The Monday Read

Back in white edition

I saw my doctor on Friday and got permission to go back to jiu-jitsu class. Nature is healing 😀

In other fitness news, I’m loving my rowing machine. Got up to 5 x 1500m every other day so far, hoping to get to 5 x 2000m every day eventually. The key is to find something interesting to watch on TV while doing it, and for me right now that is Billions on Netflix.

Vaccination news

Sendai City vaccination vouchers arrived last week.

I will have to hand mine in to my employer, as they are doing my vaccinations, but I hope my wife can get hers soon… ish.

(Sendai currently taking bookings for 60+, no info on when younger people will become eligible)

The forum

The forum is still going strong. We’ve been on a bit of a ‘get to know everyone’ vibe for the last couple of weeks. Kind of interesting. Here are this week’s active topics:

This week’s books

I’ve been reading The Road Less Stupid, by Keith J. Cunningham. It’s a business management/thinking manual. Pretty interesting so far.

This week’s links

  1. Local inhabitants’ tax when living off investments: 【リタイア民の特権】給与収入ゼロだと資産効率がUPする理由
  2. RetireJapan will be almost 100% remote from now on. There is a small chance we’ll do in-person events in the future, but coaching and courses seem to work better online: The Most Important Thing That’s Happened in Our Lifetime?
  3. Good news for UK expats paying in voluntarily? Will the elderly get a tenner-a-week state pension hike next year? Government faces ‘triple lock’ dilemma if wage rises get out of hand
  4. This guy always seems older (wiser?): 34 mistakes on the way to 34 years old
  5. This is a new site/service run by a RJ reader to help people open bars and restaurants: Japan Hospitality Consultants
  6. Takeaways? A paid off home and substanstial savings/investments lead to a happy retirement: Few Financial Worries or None at All for 64% of Japanese Aged 60 and Over
  7. Pretty much agree with this: Curmudgeon on Cryptocurrency
  8. Not surprising: people are saving money all over the world. Japanese household assets hit record on more savings, stock rises
  9. Another example of medical costs in Japan: How Much Does an Emergency Room Visit Cost in Japan?
  10. I still think this is a good thing: Japan a century from now
  11. Great write-up of the history of Wise (formerly TransferWise), one of my favourite financial firms: Money Without Borders: A Peek Inside Wise
  12. A good bunch of anecdotes: Little Stories
  13. I would like to do this at my wife’s school: The perfect number of hours to work every day? Five
  14. Lots of big thinking here: Interview: Marc Andreessen, VC and tech pioneer
  15. Also fascinating: Howard Marks – Embracing the Psychology of Investing
  16. As you saw in the other post, I… don’t have a defensive portfolio: Defensive asset allocation and model portfolios
  17. Mere speed bumps: Fighting the Financial Independence demons
  18. This feels to me like an important part of education: A project of one’s own
  19. I think I lost a friend this week: Bad friends
  20. When can you retire? There’s no such thing as “The Number”
  21. There is no retirement: The “R” Word

Some really interesting stuff in there this week! What do you think? I really enjoyed #11, as well as the interviews/podcasts with Howard Marks and Marc Andreessen.

6 Responses

  1. #19–“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?” That’s the last line of the film “Stand By Me”. I think you could sub some other things for 12 and what happened in that story–a shared experience of being thrown together into (and surviving) some kind of chaos.

    #6 and #20 should be next to each other (and mix in a little #8). On the one hand, two thirds of over-60 Japanese seem to be doing fine, on the other there’s a a portrayal of a lot of angst. Maybe I’m missing something?

    #16–frankly, kind of dull (sorry!). A more interesting point of view was last week’s reading on prepping for the bull market: https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2021/06/how-to-prepare-for-a-lengthy-bull-market/

    1. Yeah, I think it is about intensity of experience: I made great friends at boarding school, on activity tours, on courses, first few weeks of JET, etc.

  2. #6 – Idk, that level of savings people over 60 have now seem to be different to achieve for those who are in their 20-30 now. The bubble is long gone and the family land is already sold by their grand parents. I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but difficult for the average salaryman outside of Tokyo who is not in this whole saving and investing thing.

    1. My experience (and seeing clients now) is that once you start working on your finances deliberately it is possible for almost anyone to save/invest their way to a more comfortable situation.

      A lot of people don’t ever start.

      1. Oh, I’m not talking about myself. I’m fine in that regard.
        I’m talking about a hypothetical average person, since the article was about average people, not an investment-conciuos ones. And my main point was not so much about whether it is technically achievable or not, to save 40mln by 60, but rather about that comparing people who are in their 60-80 now, and who will be there in 30-40 years, is like comparing apples and oranges. The whole economical situation is totally different now.

        1. I completely agree! I guess you can’t sleepwalk your way into that situation any more.

          My wife’s parents are basically that demographic: decent pension, decent retirement bonus, paid off house, etc. They are not financially savvy and seem not to have thought about it at all.

          Anyone younger is going to have to be aware and work for it. But it’s not impossible. A lot of people are going to get an unpleasant shock though.