What do you *really* want?
Are your goals specific and concrete? Last week I finished reading a fantasy trilogy. The books were fine but nothing special. I enjoyed reading them, there was some interesting world building, but overall I would give them a B grade. But then I read the author’s afterword, and it made a huge impact on me. […]
The Monday Read: Where are we going?
You need to know where you are and where you want to go I’m sick at the moment. Either I have a bad cold, or hayfever season just started, and it is way worse than usual. I’m not thrilled about either of those options, to be honest. But it doesn’t seem to have really affected […]
Do we actually need to retire at all?
You might be working towards the wrong goal For many people, retirement is the goal. Either ‘normal’ retirement in their sixties, or early retirement before then. It’s even in our website name. But is it the right goal? What is the purpose of personal finance? For me the purpose of personal finance is to support […]
The Monday Read: More learning ahead
RetireJapan is full steam There is so much going on now at RetireJapan. Our flagship annual live course started this week. If you’re interested in the next cohort, you can sign up for the waiting list here. YouTube and the blog are going really well this year. Thanks for watching and reading! Please tell other […]
Don’t pay your children’s university fees in Japan
Well, you can if you really want to. But read this first I talk to a lot of people about money, and there seems to be an unwritten assumption that parents should just pay for their children’s university fees in Japan. I’m not sure where this comes from. My wife and I did not pay […]
The Monday Read: Crossing that Bridge
Why do we do things? I was looking at my spreadsheets this week. It looks like our net worth went up by 16% in 2023. And then went up another 10% in January. In 2021 our spreadsheet reached my arbitrary ‘we are financially independent’ number. It’s now 34% above that. And yet on Friday I […]
How to be rich
It might be both harder and easier than you think I think Derek Sivers nails it in this post. It’s not how much you have. It’s the difference between what you have and what you spend. If you have more than you spend, you’re rich. If you spend more than you have, you’re not. If you live […]
The Monday Read: Blue Skies
Living a deliberate life I went snowboarding today for the first time this season. We had great weather for it and the resort was playing upbeat jazz music instead of the usual ’80s pop tunes. A big improvement. At first I wasn’t thrilled about going, but my wife wanted to so I duly got up […]
What happens if US citizens don’t file their IRS tax return?
A small chance of a disastrous outcome (this blog post is for entertainment purposes only. I am not a tax professional, nor a lawyer, nor an IRS employee. I don’t know you. I am not even American! You are completely responsible for your choices and decisions) I often talk to Americans about personal finance, and […]
The Monday Read: Death to Distractions
Last year was kind of mixed for me. I got a lot done, was able to travel more, enjoyed not having a fixed schedule, and had very little stress. But at the same time my health deteriorated and I found myself very distracted online. In particular, my smartphone use became problematic. I started playing a […]