The RetireJapan Master Plan

Hat tip to Elon Musk

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Inspired by Tesla’s Master Plan, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what is going on with RetireJapan (there is method to the madness, honestly).

RetireJapan was born in late 2013. Since then it has grown into more than a hobby: it has become a something really enjoyable.

There is a real need for something like this site: an impartial source of information and advice about personal finance for residents of Japan in English.

Last month I had a chance to really think about what is going on with the site on a trip to Sweden. It’s funny how changing your environment can help you reflect on your life and goals.

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Driving north from Stockholm

Running RetireJapan has been educational, fun, interesting, and rewarding. I love the community here, and feel really privileged to have the support of our readers. A lot of the time I think I am getting more out of it than anyone else is.

​I have bigger plans for RetireJapan though, and writing this is a chance to share them with you and invite you to participate.

Step 1: share information on the site/blog (been doing this since 2013)
Step 2: run a forum so people can ask questions and share information (the personal finance forum was set up earlier this year)
Step 3: create in-depth Guides on specific topics (the Guide to iDeCo was published in August)
Step 4: provide personal finance coaching (TBD)
Step 5: provide assistance with opening accounts, etc. (TBD)
Step 6: provide financial services (TBD)

Each step feeds the subsequent steps. Steps 3-6 are commercial, but steps 1-2 will be free forever and most people will be able to get all the information they need to get started without having to pay for it.

I’ve had a lot of requests for more involved help than I can provide at the moment, and I like to think we’ll be able to provide a better alternative to what is currently available in Japan for foreign residents.

I hope you’ll join us as we continue our journey over the next few years.

What do you think? Is there anything you’d like to see on RetireJapan? 

7 Responses

  1. I’d like to thank you, and the other members, for taking the time to contribute to this site. I’ve already learned many new things and look forward to the time in the future when I can add my own contributions to help out others. Thanks again.

  3. Lots of interesting stuff on the site so far. It’s what got me on to iDeco and thankfully also confirmed that a lot of my financial thinking actually made sense. Thanks for all your work on the site so far. Your coaching idea sounds like a very useful one. You could probably do a package of talks and private coaching sessions either online or in-person.
    eg.
    Price: X yen includes high-quality seminars on:
    – iDeco, ETFs, THEO, etc.
    – Two follow-up private sessions where you can get impartial advice on setting up your financial future
    The follow-up sessions could be on Skype etc. I think this kind of package would be very useful for many people. You could also market it to companies, schools etc as a type of company training.
    Cheers,
    Brian

    1. Thanks, Brian! I love the marketing to companies thing. I’m guessing lots of companies have budgets for that kind of thing and it’s often easier to persuade a company to pay for something than an individual 🙂