The Monday Read

Advent Calendar Edition

We’ll be doing the annual progress reports again this year, and instead of breaking them into multiple posts we’ll just do one long one including all the information. Let me know what you think of the new format!

In other news it seems like the government is going to extend ordinary NISA in some form (although the system will remain unnecessarily complicated) -see link below.

I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing a lot more options to encourage people to invest for retirement going forward. It’s becoming pretty clear that most people will need to supplement nenkin, probably for decades, and the only way to do that is to start saving early, to save hard, and to invest at least some of the savings.

This week’s links

  1. I found this pretty surprising: Where Have All The Stock Market Returns Come From This Decade?
  2. Jobs site by a RetireJapan reader: Find a Job in Tokyo
  3. There’s a surprise: Gov’t compiles ¥26 tril stimulus package to prop up economy
  4. Burying utility poles would make cities much safer: Notes from underground
  5. Seems like the government is planning a new NISA to replace the current ordinary NISA: NISA投資、2階建てに　低リスク商品に20万円枠
  6. Never saw this one coming: Japan’s households tighten purse strings as sales tax, typhoon hit
  7. None of these people are in prison: News outlets take time to connect the dots in Kepco gift scandal
  8. And yet: Japan’s Drug War: The Case of Ingrid Martinussen (they ultimately let her go after twenty days)
  9. More food for thought: Bull Markets Last Much Longer Than You Think
  10. Most people don’t have trouble with this, but effective savers might: How to Spend Money

Short and sweet this time because I am a wee bit busy and the site’s WordPress installation keeps crashing. What did you think? Anything good in there?

3 Responses

  2. #3 is no longer available at the JapanToday website, but the original version is here:
    https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2019/12/77c6f45b2209-update1-japan-compiles-26-tril-yen-stimulus-package-to-prop-up-slowing-growth.html

    Is this the surprise you are referring to?
    “This will be followed by another program, under which the government is considering providing 5,000 yen worth of points to spend at stores across Japan to consumers who load 20,000 yen in their account for smartphone payments, starting in September next year.”

    1. No, I was just being cynical about the government putting up consumption taxes to stabilise government spending, then spending money trying to offset the negative effect of those taxes. Seen that movie before, presume we’ll see it again in the future 🙂