The Monday Read

Spring is here edition

Well, spring is here it seems. Today is the most glorious day -probably the best one so far of 2021. Hope everyone is keeping safe out there!

Article for beginners

I wrote an article for Gaijinpot, and it was published last week. It’s aimed at beginners, so I would be really grateful if you could share it with friends and colleagues, or on social media. It could just change someone’s life!

The Forum

The forum is chugging along nicely. Here are the latest posts:

Recent books

I’ve been reading Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less this week, and am really enjoying it. It is similar to Cal Newport’s stuff (the book was recommended on his blog) and ties in with how I am thinking about life and work. Recommended.

This week’s links

  1. How much can you spend on a car? My rule is 10% of annual income. How Much Money Do You Need to Make to Buy a New Car?
  2. Once we have a house I’m planning to put in rainwater catch tanks, solar panels, a battery, etc. Going Green for Fun and Profit
  3. Oldie but goodie: John Oliver on retirement plans. Retirement Plans: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
  4. Probably not great for us living here in Japan. China boasts world’s largest navy: US DoD report
  5. And more in a similar vein. I am somewhat concerned by this. China’s War Against Taiwan Could Come Sooner Rather Than Later
  6. This is fantastic. Hoping to try out most of this for my Zoom calls. Fixing Zoom calls: Looking better and feeling better
  7. This is something I think about quite a bit. Some things I do have 100x the impact of other things, but I am not structuring my time consciously around this. On Slow Productivity and the Anti-Busyness Revolution
  8. This 200 page free PDF is a great resource for teachers and parents. Your World, Better
  9. I’m surprised no one has made a single fund that tracks this. The Permanent Portfolio Investing Strategy
  10. Some of these are pretty funny. Finance nerd humour? Winnie the Pooh Translates Financial Jargon
  11. Excellent as usual from Morgan Housel. Obvious Things That Easily Escape Attention
  12. And an old one from MH. Immeasurably Important
  13. More on the permanent portfolio.

What do you think? Anything good in there? #6 will probably have the biggest impact on my life in the short-term, and #7 in the medium- to long-term.

One Response

  1. #1: We are buying a new used car. We bought our current one brand new in 2007 and it’s done 150,000kms with no maintenance issues but now we have a daughter so need something a little bigger, but only slightly. We can’t stand those huge people carriers that people drive around in needlessly. Such a waste!

    The replacement we have set our sights on is a 2016/2017 (30,000kms or so) model that should end up being about ¥1million cheaper than buying new.

    If you know someone with access to car auctions in Japan I highly recommend them.