Personal Rules
I have a few I read this wonderful blog post recently: Wise People Have Rules for Themselves. Go and read it quickly, it’s worth it.I really agree with the underlying premise. Simple rules of thumb to reduce or eliminate decisions are a great way to improve your life. I have a number of personal rules […]
Reader Profile: MJC
The long-term resident leaving Japan Last week I received an email from MJC, who told me he was planning to leave Japan and had a few questions. I suggested our readership might be able to answer them better than I could, so he kindly agreed to submit a Reader Profile. MJC has quite the incredible […]
Review: Booking.com
So far so good I used to be really into travel hacking. Part of that was getting elite status with big hotel chains like SPG or Hilton in order to get room upgrades, free breakfast, late checkout, etc. Recently I haven’t been travelling as much so I lost my status and don’t think it’s worth […]
Building a House in Japan 3
Still expensive, but something I actually want now The kick-ass 3rd generation floorplan we’re currently considering The house-building saga continues. In part one I explained why we are suddenly looking for a company to build a house for us. In part two I shared our initial quote, an eye-watering 46 million yen. After writing that […]
Nagoya Event in September
At the American Chamber of Commerce, no less The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Chubu Chapter, has very kindly invited me to speak to their members in September. You can find all the information here, as well as a link to register. The content will be a quick overview of personal finance and options […]
Review: Set for Life
You will be after reading this I loved Set for Life. The author is involved with the DeeperPockets website, the bible for real estate investors in the US. He’s also a great writer. The thing I enjoyed the most about this book was the mindset. It’s similar to Mister Money Mustache in that it involves […]
Investing in Solar Panels
Do you have solar panels? If not, why not? As part of our investigation into house builders something has come to my attention.It seems like under the current rules, putting solar panels on your house is close to being a no-brainer: most house owners should be considering it seriously.The system as I understand it works […]
Saving in Japan
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain I had an email from a RetireJapan reader yesterday asking how I am “able to set aside 1.2M JPY for NISA on top of my iDeco and THEO investments”. It’s a great question.I realised I have never gone over my finances in detail here on the blog, […]
Review: How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?
The author gives not one, but three answers I picked up How Much Money Do I Need to Retire? by Todd Tresidder last week on a recommendation from one of the blogs I read. It’s a short book (designed to be read in 60 minutes or so) and an easy read. It is not very […]
The Four ‘L’s of Retirement
The best things in life… Gran Reserva 2009 -980 yen from Lawson. I think we’ll be okay in retirement 😉 I read a really simple yet profound blog post (sadly since deleted) a couple of weeks ago that talked about the four Ls of retirement. They are longevity, lifestyle, legacy, and liquidity, and together they […]