Welcome to The Monday Read, RetireJapan’s weekly collection of content, musings, and links related to personal finance and life in Japan.
Finally I can feel the hint of autumn in the air. It is no longer unpleasantly hot at night, and I have spent the last couple of days working without AC. Praise be!
This weekend I am off to the Money Shrine with my wife for our annual visit. The legend is that if you participate in the ceremony three years in a row you will never want for money again for the rest of your life.
This will be our fifth visit (the third year we tried to attend the ceremony was cancelled due to a typhoon). Fingers crossed we will fulfil our quota this year and unlock perpetual prosperity…
YouTube
Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a new video this week, a list of 6 things people can do to get started with personal finance in Japan. I hope you enjoy it!
6 things YOU can do now to improve your finances in Japan
Please watch, share, like, and subscribe 🙂
The Forum
The Forum is doing well (29,982 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:
This week’s books
I received a pre-release copy of Pathfinders, by JL Collins. The book comes out at the end of October, but I got mine early because something I wrote was included in the book.
A great honour, and the book has been really interesting so far.
I’ll be doing a full review on the blog later.
I also read John Scalzi’s new book Starter Villain. It’s a typical Scalzi book, a bit of a book snack. Very high concept, witty and considerate characters, a snappy plot, funny situations. I enjoyed it and finished it in a couple of hours.
Good for a break if you need something light and easy.
This week’s resource
The excellent r/JapanFinance sub on Reddit has a wiki, but they have now made it so you can access the wiki without using Reddit if you are so inclined. Just click on this link.
This week’s links
- That is pretty impressive: Japan population: One in 10 people now aged 80 or older
- Great. Japan swelters through ‘abnormal’ autumn, with warnings of more heat to come
- He should be compensated, not just apologised to: Foreigner in process of renewing Japanese visa mistakenly arrested for overstaying
- Interesting interview with UK early retired person: FIRE-side chat: investing to go
- I had no idea about this (YouTube): How Sweden Is Becoming Insanely Rich
- Life in a Japanese prison -fingers crossed that a certain obnoxious streamer gets a year or two of this (YouTube): Japanese Prison | National Geographic
- This is very cool (YouTube): FOUR YEAR Renovation Time Lapse | Abandoned JAPANESE FARMHOUSE
- Very interesting if you are into Japanese stocks: Insights into Japan capital market initiatives
- Took me a couple of decades to do this, but so worth the money: The Magical Japanese Art of Luggage Forwarding
- Wise words from Seth: Convenience and scams
- Old MMM post (health is the complement to finance): Staying Fit With No Gym in Sight
- The Escape Artist is now on Substack too, so I can link to his stuff: No One Said It Was Gonna Be Easy (Part 2)
- Ouch ouch ouch: Mistakes That Compound in the Markets
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
The Monday Read, going out to more than 2,868 subscribers each week. Please share this post/email with friends/colleagues who may be interested in it.
If you were forwarded the email you can sign up to our weekly or monthly list here.
Or you can subscribe through WordPress below:
Check out the RetireJapan website for more information, the Forum for discussions about personal finance and investing in Japan, and our coaching page if you need more help.
Not sure if this is the right place to post, but you always seem to offer the most LOGICAL and COHERENT information. Long story short — or as short as possible — I’m invested in many DFA offerings (Dimensional Fund Advisors). I think I’m paying my advisor 2.5% to “advise” me. I didn’t realize all of this until just today. If so, then I am paying $15,000+/ year to have him put this money ONE TIME in these funds and then sit there with me as I watch them go up/down. I am SOOOO turned off by (the notion of) financial advisors and can’t wait to move this money somewhere else. Uncoupling my funds from this FA is complicated (long story), but I currently have $ with 4 different companies and will be retiring in December 2023, at which time I plan to consolidate these with Fidelity. Let’s say someone had $2,000,000 to invest. What is wrong with just putting it in a money market with Fidelity, for example, which is currently paying 5.18% (paid monthly)? $103,600/year. Or am I missing something? I am 65 and don’t need to grow this money any more… or do I? what say ye? (FYI: I am in the US, but some of this money was made in my six years in Japan MANY years ago.) — PS. What other forums do you know where I could pose this question about the value of (or lack thereof) a financial advisor?
Hi Keith
I think you are wise to reconsider your financial setup. Paying 2.5% for something you could do yourself is probably not worth it (unless your advisor is providing more value, but even then that fee seems steep).
I would recommend talking to a fee only advisor (you pay for their time, so they work for you and should have fewer conflicts of interest than commission based advisers or % of funds under management advisors).
You could just move your portfolio to cash (or treasuries, or something similar). After all, once you have won the game there is no need to keep playing. As Warren Buffett says, ‘why risk money you need to make money you don’t need?’. However, you might be able to do better with some combination of a cheap stock fund for growth, treasuries for stability, and cash for spending.
The Bogleheads forum is excellent and I would definitely ask there.
Good luck!
THANK YOU.
1. After all, once you have won the game there is no need to keep playing.
2. As Warren Buffett says, ‘why risk money you need to make money you don’t need?’
LOVE LOVE LOVE this!
Keith
Go to the Bogleheads forum.
There are lots of people there who have unwound from similar situations before. You should get good advice. Be sure to follow the correct format when you explain your portfolio.
Many thanks for this lead.
I was on that site once before, but I think that might have been pre-Covid. It’s time for another visit.
Keith