Reader Profile: Parker Dupont
Lessons from the Future Another real treat for you today: the experiences of someone who went through the system in Japan and then successfully retired. Take it away, Parker! Early Retirement: Lessons from an Unsophisticated Investorby Parker Dupont I retired at 61, just shy of the 62nd birthday required to start my pension. I could […]
Money Mindsets
There are a few Recently I’ve been noticing how different people seem to think about money. It’s really interesting. Here are some rough categories. Do you know anyone that fits them? Scarcity This could also be called the ‘miser mindset’. Money is something to be held onto and not spent. People with a scarcity mindset […]
Reader Profile: MJC
The long-term resident leaving Japan Last week I received an email from MJC, who told me he was planning to leave Japan and had a few questions. I suggested our readership might be able to answer them better than I could, so he kindly agreed to submit a Reader Profile. MJC has quite the incredible […]
Overpaying Kokumin Nenkin
Only for 第1号被保険者 Greolieres, in the Southern Alps foothills near Nice. **I made a mistake in this post. I am going to leave the post as originally written, and explain the mistake and how it changes things at the bottom. I apologize for the sloppy writing -I should have done a bit more research.** This […]
Building a Low-Energy Home
The best solution? Mark’s beautiful homeI’m really pleased to have another guest post from Mark Brierley for you today (you can see his first one here). Mark is a certified Passivhaus consultant and blogger, and he is generously sharing his knowledge and experience with us today. You can read more of his writing at his excellent […]
40 Questions
Probably about 30 too many… Last year I taught a personal finance class in English at my university. It was an elective ‘high-level’ class, and I had five wonderful students join. We had an amazing time talking about money, happiness, and life, and how they interact. This year I am trying to repeat the experience, […]
Big Wins, Small Losses
The things that really matter Most people don’t want to think about money. Fortunately, that is not an obstacle to a making a financially secure and comfortable life. The key is to focus on things that deliver outsize benefits, and not worry about the rest. Frugality and deliberate spending have a bad image. Think of […]
Reader Profile: DC Rise
Planting trees in Nagoya RetireJapan: I’m very happy to present a new reader profile today from DC Rise, an English teacher in Nagoya who attended one of the RetireJapan talks last year. We’ve been keeping in touch by email and he kindly wrote up his profile for the site. Tell us a little bit about […]
Financial (In)Security
The important things you have control over We have some degree of control over all the things that can greatly affect our lives: relationships, health, success, and of course money. All of them benefit from mindfulness, from investing time and effort in them. In all of them, prevention is better than cure. I had a […]
Emergency Fund
Basic, Boring, Best? Today I’d like to talk about emergency funds. What are they? How much money should you have in one? Who needs one? And what should you use them for? If you already have an emergency fund and know exactly what circumstances you will use it in feel free to skip this post […]