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Welcome to RetireJapan
Let me show you around If you are new to RetireJapan this post is for you. Perhaps you saw our article in the Japan Times? Or maybe a friend told you about the site. However you found us, welcome 🙂 This site is for you. Specifically, it is for people living in Japan who would…
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The Monday Read: More and more
Medical hijinks and a scam artist I had more new interesting medical experiences this week (just some tests, nothing serious) which I may write up on the blog in the future. And my wife received a call from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare informing her that she was suspected of buying illegal drugs…
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iDeCo vs Fuka Nenkin
Which makes more sense for you? This post is just for people who pay into kokumin nenkin. Regular employees, who are likely enroled in kosei nenkin, don’t have to worry about this. Neither do dependent spouses. And if you pay into kokumin nenkin kikin, you already pay fuka nenkin as part of that. Phew. The…
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The Monday Read: Influenza
That’s when I knew I messed up Last Sunday I got back to Japan after the tiring and very stressful study abroad trip to The Philippines. Finally I could relax. Big mistake. On Tuesday my granddaughter was crying in the morning. I asked her what was wrong but she didn’t answer. We checked her temperature.…
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Sort your finances out in 2025
It’s easier than you might think Happy New Year! I hope 2025 brings you happiness, growth, joy, and excitement. You probably have some resolutions or goals for this year. I do too. One of my biggest goals since I started RetireJapan in 2013 is to help as many people as possible to learn more about…
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The Monday Read: Tadaima
What doesn’t kill you… makes you very tired indeed I’m still helping my wife with her language school (mostly admin or special tasks). One of those tasks was to accompany ten students on a trip to Cebu in The Philippines to study English. Reader, it almost killed me. First, we got to Narita and went…
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2025 Planning
The Year of the Snake Happy New Year! Welcome to the snakepit. I’m in Cebu, The Philippines. We made it after our initial hiccup. Heading back to Japan on Sunday. This is our annual planning post. Follow along and comment with your goals or plans below if you want to join in. 2024 was okay…
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The Monday Read: Memento Mori
Sometimes life gives you a little nudge Last week I had a bit of a wake up call: talked about it in this YouTube video last week if you haven’t seen it already. Like the Roman emperors of old, I got a reminder that I am not in control of things, no matter how much…
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2024 Roundup
One post to rule them all… This is the RetireJapan roundup post for 2024. We’ll be going through some successes and failures, as well as my lists of favourite blog posts and videos. Here is the 2023 post if you want to see what that year looked like. 2024 was the year of reps I…
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The Monday Read: Merry Xmas
Heading into the holiday season It’s the last day of classes at my wife’s school today. Tomorrow the winter holiday begins and we’re not back at work until January 7th. I really enjoy this time of year. I started cooking Christmas dinner in 2004 after we got married (mainly because I missed it!) and I’ve…
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Progress Report 2024
The Progress Continues This is always one of my favourite posts of the year. It’s a chance to look at my financial progress, and hopefully this will inspire others to work on their finances too. You can see last year’s post here (and follow the chain back through time if you are interested -the first…
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