The Monday Read

December? Really?

We’re coming into the final straight of 2018. I find it really helpful to spend the winter break reflecting on the past year and thinking about the next one. Some of that will be done here on the blog, as we run the various updates, reviews, and planning posts.

Here are this week’s links:

  1. Hooh, boy. This is a bit depressing: Anti-FIRE – the YOLO train-wreck edition
  2. This is excellent. I will need to be more careful in the future: ON WRITING BETTER: SHARPENING YOUR TOOLS
  3. Not particularly ‘ii fuufu’ then, eh? Survey: Only 40 percent would marry same spouse again
  4. Another really stupid idea: Japan may extend tax deduction period for housing loan users
  5. Looks interesting: The Truth About Killer Robots: the year’s most terrifying documentary
  6. Interesting interview on AI: AI Guru Andrew Ng on the Job Market of Tomorrow
  7. Er, what? Try moving some government offices and making companies move or allow telecommuting instead… Gov’t considers paying people ¥3 million to move out of Tokyo
  8. What is three times nothing? World must triple efforts or face catastrophic climate change, says UN
  9. This is basically RetireJapan: Selfish Writing
  10. This year knocked me back a year or two: Wealth Building Is Mostly Invisible
  11. Real estate investing doesn’t appeal to me, but seems like a decent option: Truly Passive Real Estate Investing
  12. Don’t get arrested in Japan: 23 days later: Getting arrested in Japan
  13. Stealth wealth? Japan’s rich have the most cash in Asia, but China is closing in
  14. This makes me really angry: Why Japan finds coal hard to quit
  15. Seems reasonable: Work is NOT Optional After Retirement
  16. I might have to try this: How and Why I Wrote a Year of Blog Posts in Ten Days
  17. Do you have it too easy? The Unfair Advantage Of Discomfort
  18. I love the Tokyo on Fire videos: Superstar CEO Carlos Ghosn Arrested
  19. Would love to see this in Sendai: ‘It’s the only way forward’: Madrid bans polluting vehicles from city centre
  20. A simple explanation: How to Retire Forever on a Fixed Chunk of Money
  21. When less is more: Living Without Mobile Data in Japan
  22. More on the Ghosn arrest: Carlos Ghosn’s arrest is more about Japanese criminal justice than corporate governance
  23. Are you 70% sure? How to Stop Procrastinating Using the 70% Rule
  24. The habits of millionaires: 13 Surprising Facts from 100 Millionaire Interviews and What We Can Learn from Them
  25. Some good links from Collaborative Fund: what we’re reading.

What do you think? Anything good in there? I was following the Ghosn story quite closely. Hopefully it will lead to judicial reform here. Falling into the Japanese justice system is a terrifying prospect.

​And here are some books I finished/bought/started reading:

  • Artemis (Andy Weir, the guy that wrote The Martian). Been meaning to check this out for a while, hope it is as good as TM.
  • Why We Sleep (Matthew Walker). I need to get better at sleeping.

One Response

  1. No comments yet, so I’ll take a crack:
    “Financial Friction is your Friend” — no better words ever spoken.
    #15, and #20 — those FIRE people haven’t really figured it out yet–still stumbling around out in the woods.