2021 Planning

Goals for this year?

Not even sure if I have goals for this year. Be kind to myself and others, maybe. 2020 was such a grind that I’m just hoping this year is less like that.

Over the break I had two wonderful conversations, one with a colleague and one with my wife, about the future. Both of them resulted in me understanding huge, important things that I had failed to notice on my own that are crucial for making decisions going forward. Even though I spend a lot of time in my own head thinking about the future, sometimes you need an outside perspective.

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 2021?

More of the same, basically. I would like to write some blog posts this year. That would be a joke, other than the fact that for most of 2020 I didn’t manage to write blog posts…

The two current Guides need updating, so hopefully I’ll manage to sit down and write the 2021 editions (anyone who bought them already will get the new ones for free).

I don’t think we’ll be doing any more in-person events for a while, but I’m interested in trying to organise some online seminars and maybe even a course on the Teachable platform. Stay tuned for those.

I’ll be taking the Financial Planner test in September, and as long as I actually study the whole book this time I should be able to pass 3-kyuu.

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. 2020 was surprisingly good to us, and it looks like we’ll hit our number fairly soon (barring any stock market collapses, of course). And in a way I would prefer a stock market collapse, as that is basically a chance to buy cheap in a sale. My work situation could (will probably) change drastically in early 2022, so that is the only wild card at the moment.

In terms of investing 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 wrote about my current thinking in The End Game recently. Basically we’re likely to continue working for at least another 5-10 years anyway, and I can’t imagine I will ever stop doing work that brings in some kind of income, so basically we’re in a good place financially and as long as we don’t start spending our investments we should be fine whatever we do.

I can see us tapering off how much we save and invest each month though, either working less or spending more. We shouldn’t have to actually touch our investments for at least a decade or two, allowing them to continue growing on autopilot. My dual strategies of mostly buying low-cost diversified index funds with dividend paying individual company stocks on the side that I plan to never sell means that we can just ignore the portfolio and get on with our lives.

And that was always the goal. I want to live my life without worrying or even thinking much about money (other than for this site, of course!).

So nothing particularly exciting in 2021, just trying to get some of the momentum we had before Covid back. How about you? Any changes of direction in store?

6 Responses

  1. I’m in a very different situation than most people who are trying to invest for retirement. I’m 31, so I can afford to be significantly more risk-taking. Thus, my plays are:

    50% into index funds (eMaxi slim S&P500)
    30% into a stock of a well established company (think FAANG)
    20% into speculative stocks (health, electric vehicles, etc)

    All will be thrown into my NISA so that it’s maxed out before the middle of the year. For the second half of the year, I will simply cover my eyes, delete any stock tracking apps, and not make any moves.

    As I will be in the middle of a job change, I’ll probably use my NISA as my upper contribution limit. This will also decrease the paperwork for me when dealing with taxes… unless I decide that I want to cash out of cryptocurrencies. As of this post, it seems very appealing, but I bet I will regret it if I cash out before 2022. Let’s see how this post ages.

    1. That’s a very useful habit: writing things down and then reading them later to see how they turned out 🙂

  2. I’m 28 so I’m investing in stock mutual funds in my NISA account. I invest about 25,000 a month into Japanese and foreign funds. I think I’ve got a balanced distribution. They all pay me dividends, which helps me boost my income every month. That’s my strategy for the time being. I haven’t started Ideco yet, but that may change this year depending on how my salary looks from April. If I start Ideco then I can look at low cost index funds and tax breaks. I also put about 15,000 a month into a separate bank account to use as a travel fund so I can go home to Ireland at Christmas without going into credit card debt. This year will most likely be the same as last year. If I get my salary up, then I can increase my NISA contributions and cash savings contributions too, which can make my financial situation more stable.

  3. I began my personal finance journey last year though I have been reading for years about it. I contribute to company sponsored ideco and max it out at 55k a month. Mostly diversified index funds with a few bonds.
    Got myself a Japanese securities account this month so I’m looking forward to invest in Japanese Reits/index and also US index each month. Also started investing in index funds back home(I’m from India and yes I’m a software engineer:p ).
    I’m in mid 20’s and live in a rental apartment and that leaves enough for me to feed my investment accounts each month. No timing the market bs. Just trying to stay disciplined each month. If everything goes well would like to marry by gf before I turn 30 and buy a home here in West Tokyo or east Kanagawa maybe. I’m a big fan of ikodate but not sure yet if I should make that commitment to japan or instead just buy an apartment as it’s easy to sell . I guess with time I’ll get more clarity and confidence on that.
    Might also buy an apartment back home on mortgage and ride the booming developing market but that’s a long shot for now.
    If all goes well coast FIRE by 40-45 would be a serious reality.
    But seriously so happy I’m not spending more than 30k on my credit card for the past 2 years. I pay in cash and that keeps me aware of how much I’m spending(and also guilty). I remember when I first came here to Tokyo I used to spend 150k plus on credit card each month mostly drinking in Shibuya lol. Thank god I have matured and matured early. Still having the fun but much more structured now.
    Let’s hope covid is gone soon. I like the work from home situation but then we all love the izakaya experience with our colleagues n friends after work:)

  4. If Japanese securities accounts are your only option then fair enough but, if you are able to use something like NZ’s sharesies or Stake etc they are far superior in my experience. I have an account with one of the biggest in Japan and at first I knew no better and was happy. Upon starting an account with a NZ online platform I was shocked at how much better it is. I won’t list the bad points of the Japanese account but they are many and high commissions are only the beginning.
    If it is Japanese companies you are wanting to invest in then I guess that’s your only bet.

    1. My experience of the big online brokers in Japan is that their UI is not great, but once you figure out how to use them they are functional. Being able to use NISA accounts to invest tax-free is a big advantage, as is the streamlined tax-reporting. If you buy mutual funds there are no commissions and annual fees are very low.