Time to coast/barista FIRE - things to prepare?

[TokyoBoglehead]

Thank you for being a good sport OP.

But I too would like to voice my strong distaste for the way passive income is casual thrown around.

Just setup some passive income!? Isn't that a massive simplification of many different varied and complex strategies?

Are you buying dividend stocks? ->No, you don't have enough savings to live off the dividends?

Are you going to start renting? Do you have experience with this? If not get ready for your new job Mr.Landlord.

Are you going into affiliate marking like every other get rich quick scheme? Drop shipping???

Passive income is a byword for wanting to generate income without doing any work, and you'll need a lot more capital to live off the proceeds for this to succeed.

[RetireJapan]

Passive income is a byword for wanting to generate income without doing any work, and you'll need a lot more capital to live off the proceeds for this to succeed.

My experience of passive income = huge amounts of recurring work for not much profit (so far). I've written books for RetireJapan, English textbooks, run the site, etc.

Only real passive income has been from dividends. Writing, web stuff, all involves a lot of work to keep it going (not truly passive).

[fiskebyxa]

I went to a language school for 3 months after that, and watching the savings go in the wrong direction was enough to push me back into a "proper" job again.

This might be the case with me as well if I see things going in the wrong direction.

I work for a startup where we might need someone in overseas sales in the near future. Get in touch if things don't work out.

Thanks, I might reach out to you in case things don't go as planned

[fiskebyxa]

The FIRE number is about retirement and living standards as far as I can tell. But does it include the ability to start your own business, whatever that might be? Say you wanted to open a restaurant or coffee shop, or take on some rental properties, or start a language school - that is going to take some capital investment, so do you need to include this in your FIRE number? My own experience is that the capital investment is more than you plan, and payback is slower, even though we got there in the end. So maybe you, or others in this position, need a bigger financial cushion to start with?

Which brings me to a second point - if your employer wants/ needs you so much, get them to pay you more. You can be direct or indirect about this depending on your relationship with them, but if they do want you to stay longer, do it on your terms, not theirs. And build your nest egg with the extra pay.

My number is definitely not enough for own business which would require lots of startup capital.
But there are small businesses that wouldn't require much initial investments as well.

I think asking for more money is out of the question. My company has already laid off several people due to mainly global parts shortage. Difficult to sell our products when we cannot find the parts we need.

I'm not sure how many on this forum work for traditional Japanese companies. You get tired after a while (as a foreigner).
It is time for me to find other opportunities in life at this stage.

[fiskebyxa]

Well, at least u/fiskebyxa @fiskebyxa checked back in, and I think their response to my comment was very good. (I'm not sure which way to tag someone here.)

I’ll certainly stick with ¥35M not being enough, especially as noted that there could be some life/lifestyle changes—or at least a person should allow enough wiggle room for that to happen.

I’d’ve expected the barista side or part of this to be more specific. Instead, it appears to be 'maybe this', or 'maybe that', and a reliance on the idea that “it’ll probably be okay”, or just leaving it at being confident that it’ll work out. And along the way here, other people here have offered ideas for jobs, and some cautions connected to that kind of work that fiskebyxa seems either not to have thought thru too well, or perhaps had not presented their thoughts on that very thoroughly when first posting about this. That's not the exciting part, after all...!

In the same way that more savings/investments would allow more freedom on down the line (and leisure/comfort), having a clearer idea (set of ideas?) about the barista side would do the same. Plan A there may be fine and be all you’d need for happily ever after, but plans B and C should be as fleshed out and as do-able and as adequate as plan A.

Another thing I was a little confused by was how the term 'passive income' was used--perhaps referring to income types that seemed broader than I would include there. That's probably just my take on things, so maybe not so important.

I think I should just change this thread topic to:
Planning to quit my job - things to prepare before going unemployed for a while

It is true that I do not have firm plans at this point.

But staying with a job/company I am not happy with is not an option any longer.
I will quit my current job and then:

-Maybe barista/coast FIRE
-Barista part would either be baito/own business (with low startup costs)/work towards passive income streams
-Maybe find a better full-time job compared to my current one

Even without firm plans. I think it is guaranteed that I will feel happier compared to my current situation.

[fiskebyxa]

Thank you for being a good sport OP.

But I too would like to voice my strong distaste for the way passive income is casual thrown around.

Just setup some passive income!? Isn't that a massive simplification of many different varied and complex strategies?

Are you buying dividend stocks? ->No, you don't have enough savings to live off the dividends?

Are you going to start renting? Do you have experience with this? If not get ready for your new job Mr.Landlord.

Are you going into affiliate marking like every other get rich quick scheme? Drop shipping???

Passive income is a byword for wanting to generate income without doing any work, and you'll need a lot more capital to live off the proceeds for this to succeed.

My experience of passive income = huge amounts of recurring work for not much profit (so far). I've written books for RetireJapan, English textbooks, run the site, etc.

Only real passive income has been from dividends. Writing, web stuff, all involves a lot of work to keep it going (not truly passive).

I have experience with affiliate marketing and airbnbs in the past.
Enjoyed doing both much more compared to salaryman life.

Lots of initial work, but working for yourself is a lot more satisfying than working for someone else.
In my case, they were not fully automated. But you could set it up so that the required work is far less than a full-time job.

[goran]

I'm not sure how many on this forum work for traditional Japanese companies. You get tired after a while (as a foreigner).
It is time for me to find other opportunities in life at this stage.

We are going to get along so well.
Co-incidentally, I also work in International Sales Division of my company. (Technical Section)

[captainspoke]

(so this is like, happily ever after? )

[zeroshiki]

Apropos of nothing but the "you get tired (as a foreigner" is something I quite dislike that foreigners use on places like r/japanlife. Being foreign and speaking English does not imbue us with magical powers or any special insight into how the world works. It just so happens we're on a forum speaking English. I'm sure on yahoo answers or 2ch or somewhere, you have Japanese people complaining about black companies all the same.

If we really are better then we should change how we think/speak and cut out the condescension towards the "locals".

[adamu]

10 days holiday allowance and not being able to take more than three consecutive days off, doing overtime purely for looks or because the boss hasn't left yet and following rules that don't make sense just because they exist and cannot be questioned. These are all irrational thigs that are typical in a Japanese company that could make someone who has experienced the alternative tired. Just because it's tradition does not mean it's sensible, or that wanting to change it / find alternatives is condescending.