Do you know what your job is?
I’m not sure I do I called a locksmith a couple of weeks ago to ask about changing the front door lock on our flat. We bought it in June last year, and it’s had the same lock for over twenty-five years. A lot of the time it’s been rented out to various people, so […]
Portfolio: Geography
Where are you going to rest your hat? We’re starting a new series today, looking at various aspects to consider when making an investment plan. I’ve received a lot of questions recently about how to start investing, and it can seem pretty overwhelming at first, so over the next few weeks we’ll go through various […]
MYDC (Robo-iDeCo)
Like a gold-plated fork? I saw MYDC in one of THEO‘s newsletters recently. They are either a spin off or a collaborator. The premise is similar to THEO’s. They take something complicated that people don’t want to think about (in this case, their iDeCo account) and make it easy to sign up for and administer. […]
Review: Amazon TV Fire Stick
I’m actually pretty impressed We live very near a GEO rental store, and recently I have a little tradition with Alyssa that we walk down there and choose a DVD to watch together. It’s fun and not-new DVDs are only about 100 yen to rent. We watch them in English too, which is helping to keep […]
Home Improvements: Windows
Definitely worth considering Long-term readers may remember I bought an old flat last year (a ‘manshon’). We’d actually been renting it for a while and liked the place, liked the neighborhood, and as we bought it from a friend, we got a great price. However, it is both 25 years old and has been through […]
Taking the Financial Planner Test
Was interesting and a bit disappointing So I took the Financial Planner 3rd Grade test yesterday in Sendai. It was quite interesting and I enjoyed the process (I’m weird, and like taking tests). A few thoughts below: My Japanese language skills (and my reading skills in particular) aren’t really good enough for this. I ended […]
Review: theFlyingPig
Not the hostel in Amsterdam If you live near a Costco, are a member, and shop there regularly, this post is not for you. Go back to your oversized and happy life. If you are missing one of those conditions, you may be interested in the Flying Pig delivery service. I’ve been a customer for […]
iDeCo Application So Far
Hurry up and wait I’ve had a lot of questions about iDeCo, so here’s a summary of my application so far and some background information. I decided to go with Rakuten Securities as my provider, as they have some of the lowest fees (you can see an interactive comparison of iDeCo providers here). Applications for […]
Pensions Mercer Report
Not looking great Desmond P. sent me a link to this report last year and to my great shame I am only now getting round to writing about it. It makes for interesting reading, and gives us some data to back up our gut feelings on state pensions. The report looks at pension systems worldwide, […]
Review: Amazon Prime
An offer you can’t refuse? I’ve had Amazon Prime membership here in Japan for several years now. Originally I got it for the fast free delivery. Since then, Amazon has been adding functionality, and now the service is incredible value. It is getting pretty close to being an offer you can’t refuse. So what’s so […]