Living in the Present or Living in the Future
Which one do you do, boy? Today we’ll be exploring a concept that lies at the heart of personal finance: do you live in the present or in the future? I suspect everyone is somewhere on the line that rnns from live exclusively in the present to live exclusively in the future, but very few […]
Furusato Nozei
This is a really stupid system Have you heard of the furusato nozei (hometown tax deduction)? I think there are three levels, like in this absolutely incredible explanation of Inception. On one level, furusato nozei allows people to decide where their local inhabitant taxes go. Instead of paying them to the city they live in, […]
2016 Roundup I (Jan-Apr)
The good stuff from earlier in the year We’ve been getting quite a few new readers recently, and it’s coming up to the end of the year, so I thought it might be good to run a series of posts looking back over some of the bigger stories here on the blog in 2016. First […]
RetireJapan Survey(s)
Last one for a while, I promise A bit of a mixed post today. 1. Newsletter timing survey2. RetireJapan Guides survey3. JALT2016 1. Newsletter Timing A few weeks ago I ran a poll after a reader wrote to me asking me to change the timing of the email weekly newsletter (sign up at the bottom […]
Review: The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need
Big talk for such a small book This book, written by Andrew Tobias, makes a bold claim: this is the only book you need to read about personal finance. That assumes you are not interested in the subject and just want to cover your bases and learn the basic information. If you are in the […]
Real Estate in Japan
I own a flat now Finally finished buying our flat. I’m planning to write something longer about this in the future, but for now a few thoughts on the process. 1. It was relatively painless, mainly because I knew and trusted the estate agent. With him looking out for me I felt better about stamping […]
Market Turmoil
Storm in a Teacup? Well, the unthinkable happened and the UK voted to leave the European Union. I am personally extremely upset and haven’t really been able to focus since Friday (you can tell by the lack of blog posts). I think this is terrible for the UK, bad for the EU, and bad for […]
Robo Advisors
They are multiplying! It seems like 2016 is the year of the robo-advisor in Japan. I am aware of three services operating right now, with more on the way. Robo-advisors are financial services that use software to replace humans for portfolio management. This should result in more consistent results and lower fees. I am very […]
Reader Profile: Desmond P.
The Young Tech Worker Today’s post is something special. One of the aims of this site is to encourage people to learn more about personal finance and investing so that they can take control of their money and future. I’ve been wanting to showcase readers for a while now, and finally found my first contributor. […]
Doing Stuff
It mainly comes down to doing it Today’s post is not about money per se, but it is about getting more from your day to day. Recently I’ve found myself becoming more productive. Or at least, I feel like I am more productive. This has come from some specific habits I have implemented. The most […]