through a complete gift-tax worked example, deduction checks, valuation records and the limits of comparing transfers.
2026-03-16