Time to coast/barista FIRE - things to prepare?

[zeroshiki]

Wouldn't it also be unemployment fraud?

[fiskebyxa]

Wouldn't it also be unemployment fraud?

Guess you are right.

I can't think of much else that's beneficial for me to negotiate about right now.
My company is very anti-remote work, so that is most likely out of the question.
If someone have any ideas, please let me know.

[adamu]

If someone have any ideas, please let me know.

What are you looking for ideas for?

You handed in your notice for Oct 31, so that's your last day, it doesn't matter what the yakuin decides. They might not like it, but they don't have any say over the timing you leave beyond the required 2 weeks. Of course, keeping things amicable is a worthwhile endeavour

[Kiro]

If they’re asking you to change your last day to one of their liking, and if it’s not suitable to you but you still comply, I would try to go for the 会社都合…
And if they only want to let you go next year, you can maybe try asking for a few months of 退職金.
But then again, if your contract says 14 days notice, and you are already giving them 3 months, you are being more than generous.

[Gulliver]

My major concern would be with your “barista” part of the equation. If you’re using the word barista literally, the chances of you finding a job at a Starbucks or some nice coffee shop in Japan at the age of 40 or 50 is problematic. Here they mostly recruit cute young employees to attract customers.

Being unemployed or underemployed at your age makes you an “undesirable” in Japanese culture. So now that you can’t find a job as a barista your other options will be convenience stores, prep cook, or other hard manual labor for which you may or may not have experience. You’re ideal of being able to coast smoothly into the sunset may end up being more of a bumpy grind than you think. Then you’re actually back where you started aren’t you?

If I were you I would stick with it for a bit longer- for however long it takes to be able to take the barista/temporary work variable out of your FIRE equation. Sounds like you are a competent saver and you’re not too far off from being able to do this anyway.

Of course if you’re simply looking to throw caution to the wind and make a change, which is a perfectly valid reason, go for it.

[Moneymatters]

My major concern would be with your “barista” part of the equation. If you’re using the word barista literally, the chances of you finding a job at a Starbucks or some nice coffee shop in Japan at the age of 40 or 50 is problematic. Here they mostly recruit cute young employees to attract customers.

Being unemployed or underemployed at your age makes you an “undesirable” in Japanese culture. So now that you can’t find a job as a barista your other options will be convenience stores, prep cook, or other hard manual labor for which you may or may not have experience. You’re ideal of being able to coast smoothly into the sunset may end up being more of a bumpy grind than you think. Then you’re actually back where you started aren’t you?

If I were you I would stick with it for a bit longer- for however long it takes to be able to take the barista/temporary work variable out of your FIRE equation. Sounds like you are a competent saver and you’re not too far off from being able to do this anyway.

Of course if you’re simply looking to throw caution to the wind and make a change, which is a perfectly valid reason, go for it.

Starbucks is a popular part-time job as it's well received by potential future employers due to their image of requiring consistency and a high standard of work. Baristas are as much a part of the coffee experience as the coffee. Arguably more so, considering Starbucks aversion to coffee..
Admittedly, they do get to spend 10 mins to make one drink whilst simultaneously pretending not to understand how a 20+ year resident of Japan pronounces "Drip Coffee" to their satisfation at the drive thru.* Well, all I'm saying is maybe they should have standards.

I'm in a 23区 and each year I think. 1. Aren't police officers getting younger (I almost inadvertently offered to help one cross a busy street the other night). and 2. OMG some of the staff in McDonald's are positively ancient!
So I suspect whilst; self checkout, automation and drone deliveries will likely drive down the total number of roles, non-manual labor roles will still be out there for those who want them even if they have a few grey hairs.

* Firstly, It's called starbucks coffee, it's literally in the name. I pronounce it more like "ko-hi-" even when outside Japan now. So the failing point, to the ongoing bemusement and amusement of my family, is my inability/reluctance to satisfactorily pronounce the word "drip".

What the hell are they pretending to confuse it with? The next menu item will be some seasonal monstrosity that takes longer to announce than a visiting head of state!** And almost everything else doesn't even involve coffee!!
I know I could take time, break it down to all it's non-essential parts, an 'o' after the d a loud 'u' at the end. But you see, it displays "drip coffee" in English on the drive thru menu. I can't point at it, I can't press it. Yet they refuse to train their staff the pronunciation of probably the most common, and susinctly named beverages on offer.
So I take it upon myself to train them. I start with "drip coffee" (More of a "coffee"/"ko-hi-" blend), then ever so slightly add the 'u' but still starting with 'dr', etc, etc until they get it..
Recently I've started to ask them to add milk. When they ask how much I say "五センチリットル". (Making sure to pronounce it with all the katakana gusto it deserves. According to my wife this is now workplace harassment on my part.)

** Prince Philip's official title was 133 words in length.

[adamu]

Recently I've started to ask them to add milk.

Dolly-poo cawhee!

I went through a phase of trying to get them to put milk in tea (real milk, not those cream capsules). For a long time I couldn't get past asking for "miruku" and getting a cream thing. If you say gyunyu, however, that can't be misunderstood and causes predictable panic at a non-standard request

Maybe fiskebyxa can carve out a niche putting milk in people's tea.

Gulliver said what I was avoiding

[beanhead]

My major concern would be with your “barista” part of the equation. If you’re using the word barista literally, the chances of you finding a job at a Starbucks or some nice coffee shop in Japan at the age of 40 or 50 is problematic. Here they mostly recruit cute young employees to attract customers.

Being unemployed or underemployed at your age makes you an “undesirable” in Japanese culture. So now that you can’t find a job as a barista your other options will be convenience stores, prep cook, or other hard manual labor for which you may or may not have experience. You’re ideal of being able to coast smoothly into the sunset may end up being more of a bumpy grind than you think. Then you’re actually back where you started aren’t you?

Totally agree that doing 'baito' style of work does not seem so attractive.

I guess you know this, but the reason it is called barista FIRE is because Starbucks gives healthcare cover, even to part-time employees. That is the cost that many Americans are most concerned with if they FIRE. So working a bit, just to get some heathcare cover, came to be known as Barista FIRE.

Context in Japan is different obviously, as basic health insurance is provided by the state and we all have to pay for it.

Also, I presume that most of us would try something different to Japanese folks to earn a few yen on the side. I don't anticipate seeing grey-haired gaijin standing by holes in the road at night with a light, or 'directing' traffic in supermarket car parks.

[RetireJapan]

Also, I presume that most of us would try something different to Japanese folks to earn a few yen on the side. I don't anticipate seeing grey-haired gaijin standing by holes in the road at night with a light, or 'directing' traffic in supermarket car parks.

My wife's ex-husband used to be a factory manager for a major Japanese company. He retired last year and now he works part-time doing golf course maintenance from 4-9am getting minimum wage.

I don't really get it. Maybe the money is incidental and the main purpose is to get out and be active, but I can think of a couple of dozen things to do that would pay at least 5-10x that

[Gulliver]

now he works part-time doing golf course maintenance from 4-9am getting minimum wage.

I don't really get it. Maybe the money is incidental and the main purpose is to get out and be active

Maybe his hero was Carl Spackler from Caddyshack. A paragon for any amateur golfer.

After my wife’s dad retired from being a successful accountant he immediately got his fork lift driver’s license. He told me that it had always been his dream job… There’s a lesson in there somewhere.