2020 Planning

New Year, New Decade, New Goals?

Not really. More like new year, new decade, same goals.

Every year we start things off here on the blog with a look ahead, both for the site and me personally. Here is last year’s post for comparison.

So what is in store for RetireJapan in 2020?

More of the same, basically. I would like to write another Guide, perhaps about getting a mortgage in Japan. I plan to continue blogging, and to maintain the forum. I will continue offering the coaching service.

We’ll have a couple of events in Kyushu in March, and I would be happy to try to organize others if people are interested.

The Financial Planner test is unfinished business, and I will have another go at that at some point.

So nothing radical, but I hope we’ll continue helping people to learn more about personal finance and getting them to a point where they can enjoy life more. I hope you’ll join us 🙂

And the investing plan?

This is also unlikely to change much. We’re doing very well financially, and it looks like we’ll hit our number fairly soon (barring any stock market collapses, of course).

Basically I will continue to:

My wife will:

The interesting thing is what to do after we hit our number in terms of investments. After all, why continue playing after you have won the game?

I am currently thinking about transitioning to saving cash on top of our investments.

Once (if?) we hit our number, I am thinking about continuing to use tax-advantaged accounts (especially iDeCo) but ceasing to invest further in taxable accounts. Instead we will just save cash or (gasp!) spend a bit more 😉

When there is a market correction or crash we will use the cash to invest back up to our number, possibly resetting the number higher once markets recover.

This seems like a fairly low-stress way to approach out finances going forward, with the added benefit that it is easy to understand for my wife and will give us a lot of flexibility in terms of not having to tap investments at an inopportune time. Eventually we can also use dividends to top up this cash reserve.

What do you think? Any flaws with this plan?

So nothing particularly exciting in 2020, more of the tortoise rather than the hare. How about you? Any changes of direction in store?

4 Responses

  1. I love deflation here. There is so little inflations n over the last years since 1984…that there is nothing wrong with cash. I have a ton. Works to my advantage tax wise and not being greedy wise.

    Why do you need to die rich?

  2. Any advice on retiring in Japan? Speak language, currently work in a Japanese company. Can afford small investment. From Sydney.

    1. The whole website is basically about that 🙂

      You can ask specific questions in the forum.

  3. “Hi. My name’s John, and I’m an … ”

    No, wait a minute, that’s not right. 😉 I’ve wondered where to put this–(a) tacked on as a comment in my guest post, (b) where that post made the 2019 roundup, (c) or here. Maybe a combination?

    Here’s the guest post for reference: https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/surgery-and-disability-benefits-in-japan/

    I made some comments there about the costs involved, and the point here is a look back at how the year’s medical costs have sorted themselves out. I had a second surgery in September in which they removed one lung lobe, so there’s that, too, besides the valve work in that first blog. So this is to provide an end cap on the year, and since medical expenses during retirement are a consideration, this may help readers make spending plans.

    ***

    I’ve kept a spreadsheet with costs and reimbursements (for 2019 tax reporting here), and things have pretty much settled out—no big costs recently, and reimbursements are almost done. And I say almost, since city hall says one more will be coming on the 20th, tho I don’t expect much.

    Leaving that one aside, my cost–the amount that I’ll be claiming—is about ¥433,000. That figure reflects the total of what I paid, minus the reimbursements that I’ve received (it takes 2-4 months for the paperwork to make its rounds and payment(s) to get to my bank). Also, since this is for taxes, that figure does not include costs which are not claimable, such as surcharges for the private rooms I opted for (not a medical necessity), or what is called a “pajama set” (fresh PJs daily, towels, soap/shampoo—also not medical necessities). Add those personal choices in, and of course my cost was much higher.

    Besides still being alive and very genki, I’d point out that for the all work involved (surgeries, docs/nurses, tests, drugs, etc), that’s an outstanding bargain—and it’s deductible to boot!

    And it could have been a little cheaper: due to disability classification, I was bumped up to 後期高齢者医療制度 (usually 10% co-pay), but because of enough passive income my co-pay is still 30%. Also, because my wife is still working, her income meant that we were above certain thresholds, so some follow-on reimbursements were cancelled. (I am NOT complaining, just pointing out that for someone less well off, it could have been cheaper.)

    Again, thanks to the docs and other medical staff, and to the overall system here!)