The Monday Read: The Past
You can go back, but it’s not the same On our last full day in the UK (we’re back in Japan now), I took the grandkids to visit my old college. It’s very ‘Harry Potter’-y and we rented one of the college punts for a couple of hours of fun on the river (messing about […]
The Monday Read: A traveller in a now foreign land
Everything is expensive and nothing works I’m in Europe at the moment. We had a week in London, then a week in northern Spain. My wife and me, and two of our grandkids. It’s been great. I don’t usually enjoy visiting the UK, aside from seeing my friends, but this time was different. I think […]
Investing in a time of volatility
A couple of little price falls, and everyone loses their minds I am on holiday and neglecting RetireJapan, so of course stock markets around the world decide to melt down while I am away. I’m sure everyone knows the basics, but it is good to have frequent reminders hence this short post. Investments can go […]
The Monday Read: Summer Days
Conan, what is best in life? I’m off to London and northern Spain tomorrow with my wife and two of the grandkids. Don’t have much planned, we’re going to slow travel our way through the British capital and then go and stay with relatives in Plentzia where I spent my childhood summers. It’s all part […]
The Monday Read: Health is wealth
An unpleasant reminder of mortality Somehow I have shingles AGAIN. I first had it about five years ago, and on Sunday last week noticed my face felt tight and slightly painful. Then on Monday the first sores appeared, and my wife suggested I might want to go to the dermatologist. On Tuesday morning my doctor […]
The Monday Read: A cool and pleasant summer?
Losing weight seems to have an unexpected benefit This year’s summer for some reason has seemed incredibly mild and pleasant. My wife assures me it is not so different to last year, but I haven’t felt unpleasantly hot at all so far. My best guess is that this is because I have lost a lot […]
Why don’t we just pay off the mortgage?
An interesting conversation My mortgage statement arrived the other day. I still owe about six million yen, to be paid back over the next twenty years and four months. The interest rate is still a floating 0.5%, the same as it was when I took the loan out. The monthly payment is just under 30,000 […]
The Monday Read: The Little Things
Designing a Life You Enjoy I took that photo walking home from work the other day. It was an almost blissful moment. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the sky was, how pleasant it was to be walking, how satisfying the day had been. Recently most days are pretty good for me. I enjoy what I […]
The Monday Read: Another Task Bites the Dust
Take a moment to celebrate the win before moving on to the next one I’m back from Miyakojima (turns out five days/four nights was the perfect length of trip). Had a great time, got some diving in, realised I need to practice my snorkelling a lot more, learned that the summer sun in Okinawa is […]
Does your number need to go up?
Do you even have a number? The future is both under and out of your control. Financial planning is just trying to surf on a wave of possibilities. There is no guarantee of success, but not trying means almost certain failure. I really enjoyed Martin’s latest blog post, Number go up. In it, he explored […]