The Monday Read

Retirement Round Two Edition

Regular readers are probably tired of me whining about working as an emergency replacement teacher at my wife’s school from March. I am too!

So it was with some degree of anticipation that I welcomed my replacement last Wednesday.

I am tentatively going to ease into pseudo-retirement now, doing a couple of days a week managing the school, a couple of days a week working on all aspects of RetireJapan, and a couple of days a week taking time for myself and not working.

I’ve been working 2-3 jobs, 6-7 days a week for the last couple of decades, so it’s going to take some getting used to.

It’s kind of like a dress rehearsal for real retirement, in that the key is going to be building a solid set of habits, routines, hobbies, relationships, interests, and satisfactions. I don’t do well with no guidelines, so to be happy I need to make a decent box for myself. Hoping to improve my health and fitness, and spend more time with friends and family.

Looking forward to figuring it out, and I imagine there will be some blog posts about it going forward.

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The Forum

The Forum is doing well (22,698 posts so far). A propos of nothing, a quick reminder of the forum rules.

Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

A good week for reading.

I finished What Rich People Know and Desperately Want to Keep Secret, which is mainly about starting and running a small business. Kind of the perfect book for me right now, but will likely be less interesting if you are not an entrepreneur nor planning to become one.

Started Soul in the Game and am enjoying it so far. I like Vitaliy’s writing and follow his blog/newsletter as well. This is a bit of a departure in that it isn’t about investing but rather about life, stoicism, habits, etc. Reading it is kind of like talking to a middle-aged friend about all the cool life hacks they have been discovering 😉

I am about 2/3 of the way through The Shadow of the Torturer, which is good but LONG. And it’s just the first book in the trilogy. Maybe I will get through it with the help of my digital Sabbath.

Also started reading Running and Being. I have a thing about running books. I don’t really run any more, but I really enjoy reading about it. Go figure.

This week’s service

Earlier this year our electricity provider (GreenA) was bought out by Octopus Energy, a UK renewable energy provider. Since then our bills have been inexplicably low (6,000-8,000 yen a month despite running our AC for most of July). Not sure why, but no complaints from me.

If you’re in the market for a new provider, you can get 5,000 yen off your first bill with this link (I will also get some yen).

This week’s links

I use this website (12ft ladder) that lets you see paywalled articles. So far it seems to work really well, although it doesn’t work on all websites. If you have trouble reading any of the links give it a try!

1. I’m not doing any of these: The 10 biggest mistakes you can make with your money
2. Some inspiration maybe (not investing advice): The Top 10 Stocks Held By Japan’s Biggest SMB Value Fund
3. Interview with Craig Mod: What I talk about when I talk about walking
4. Could probably write a similar article about Japan: As the Tory leadership candidates obsess over tax cuts, the real monsters are tapping at the window
5. Interesting take on this: TikTok’s Poison Pill
6. Ooof, that graph is depressing: Scarcity is an Ally of Appreciation
7. Something to watch out for. Maybe I should register my wife and granddaughter pre-emptively? Money out of mind
8. “a Japan made of 1/3 ethnic Japanese people and 2/3 ethnic Kenyans” sounds kind of interesting: Slightly Against Underpopulation Worries
9. At some point, it is time to make stuff: Don’t Put the Tool Before the Craft
10. I like this mental flip: You are always the other person
11. I kind of missed this positive development: The big new climate bill’s most important provisions
12. Seems to work for Mr. Buffett: Lifestyle habits
13. Nice summary of a bunch of ideas I hadn’t heard of: Little Ways The World Works
14. Just be more tenacious? What to Do if You’re Not a Naturally Tenacious Person
15. Some interesting details about the origins of Covid: Your Book Review: Viral
16. That 170km city tower is insane: Model City Monday 8/1/22
17. I am going to try unplugging once a week: Are you not entertained?

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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