Evangelical

Personal finance is a bit like a religion


Sometimes I take all this personal finance stuff a bit too far.

​My life has been transformed by learning about personal finance. It is better in almost every way. I am more relaxed, more confident about the future, and don’t really worry about money any more. On the contrary, thinking about our finances has become fun and interesting.

Given how much benefit and enjoyment I have gotten from it, I can’t help but want to tell others about personal finance. It’s so obvious! So interesting! So beneficial!

Much like evangelicals or people actively trying to convert others to their religion, I find myself insisting a bit too much when talking to colleagues or friends. I’m sure some of them are sick of me by now. I have to make a conscious effort to tone it down at times.

The thing is, being informed about personal finance is like having a superpower. A power that gives you freedom and options, one that sets you apart from normal people who don’t have it.

The difference between personal finance geeks and the x-men, though, is that anyone can become a personal finance geek 🙂

The first step is to read around the RetireJapan site and visit the Forum and Further Reading pages. Feel free to ask questions here in the comments, on the Forum, through the Contact Form, or on the Facebook page.

Anyone else find themselves boring people at parties or in the corridor at work?

5 Responses

  1. I think that the reason most people are turned off by personal finance geeks like us actually boils down to a few misconceptions:
    (1) Investing is akin to gambling; a losing proposition
    (2) Only the wealthy or high-income earners can afford to invest
    (3) Investing is too complicated to understand
    (4) The corporate/government pension shall see me through retirement
    Hence when we start preaching about the benefits of investing like financial security, it actually comes off as snobbish. More of a lack in awareness and education in the subject than anything else to be brutally honest.
    That said, the motivation to start taking responsibility for one’s own financial future usually manifests itself in future due to some major life event.
    In the meantime, the best way to preach might to be let the results speak for itself – perhaps by publicly posting annual statements, with sensitive information censored.

    1. It might be interesting to post strategy-specific reports (like NISA, iDeCo, or robo-advisor).
      Don’t think I’d want to post our entire portfolio online, but I would welcome guest posters 🙂

  2. “My life has been transformed by learning about personal finance”
    Same here, I wish I had started many years back though…
    There was a time, when I left this responsibility to a “Financial Advisor” as I was busy at work, and assumed such people were knowledgeable about this area and trustworthy, how wrong I was…
    Here is a link that describes the activities of a FInancial Advisor firm in Tokyo, that invested clients money in an investment fund that they knew had problems. This fund in question was hosted by Friends Provident
    http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2014/09/lm-appalling-offshore-stitch-up-of.html

  3. Personally, I’ve found that inertia and my lack of perfect Japanese have kept me from investing so far. That, and just plain not knowing the rules and how things work.
    Your workshop the other weekend was very informative and has spurred me on to start. Thank you!