The Monday Read: Spending Time and Money

Welcome to The Monday Read, RetireJapan’s weekly collection of content, musing, and links related to personal finance and life in Japan.

Well, I am enjoying being back in Sendai. It is home, after all.

My diet has slipped, but I am going to get back on track tomorrow.

Exercise is going well, I’m doing a 3-day a week dumbbell program with home weights. Been at it for a few weeks and it is working! Noticeably putting muscle on my arms, chest, back. Very happy with progress so far.

Mostly I am thinking about what kind of lifestyle I want, and how to balance work and fun and family and health. Mostly that looks like trying to get out of my everyday routine and do things that I might not do normally but would enjoy. It’s a work in progress.

Charity Bicycle Ride Across Japan (July 15-16)

I got invited to join this charity cycle ride across Japan, and it seemed perfect. New experience, fun, adventure, social, for a good cause.

Then I remembered I will probably need knee surgery next month, so I won’t be able to join in this year but will definitely be up for it in the future (assuming the knee surgery goes well). Malcome (the organizer) said it was okay to promote it here, so if you fancy a bit of a bicycle challenge in northern Japan and would like to see parts of Iwate and Akita check out the link above!

RetireJapan TV

Also join us for RetireJapan TV live tomorrow (Monday 26th) at 20:00, live on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

We’ll be talking to a US qualified CPA and Japan tax accountant. I’m looking forward to learning a huge amount! Join us live to ask questions and join in the discussion 🙂

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a new video: I retired at 44 in Japan, but am I really retired? Please watch, like, subscribe, and send to all your friends 😉

Also, this film looks kind of fun: Dumb Money

Metrics

Jiu-jitsu classes: two (pass)
YouTube videos: one (pass)

Consequences: None.

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (28,230 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

I started High Performance Habits, by Brendon Burchard (after seeing Ali Abdaal’s recommendation). So far so good. I’m only a few pages in.

This week’s gadget

So a few months ago I bought a standing desk. It is wonderful. Before this purchase, I would spend hours on end (as many as 8-10 per day) sitting in front of a computer, not moving. My back would lock up and I started getting bad back, hip, and hamstring pain.

The standing desk really helped. I now don’t sit much at all, and just for twenty minutes or so at a time. Standing is definitely worth it, but standing for a long time is also slightly unnatural and tiring.

Which is where this cheap balance board comes in. I got it last week, and it is wonderful. It is quite hard to use at first, but I got used to it quickly and it really breaks up standing sessions. Good ankle workout too. Very much recommend 🙂

This week’s links

  1. How thoughtful of them: Local politicians ask for crackdown on foreigners
  2. How long is a piece of string? How Much Money Does it Take to Feel Wealthy?
  3. Plus ca change: Kishida punts on a snap election
  4. This doesn’t appeal in the slightest, but was interesting to read about: Sleeping Soundly Thru a Market Crash: The Wasting Asset Retirement Model
  5. Learn the lesson already: Warren Buffett explains why passive investing is a winning strategy
  6. I’ll be reading this book soon: How to Live Long and Live Well In Retirement
  7. Enjoyed this write up. It will be interesting to see how things go: Here…comes…INDIA!!!
  8. This really long post is very good: Doing Business in Japan
  9. This is very good. Fortunately we don’t need it as much in Japan, but worth being aware of: The Best Self Defense Technique for Parking Lots and Public Places
  10. I am not a fan of cryptocurrency. Here’s the other side: Still bearish anon?
  11. I found this really concerning: ¥144 Is Weakest Since Last November
  12. Boo hoo. Wealthy expats reject ‘unfriendly’ Tokyo for onerous work culture and slum-like housing

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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12 Responses

  1. Thanks for the Monday update, and the recent YT video. My family just returned from a vacation to Europe, as you did, and to my surprise they don’t really see the point in going back. Spain, France … slowly falling apart like we are here (USA). And my friends who live in Costa Rica (both coasts) tell me it’s amazingly beautiful, but the crime is 10x worse than it was, bars on the windows now a requirement. It feels to me like the world is becoming less safe. Maybe settling down in Japan is better. (BTW – here in Chicago it’s not at all uncommon for 30-50 people to be shot over the weekend, and this extends to the suburbs too. Last week 23 people were shot and several died just a few miles from my “safe” suburban neighborhood.) It was in a parking lot.

    1. Ouch. I haven’t had much reason to worry about crime in Japan so far thankfully.

    2. Same for Seattle. The US is turning into a complete shit show, and just wait until the 2024 election.

  2. Standing desks are great, but hopefully you got an adjustable one. Standing, while better than sitting, is also stressful on the joints, as you’ve found. I’m considering a leaning stool/chair to take some weight off, so I don’t have to lower my desk 2x every day, while still avoiding completely sitting.

    1. Yep, has a nice little electric motor that raises or lowers it in about 10 seconds ^-^

  3. I wouldn’t go for Singapore over Tokyo. For me, personally, although its many advantages, Singapore is just a place without culture…

    1. Regarding #12: are there any good NGO who promote walkability in Japan, preferably tax deductible?

  4. Try rucking. Put the equivalent of 10-20% of your body weight into a backpack and go for a brisk walk for an hour or so. It works wonders.

    I’ve started using ‘barefoot shoes’ as well which also helps with stability.

  5. This is titled “Spending Time and Money”, but while I can see what you’re spending time on, I don’t see the same with money?

    That’s okay, I’ve got that covered–after some waiting, the local Fujifilm shop got in a camera that I’d been thinking about, so I had to decide. I’ll be swapping bodies tomorrow, old for new. Not much trade-in on the old one, but hey, it’ll be a shiny new thing (black, but still shiny). Slide a couple tens of 万 across the counter, and presto!

    1. Mainly on travel at the moment! Europe trip, Okinawa trip, and then planning to visit Europe and Okinawa again this year, as well as Thailand.

  6. Regarding link 1. Admittedly, I haven’t read the original Japanese letter by the politicians but the article title “Local politicians ask for crackdown on foreigners” is clickbait and misleading. Perhaps “Local politicians ask for more vigilance on anti-social behavior by foreigners” or something like that is better. I understand it’s a delicate and sensitive topic but I don’t think they are “out to get them” which seems to be insinuated by the title.

    1. You can read it from the link in the article.

      And the comments below it on Twitter.

      Bit of a dog-whistle in my opinion.