Time to coast/barista FIRE - things to prepare?

[goodandbadjapan]

sorry seem to have messed this up somehow! Next post has what I wrote!

[goodandbadjapan]

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

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. My wife and I could probably afford a non-extravagant retirement now and with covid and everything find the running of our school more complicated now than before. We are still in our very early 50s though and maybe quitting altogether would be silly unless we had something we were retiring to (as they always say you should). But we don't really know what that would be. Whenever we think of having a year off and then doing part time 'easy' work, we wonder if we would regret giving up a reasonable income too soon. We are trying to cut down on teaching time (have worked 4 days a week for the last few years) but when it is your own business there is still always the pressure of trying to do the best you can and feeling you have to go the extra mile. So, I suppose my question is: If you were going to coast fire, and you simply wanted money to cover expenses and visa was not an issue, what job would you do in Japan?

[Beaglehound]

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

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. My wife and I could probably afford a non-extravagant retirement now and with covid and everything find the running of our school more complicated now than before. We are still in our very early 50s though and maybe quitting altogether would be silly unless we had something we were retiring to (as they always say you should). But we don't really know what that would be. Whenever we think of having a year off and then doing part time 'easy' work, we wonder if we would regret giving up a reasonable income too soon. We are trying to cut down on teaching time (have worked 4 days a week for the last few years) but when it is your own business there is still always the pressure of trying to do the best you can and feeling you have to go the extra mile. So, I suppose my question is: If you were going to coast fire, and you simply wanted money to cover expenses and visa was not an issue, what job would you do in Japan?

As you are a teacher, if you don’t hate it, or at least some types of teaching, it’s pretty easy to just work less. I am in a similar position to you, 52 years old, and that’s my plan. Already only working around 15 contact hours a week, and I can see that going down gradually. I don’t have a school as such, but do have a small classroom at home, so expenses are minimal and I can pick and choose the types of student/class I want to teach. I can’t think of any other job I could do here that would be easier or have a better hourly rate.

[RetireJapan]

If you were going to coast fire, and you simply wanted money to cover expenses and visa was not an issue, what job would you do in Japan?

We're in exactly that position. Maybe have enough money, our English school is profitable/growing/challenging and maybe a bit more work/responsibility than we want. We are considering selling it at some point.

I have PR so can do what I want work-wise.

My dream retirement job is running RetireJapan. I can see a few ways to monetize it in an ethical way, and so far at least it is so fun that I have pretty much done it for free. I love the idea that I am helping people improve their lives and it gives me mental stimulation and some social contact.

I would also write/publish/consult on the side in English teaching, as I have done over the last few years.

One thing that is comforting if we do give up the school is that in a pinch I could work part-time at university. I have done that before and know the people who do the hiring of part-time teachers in Sendai.

It is basically 300,000 yen a year per koma (class), and you can pretty much do as many as you want, so it's a great way to plug gaps in the budget. I did 15 a week when I lost my job in 2008, but that was a bit too many and I can't see myself needing to do more than a day or two a week at most.

But our needs are few and barring unexpected costly problems already have ~30x our annual living expenses in liquid investments, so (fingers crossed) money shouldn't be an issue. The problem is trusting those numbers. I don't fully trust them myself, and my wife certainly doesn't yet

[goodandbadjapan]

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

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. My wife and I could probably afford a non-extravagant retirement now and with covid and everything find the running of our school more complicated now than before. We are still in our very early 50s though and maybe quitting altogether would be silly unless we had something we were retiring to (as they always say you should). But we don't really know what that would be. Whenever we think of having a year off and then doing part time 'easy' work, we wonder if we would regret giving up a reasonable income too soon. We are trying to cut down on teaching time (have worked 4 days a week for the last few years) but when it is your own business there is still always the pressure of trying to do the best you can and feeling you have to go the extra mile. So, I suppose my question is: If you were going to coast fire, and you simply wanted money to cover expenses and visa was not an issue, what job would you do in Japan?

As you are a teacher, if you don’t hate it, or at least some types of teaching, it’s pretty easy to just work less. I am in a similar position to you, 52 years old, and that’s my plan. Already only working around 15 contact hours a week, and I can see that going down gradually. I don’t have a school as such, but do have a small classroom at home, so expenses are minimal and I can pick and choose the types of student/class I want to teach. I can’t think of any other job I could do here that would be easier or have a better hourly rate.

Yes that is it exactly. And although I say school, it is just two classrooms in our house so almost identical situation to you. Basically no running costs and easier thing is just to carry on. I think we might go for natural attrition, in that we will stop accepting new students and let the current ones gradually fade away until it really isn't worth doing any more.

[goodandbadjapan]

If you were going to coast fire, and you simply wanted money to cover expenses and visa was not an issue, what job would you do in Japan?

We're in exactly that position. Maybe have enough money, our English school is profitable/growing/challenging and maybe a bit more work/responsibility than we want. We are considering selling it at some point.

I have PR so can do what I want work-wise.

My dream retirement job is running RetireJapan. I can see a few ways to monetize it in an ethical way, and so far at least it is so fun that I have pretty much done it for free. I love the idea that I am helping people improve their lives and it gives me mental stimulation and some social contact.

I would also write/publish/consult on the side in English teaching, as I have done over the last few years.

One thing that is comforting if we do give up the school is that in a pinch I could work part-time at university. I have done that before and know the people who do the hiring of part-time teachers in Sendai.

It is basically 300,000 yen a year per koma (class), and you can pretty much do as many as you want, so it's a great way to plug gaps in the budget. I did 15 a week when I lost my job in 2008, but that was a bit too many and I can't see myself needing to do more than a day or two a week at most.

But our needs are few and barring unexpected costly problems already have ~30x our annual living expenses in liquid investments, so (fingers crossed) money shouldn't be an issue. The problem is trusting those numbers. I don't fully trust them myself, and my wife certainly doesn't yet

That's the thing - in a pinch we could all pick up a bit of work here and there, surely, so it begs the question are we just a bit too nervous to pull the plug! But with the way the world is going I kind of think I want tottery and have a bit of fun before climate, war, disease make it impossible to do anything!

[RetireJapan]

That's the thing - in a pinch we could all pick up a bit of work here and there, surely, so it begs the question are we just a bit too nervous to pull the plug! But with the way the world is going I kind of think I want tottery and have a bit of fun before climate, war, disease make it impossible to do anything!

Yes, it is called 'one more year' syndrome and is extremely common for people who are on the cusp of voluntary retirement.

If you are forced to retire, you just make do with what you have, but when you choose to you have to deal with nagging doubts and the chance of regretting the decision

[goodandbadjapan]

That's the thing - in a pinch we could all pick up a bit of work here and there, surely, so it begs the question are we just a bit too nervous to pull the plug! But with the way the world is going I kind of think I want tottery and have a bit of fun before climate, war, disease make it impossible to do anything!

Yes, it is called 'one more year' syndrome and is extremely common for people who are on the cusp of voluntary retirement.

If you are forced to retire, you just make do with what you have, but when you choose to you have to deal with nagging doubts and the chance of regretting the decision

Indeed and I meant to type ' I want to try' and not 'I want tottery' although that sounds kind of fun, too.

[RetireJapan]

I too want tottery

[northSaver]

I'm in the same situation as you guys... 50s... probably have enough invested to never have to work again (if the pension systems don't fail us)... run a small English school with my wife at home. The problem is we have more students now than ever before and it will take forever to lose them through natural attrition. There are always younger siblings of current students wanting to join each year, and so far it's been hard to refuse them. Also my wife is a bit younger than me and definitely more Japanese, so isn't too comfortable with the idea of turning down students and retiring early.

Probably the next goal for me is to reduce teaching from 5 to 4 days a week, and try to take more time off in non-holiday times so I can travel abroad more comfortably (my last trip to the UK this summer was crazy from start to finish).

It's a nice problem to have though. Having too much income is always better than too little, so I probably shouldn't complain much