The Monday Read

Welcome to the Jungle edition

Sorry, I’ve been listening to lots of Guns N’ Roses this week 🙂

This week we’ll do the last blog post of the year: our annual roundup post. Otanoshimi!

This week’s links

  1. I am really enjoying the photography on this blog: outdooradventure.jp
  2. Hmmm: Japan’s banks charging more fees to cover slumping revenue
  3. Thinking about saving for retirement: How To Maintain Your Life Style in Retirement
  4. Here comes LINE to take all that bank business: Line starts bank transfer service via smartphone payment platform
  5. Good news for small businesses? No need for paper receipts in the cashless age: キャッシュレス決済の経費精算、紙の領収書は保存不要
  6. Interesting blog about moving to rural Kyushu: What is it like to retire to the Japanese countryside?
  7. Feeling better about the last couple of years now: Most Accomplishments Are Invisible
  8. Bad news for lazy people: Consistency is key
  9. I just buy a world index: Durn furriners
  10. How to choose what to consume: Vita brevis
  11. Just made our annual overpayment on our mortgage this week, funnily enough: Why paying down your mortgage faster could be a good investment strategy
  12. *taking notes furiously* Raising the Best Kids You Can

What do you think? Anything good in there? I particularly liked #1, #6, and #10.

6 Responses

  1. Thank you for linking my blog Ben. It’s very much appreciated! I wouldn’t be enjoying the outdoors as much though if I hadn’t have taken a lot of the advice on this blog 🙂

  2. I liked number 11 about overpaying your mortgage but would it make sense in Japan, where we have such low mortgage rates?

    1. It’s a personal decision I think.

      I am overpaying my mortgage (by about 50% a year), but as my interest rate is only 0.5% I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense. It’s nice to see the numbers go down though, and we’ll end up paying the mortgage off ten years early. We also invest a lot in the stock market, so I see it as a kind of diversification.