The Monday Read

Olympics are Over Edition

Well, that’s the end of the Tokyo Olympics. Still think they should have held them next year instead (thanks, Shinzo Abe). Wonder how many more there will be in this current format? Paris, LA, Brisbane… and then?

Personally I think we should have a decentralised Olympics, with cities bidding for individual events. It would be cheaper and more sustainable. I guess we’ll see if anyone bids for the 2036 Olympics.

Delta variant

In a development that surprised no one except maybe Mr Suga, the Delta variant is now exploding all over the country. Please get vaccinated if you can, and be careful if you can’t. This one is nasty enough to be effectively a new disease, and what has worked so far is not going to work going forward.

I made the painful decision not to train jiu-jitsu for the time being, as cases in Sendai are increasing, and the rest of my family has not been able to get a vaccine yet.

Hope the government gets better with its messaging and policies soon.

Retirewiki.jp

In happier news, the retirewiki.jp site is really turning into a great resource on money, investing, and life in Japan. Definitely go and check it out, and contribute if you can 🙂

The forum

The forum was pretty lively this week too:

This week’s books

I just downloaded the new Stephen King book, Billy Summers. The reviews are very good. Perfect for a celebratory obon break (we just published three of our junior high school English textbooks so I feel like I deserve a few days off!).

This week’s links

1. This video is gripping: the ten meter tower
2. This makes sense to me, but just buying the world one month at a time does too: Fool’s gambit
3. I wonder: The Future Will Be Weirder Than We Think
4. Not worth the paper they are written on: Ideas are just a multiplier of execution
5. An hour lecture: Scott Galloway’s Investment Principles
6. Some interesting date in here: How Much Do Japanese People Typically Earn, Save, and Borrow?
7. Touche: What if someone steals my idea?
8. I bought some of these for my wife just before he did: The Japanese Stocks which Buffet Bought
9. Well, that is fairly grim reading. Might be good to keep this more pessimistic outcome in mind though: A Doomsday COVID Variant Worse Than Delta and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say
10. This doesn’t seem like much but like anything that compounds is likely to accelerate: Japan’s population down by record number to 126.65 mil
11. Seems like an argument to diversify more (JP): 5営業日で約170万円の資産が少なくなっている
12. Five degrees of warming? Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug
13. And this is a terrifying possibility: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse
14. My in-laws bought one of these plots in the 90s, and now we’re trying to get rid of it: Dead houses
15. Netherlands gets silver, eh?: Who’d win gold in the investment Olympics?
16. I like Ramit: How to Play Offense with Money, Plan Bucket Lists, Build a Rich Life with Your Partner, and Take a Powerful $100 Challenge
17. Nice piece on rebalancing from Monevator (and a bunch of links)
18. I bet there’s a market for this here too: How ‘trauma cleaners’ can make over $300,000 a year clearing up after hoarders and crime scenes
19. Great Twitter thread about shareholder perks (株主優待)
20. It might be interesting to write something like this: My life was different

What do you think? Anything interesting in there? I enjoyed listening to #16. Lots to think about.