RetireJapan

I had an idle thought in the shower last night: yen billionaire is a not completely impossible stretch goal

Is the goal just to accumulate the most wealth as you can though? What is your financial goal, beyond the simple "FI/FIRE".

TokyoBoglehead wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:25 am Is the goal just to accumulate the most wealth as you can though? What is your financial goal, beyond the simple "FI/FIRE".

It's a really good question, and I don't have a great answer yet. I'm still trying to get to grips with our situation and how I feel about it. We are borderline FIRE in theory, but my wife is still running her business and I am still doing various things that make money. The thing is, I would probably be doing most of those things regardless of how much money we have

Obviously all things being equal, having more money is better, but all things are not equal and we need to take time/health/relationships into account.

I do find it fun/interesting/motivating to set goals though, even if I don't end up reaching them. And realizing that a billion yen is not as impossible a number as a billion dollars or euros kind of tickled me

I remember when I hit my first million yen. Finally a millionaire

JimNasium wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:24 pm I remember when I hit my first million yen. Finally a millionaire

Similar vibe

Even 1 Oku (100M) is a good target. That's 1/10th of the way there and you can also check in with the Exit Tax at the same time

adamu wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 3:21 am Even 1 Oku (100M) is a good target. That's 1/10th of the way there and you can also check in with the Exit Tax at the same time

Achievement unlocked

(hence realising the stretch goal might be achievable)

I would spend that money if I had it myself, given the situation with Japan’s modern inheritance tax.

Of course if one had that sort of money, when one’s spouse passes one can pay a tax person to handle the inheritance tax, or set aside the inheritance tax money in advance to make things smoother for when the time comes.

But I would rather spend the money on my life, than just have it accumulate, only to then be taken away like how a game of monopoly is tidied away after the game is over.

It would have be nice to have been a millionaire back in the Edo era.

——

Edit: I thought I would a little about my parents… they were just run of the mill folks and growing up I was not a rich kid. But my parents got themselves debt free, and then committed all of their late career income into stock market investments. They were doing individual stock picking, and made out like bandits on some of their choices. One of my parents passed away, due to cancer, so died a rich multi-millionaire. My other parent is also still relatively young, and hoping there are more good years left to go, but time will tell.

At the end of the day, make sure you take maximum care of your health, and go to the doctor if you think there is anything unusual! The money can’t help you much when it’s too late!

sutebayashi wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 8:09 am At the end of the day, make sure you take maximum care of your health, and go to the doctor if you think there is anything unusual! The money can’t help you much when it’s too late!

Very true. Just look at Steve Jobs.

A friend passed of cancer at age 80. Sounds like a decent lifespan, but his mother lived til 95 so he might have had some years left had he stayed healthy.

His son is a billionaire (USD), but that could only buy him an extra year or so via overseas top-of-the-line medical care.

If the Yen keeps going down you may get there faster than you think