This week, the only read
The sharper eyed among our readers may have noticed that there was no blog post this week. Unfortunately, my life remains ‘interesting’ this year, in the Chinese curse sense of the word.
However, the forum has been pretty lively recently, and I’ve received a few messages with blog ideas so hopefully we’ll be back with some new content soon.
We also have a pretty good collection of links for you this week:
- This is pretty interesting: 5 REASONS WHY INVESTING FOR INCOME BEATS INVESTING FOR GROWTH
- Hopefully this won’t happen just yet: Japan Trench quake probability over 90%
- Maths for people who like money but aren’t good with numbers: Simple Maths for Investors
- I too am terrified: Am I the only one who’s terrified about the warm weather?
- How to get on planes more quickly (or just fly business. Or get elite status): The Better Boarding Method Airlines Won’t Use
- This is basically an emotional decision: What’s the Return on Mortgage Prepayments?
- Half baked may be generous: Japan’s plan to let in more low-skilled migrants is half-baked
- This perhaps shows how lucrative the current situation is: 10 Products From Japanese Stores To Help You Fight Hay Fever
- Found out this week I am really bad at this: How to Create Reality
- Need to work on this: A Guide to Good Sleep
- Some good stuff in here: What We Are Reading
- Lack of agency or lack of appreciation mostly: Why are people miserable at work?
- This may be good if they can actually help: Ministry of Justice’s human rights bureau offers free consultations to foreign residents
- Leaving phones in a different room is a good one: Digital Minimalism for Parents
- “Spend less than you make” is the personal finance version of “this is a football”: Vince Lombardi on the Hidden Power of Mastering the Fundamentals
- What stage are you? We’re between 3 and 4: Out of the swamp
- Will any of these change the world? 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2019
- This is very good indeed: How to be successful
So, are there many recommended ‘income investments’ available in mutual fund packages in Japan?
The best mutual funds (low fees, etc.) tend to focus on compounding growth, so don’t pay out dividends. You can definitely do a search for mutual funds and ETFs that pay dividends. They are very popular here, but may underperform index funds. It’s no good getting a dividend if you experience large capital losses.
The phone addiction article, and its comparison to cigarettes really hits home for me.
I’ve been a computer nerd for as long as I can remember: my best Christmas was as a 9 year old in 1990 when Santa brought the family our very first computer. The whole thing pretty much defined my hobbies and my career as a software engineer, and so it always felt “normal” to me that I always carry my phone around.
I’m way more judgemental of my wife’s phone habits, even though she’s not worse than me. Both of us are constantly checking on our phones, but in my case I justify it because I’m a geek and she’s not. (Yeah I’m a douche).
Our kid is 7 and is asking for a phone, my wife says all kids in his class already have one and therefore we should be thinking about it. Help! We’re definitely not on the same page here. I’m still not willing to accept to get rid of my screen time, but I do see the danger this represents for kids, in terms of focus, social life, etc…
I think high school is an appropriate time to get a smartphone. You can give kids the introductory experience in junior high with a tablet (they can still use LINE etc). A few of the kids at my wife’s school follow this pattern.
Generally speaking, I think giving smartphones to elementary school kids is a very bad idea. Would definitely recommend rules like leaving it in the living room to charge/only using it there while at home, etc. The real harm is kids using phones all through the night, etc.
Re: Sanitation Without Sewers towards the end of item 17 ’10 Breakthrough Technologies 2019
For anyone who would like to try not wasting clean water when you flush, the essential factor in waterless toilet design is to separate urine and more solid matter. This separation avoids a lot of smell. Even in an upper floor town apartment it would be possible to store urine in a tank for responsible disposal (rose bushes, hedges etc once a week or so). You just need to add some shredded paper, dry leaves, straw etc to the solids container after each contribution.
This company https://www.kildwick.com/shop/kildwick-klassic/
will mail a high quality urine separator toilet fitting to Japan. Making the whole toilet just needs rudimentary construction skills.
I don’t know if I can reduce my water cost from its current ¥700 a month but my potatoes will appreciate the higher quality compost or ‘humanure’.