RetireJapan

Good question and I am also interested in good suggestions. I was thinking about just a SONY Bank account and a debit card as a first step for our eldest. With very limited/no income is it easy to get a credit card for a youngster? We ended up getting a Mitsui Sumitomo card (top of the list). Hassl...

Adamakin86 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:45 am JAL Club EST for sure. You get to use the Sakura lounge and 5 years expiration limit on your miles!

That does look good for a young business person who flies a fair bit.

For most domestic and overseas investments the answer is easy, although a bit complicated to calculate for international index funds.

I think my current mix is this:
USD 69%
JPY 25%
AUD 5%
GPB 1%

I should add one son went to the USA on a high school exchange program. That was at a public US school and the 'non-profit' program cost us about ¥1,500,000 and included a homestay. https://study.yfu.org/ FYI: I did a lot of shopping around, and a lot of public schools charge non-citizens (or even c...

The year abroad was almost for free, as it consisted of five months “Baito” in my home country, (and that came with a room), travel throughout Europe, followed by another job while staying at a friend’s place. Very good - though not always pleasant - experience. Having a job and a free place to sta...

1,000,000 food That seems high.... are they a professional athlete? Pro, no. But athletic young male who can burn 3,000-4,000 calories a day and still not put on weight. ¥1,000,000 (for 10 months) works out to about US$20/day. $20 might buy you a cheap lunch... It's impossible to spend less unless ...

Our private university cost about 1.4 Mio per year, plus entrance fee (300,000?). For the (privately organized) year abroad, we had to pay around 150,000 to secure the place. I generally agree with the estimate for private. ¥6,000,000 for tuition, plus books, transport and food costs. Add xxx if th...

Several months ago, I was walking to my local grocer, where there is a bus stop situated right in front of it. As I was walking, I noticed a long line of, what appeared to be, Chinese men, filing out of the bus, led by an Asian woman (she was probably Chinese, too). I know I am profiling, too, but ...

I had an email ostensibly from someone who I know well. I regularly have financial dealings with him, so the modest request sounded legit at first. The wording was a bit off, though, and he confirmed that someone had spoofed his account. Also had a spoofed request for emergency cash from a friend wh...

Haven't been there, but we went to Ishigaki. Rented a car and an AirBnB for 5 nights. We went diving with a Japanese organization for a 2-dive day trip. They were competent and reasonably priced, but not exactly bespoke. Unlucky in that the Manta City was abandoned due to unusually high temps. Snork...