Robo Advisors
They are multiplying! It seems like 2016 is the year of the robo-advisor in Japan. I am aware of three services operating right now, with more on the way. Robo-advisors are financial services that use software to replace humans for portfolio management. This should result in more consistent results and lower fees. I am very […]
Reader Profile: Desmond P.
The Young Tech Worker Today’s post is something special. One of the aims of this site is to encourage people to learn more about personal finance and investing so that they can take control of their money and future. I’ve been wanting to showcase readers for a while now, and finally found my first contributor. […]
Money Geek Poll
Somewhat Predictably A few weeks ago we ran a poll asking readers how much of a money geek they were. You can see the categories and the poll in this post. As expected, the active readers on this site are mostly money geeks. Level 1: 0%Level 2: 17.65%Level 3: 35.29%Level 4: 41.18% (I’m also in […]
3 Ways to Get Rich
All Very Different There are three main ways to get rich. 1. Luck Unearned riches, from family or a lucky windfall. Lottery winners, people who get large inheritances, etc. Lucky wealth often ends badly, as people don’t know how to manage their new money and don’t have any way of replacing it if they spend […]
THEO in the News
A Storm is Coming There was a nice article about THEO in the Japan Times on Monday. I took three things away from it: They seem to have a lot fewer customers/less money than I had assumed The big challenge for robo-advisors in Japan is teaching people what they do There are a lot more […]
Japan Pensions
Eligibility goes to ten years in October? I read an interesting article today about changes to the pension laws. The author isn’t very impressed with many of the changes, but confirms that from October the minimum period you need to make payments to shakai hoken or kokumin nenkin in order to vest (become eligible to […]
Offshore Pension Products
Avoid them if you want to profit A couple of things happened this week: a reader contacted me to tell me about the 65% loss he suffered in an expensive offshore pension product sold to him by a company in Tokyo, and Andrew Hallam published an eye-opening post full of concrete examples of horrible experiences people […]
Travel Hacking
Travel cheaper or better: what’s not to like? JAL First Class Narita to New York (50,000 yen plus air miles) Before I got into personal finance, I was really into travel hacking. Travel hacking is the science (art?) of skillfully using air miles, hotel points, and credit card rewards to travel extremely cheaply, or to […]
How not to get Rich
A foolproof strategy We talk a lot about good financial habits and tactics on this blog. Today I bring you: ten strategies to make sure you will never be rich. Buy a new car every few years. Smoke, drink, eat out a lot. Go shopping the day you get paid. Spend your entire paycheck. Buy […]
FI vs. Greed
I think they are different I’m a little bit obsessed with money. My wife often comments on this. Generally speaking, being obsessed with money is seen as a bad thing. Greed is one of the deadly sins, and left unchecked can become a kind of addiction. In some ways, wanting to be financially independent looks […]