I’m really excited about this event because it solves a lot of the challenges we’ve had in the past organising seminars.
In the olden times
Before the pandemic, we organised a number of live events around Japan. They were always a lot of fun and seemed to go down well with participants.
But organising a live event is a huge amount of work. You need to book a venue, arrange transport, recruit helpers, publicise the event, and bring everything together on the day.
To cover costs, you need to charge a substantial fee. If too few people show up, you lose money.
It was worth it, but it wasn’t a very sustainable way to do things.
A new way
Now however, after almost two years of pandemic, pretty much everyone is used to doing things online. Zoom is normal for work, for school, and even for talking to friends and family.
Organizing a conference online is still a lot of work, but the financial costs are much lower.
If we go online, we can run free conferences. This changes everything. It removes the monetary risk, and allows us to better fulfil our mission to help as many people as possible.
RJConf2021
This year’s conference is a kind of trial run. If it goes well, it will be much easier to do another one next year. Eventually I can see this turning into something pretty amazing.
So please come along on the 23rd. Tell your friends and colleagues about it.
If you can’t make it we’ll be sharing recordings of the lectures after the conference, but not the Q&A sesssions. If you want to ask a question or listen to the discussion you’ll have to join us on the day.
This year we held the first RetireJapan online conference on November 23rd (Labour Thanksgiving Day). The conference was free to join, but it was necessary to sign up in advance. The first session started at 10:00, and we finished at 16:00.
It wasn’t anything too ambitious, just five sessions (none simultaneous). If all goes to plan we’ll try to scale it up next year 🙂
2021 Schedule
9:45 (Zoom room open) 10:00 Welcome session: The Blueprint -Ben Tanaka 11:00 RetireWiki.jp -Adam Millerchip 12:00 (lunch break) 13:00 Real estate investing in the USA -Daniel Mills 14:00 Real estate investing in Japan -Ziv Nakajima-Magen 15:00 Q&A session -Ben Tanaka
2021 Sessions
Each session consisted of a 30-minute lecture followed by up to 20 minutes of Q&A. The lecture portion was recorded and shared after the conference, but not the Q&A sections. You can find the link to the video of each session below.
10:00 Welcome Session: The Blueprint -Ben Tanaka
Summary: In this introductory session Ben will open the conference and go through the basic elements of personal finance in Japan: things you should be doing or at least know about. We’ll briefly cover earning, saving, spending, investing, insurance, taxes, NISA, iDeCo, pension, housing, etc.
Bio: Ben Tanaka is an English teacher based in Sendai. He started RetireJapan in 2013 and hopes to help as many people as possible take control over their financial life and enjoy the freedom and security that come from a solid financial foundation. In his free time he enjoys reading and losing at Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Summary: In February this year I started RetireWiki.jp – a wiki for investing and retirement for residents of Japan. In this talk I’ll give an overview of the site, point out some useful articles, and discuss a bit about what a wiki is, why I made the site and what I’m hoping it will become. Then I’ll give a quick demo showing how to edit pages, and give instructions for how to get involved for those interested.
Bio: I came to Japan on a working holiday in 2014 and the rest is history. Working as a software engineer, I’ve been living in Fukuoka with a small stint in Kyoto. Discovered the early days of RetireJapan when trying to get my finances sorted – I believe I am the first user on the forum and also the most prolific poster after Ben – although I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing 😄
13:00 Real estate investing in the USA -Daniel Mills
Summary: In this interactive presentation, Daniel will provide audience members with practical, actionable advice to invest in real estate in the United States while living and working in Japan. The presentation will cover: • Real estate strategies • Challenges and benefits • Market research and selection • Building a local real estate team • Property analysis • Financing • Management • Tax implications These topics will be presented through real world examples and the talk will conclude with time for an extensive Q&A session.
Bio: Daniel J. Mills is a university professor in Japan where he has lived for 15 years. He began investing in real estate in 2014. His properties, which are located in Idaho, Alabama, and Tennessee, includes 11 single family homes, 10 duplexes, and a 12-plex. Daniel utilized a number of strategies including conventional and commercial loans, owner financing, BRRRR, partnerships, and private money to acquire these properties. After achieving financial freedom in 2020, Daniel has shifted to passive investment strategies to grow and diversify his real estate portfolio. He is currently invested as a limited partner in two multi-family syndications and is seeking additional private placements in self-storage, industrial, mobile home parks, and senior living.
14:00 Real estate investing in Japan -Ziv Nakajima-Magen
Summary: In this presentation, Ziv will be laying out market fundamentals, main considerations to take into account, advantages and disadvantages of investing in Japan, and the unique challenges inherent in the country’s real estate property investment arena.
Bio: Partner & Executive Manager, Asia-Pacific at Nippon Tradings International. Trained and experienced as a corporate project manager, Ziv has been immersed in Japan’s cultural & business arenas since the early 2000’s. Together with his partner, they have established a real-estate buyers’ and portfolio management firm in 2011, representing buyers and sellers, large and small, in their forays into Japan’s real-estate property market.
Summary: For this final session Ben will take questions (both in advance and from the audience on the day) and try to answer as many as possible. If you would like to submit a question in advance, please use this form. This session will not be recorded.
Conference FAQ
When is it? On Tuesday November 23rd, 2021 – a national holiday in Japan (Labour Thanksgiving Day). Sessions will be from 10:00 to 16:00 with an hour break for lunch at 12:00-13:00.
What topics will be covered? Please check the agenda for details of each talk, which are all related to personal finance for residents of Japan. Note that all talks will be in English.
How do I register? Enter your email address into the registration form. We’ll send you the URL to join the conference as we get closer to the date. After the conference, all registered email addresses will be deleted.
What does it cost? It’s free! Simply register with your email address as mentioned above.
What’s the URL? The URL to join the conference will be sent ahead of time to those who registered their email address.
Once registered, do I have to attend all the talks? No, you can either join us for the whole day or just attend one or two talks – whatever is most suitable for you.
Will the talks be recorded? Yes, but only the speaker’s talk excluding any questions at the end, which may contain sensitive personal information.
