The Monday Read: On the Road

Had a very good time running some workshops in Fukuoka and Kitakyushu this weekend! Thanks to the JALT chapters for hosting me and to everyone who came to the workshops.

It was actually the first time I have presented live for about three and a half years, so I was very much out of practice.

Still, I hope everyone got something out of it and I found a couple of new questions I don’t yet know the answer to (whether it is possible to take kosei nenkin late and increase the amount, and exactly who is subject to the exit tax).

I certainly don’t have all the answers but together we can figure them out ^-^

Your First Ten Million Yen

Our 2023 live online course is almost sold out. We have one seat left. If you are interested check out the course description here.

We will not be running this again until 2024!

Business Success Japan podcast

I recorded a podcast last year, and it was released this week. Had a nice conversation about personal finance, RetireJapan, and life in Japan. Check it out here 🙂

RJTV3

RetireJapan TV is back! We’ll be going live on YouTube from 20:00 tonight (Monday), with our first guest! All very exciting. Today’s guest came to Japan to teach English then retrained and is now working as a programmer. We’ll be talking to them about their experience and see how they are finding the new work situation. Join us here from 20:00 tonight, or catch the recording on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform next week.

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a new video this week, Discussing Inheritance in Japan. Check it out!

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (25,408 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

I started reading a couple new books this week. Beyond Wealth, by Alexander Green, which is excellent so far, and Suck it Up or Go Home, by Simon Grey, which is not quite as excellent.

The former is a series of short essays on how to live a good life, and the latter is an account of doing a year-long intensive Aikido course (but Angry White Pajamas told the same story better).

This week’s links

1. Things seem to be going in the right direction for workers: Japan’s Ma Bell Shifting from Seniority to Merit-Based “Pay-for-Performance”
2. Despicable (PBS video): The Power of Big Oil (Part One: Denial)
3. Computer says no: Will Kuroda Blink This Week?
4. Must be the negative ions: The happiest, least stressful, most meaningful jobs in America
5. Not sure this will have any effect on public behaviour, even if they got past mulling and actually did it: Japan mulls lifting anti-COVID recommendation to wear masks indoors
6. It’s all in your mind: The Real Secret To Financial Success
7. This was a beautiful beautiful documentary. Jonah Hill and his therapist. Got it from Tim Ferriss’ newsletter (Netflix): Stutz
8. I find being optimistic and sharing with others makes life much better: Generous and selfish
9. Completely agree: Why Japan’s Low Birth Rate Solutions Continue to Fail
10. Any US citizens looking for a CPA, this guy got rave reviews on Facebook: Michael Stanczak, CPA
11. Very Zen this: The Fundamental Delusion of Life
12. Travesty: Acquittal upheld for ex-TEPCO execs over Fukushima nuclear crisis
13. Three times in ten months seems a bit much: Will McDonald’s Customers in Japan Still Be Lovin’ It?
14. I stay well away from it and I would not be happy about my granddaughter using it: TikTok Is Now Way Worse Than You Thought
15. This is disappointing but not surprising. There is no free lunch, and you can’t ‘offset’ carbon emissions: More than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
16. I’m enjoying this channel recently (YouTube): Stop Investing And Pay Off Your Mortgage
17. This was a great interview (YouTube): The Happiness Expert Making 1 Billion People Happier – Mo Gawdat
18. Not sure how I feel about this. Probably can’t be helped: Japan to downgrade COVID classification as it seeks to ‘live with the virus’
19. eMaxis Slim All-Country wins fund of the year for the 4th time running by an enormous margin: http://www.fundoftheyear.jp/2022/
20. I don’t completely hate this but I don’t agree with all of it: Japan was the future but it’s stuck in the past
21. Interesting piece on the BOJ and ultimately the yen: Reading Kuroda’s Mind
22. To counter the negativity: What is Japan’s economy really good at?

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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