The Monday Read

So far so good

Well, it’s kind of sort of might be rainy season now. The air is definitely getting more humid, and the other day I had my first unpleasant reminder of how not fun masks + heat + humidity are. Really wasn’t expecting a second summer all masked up!

Hopefully there won’t be a third, but who knows, eh? Welcome to the new normal.

Vaccinations

I really like the new plan to allow companies and universities to vaccinate people. Japan seems to have an enormous stockpile of vaccines, and it’s just the final mile logistics that are slowing us down.

Allowing companies to provide them for employees should speed things up considerable, free up space in the public venues, and encourage more people to get the vaccinations. There is no point unless enough people take it, and I hope that message gets through to the general public.

My employer has been in the news as they are apparently considering starting from June 21st, but predictable I have heard nothing so far. Hopefully I’ll have good news on that front soon, although I don’t really have much of a personal desire to be vaccinated, I just want society as a whole to be vaccinated.

I’d like to take my life off pause!

Coaching

Been doing a bit of coaching recently. It’s been great to meet so many people and help them get started (mainly) with investing and personal finance or get a clearer picture (in some cases) of how and what they are doing.

We have some availability from July onwards if anyone is interested. Just get in touch and we’ll see if we can help you.

This week’s forum

Lots going on at the forum this week:

This week’s books

I’m really enjoying Sid Meier’s autobiography. Suprisingly readable and fun. He’s the guy that made the game Civilization (among others) if the name didn’t initially ring a bell 🙂

This week’s links

1. Was not expecting this: ‘atsugiri Jason’ is a full on psycho FIRE adherent
2. Fascinating data set: 200 years of asset returns
3. More disposable income after early retirement? Makes sense! 【意外ですが！】 リタイア前よりお金に余裕が出てくる理由
4. Future returns may be lower: Marks Laments ‘Not Having Great Things to Buy’ Amid Low Distress
5. A glimpse of our future? What Robots Can—and Can’t—Do for the Old and Lonely
6. This is what happens to pension, health insurance, and local taxes in early retirement: 【税金・社会保険料】リタイア3年目はどれぐらい少なくなるか
7. Some really interesting data from Blackrock: Capital market assumptions
8. A great overview: Managing an investment portfolio: how to keep it on track
9. I’m very similar: I can give things up completely but I find it very stressful to do less of something… I don’t eat dessert
10. These are quite fun videos: I accidentally became a meme
11. How to ask better questions (to busy strangers online): How to ask useful questions
12. Old blog post. I tend to think the opposite, but maybe I need to reconsider? The art of letting bad things happen
13. Really looking forward to this Bourdain documentary: Roadrunner
14. This makese sense. Do the simple effective things now, and use the exciting technology later when it becomes available: Occam’s razor for the planet

What do you think? Anything good in there? I found #2 and #7 fascinating, #8 a wonderful overview, and am pretty excited about #13.