mmmmm...beer

A little update. I was there for the month of May. It was pretty cool. We figured out the train system. Rode the "Shinkansen" aka Bullit Train which seriously was badass. Took the kids to Universal Japan. Mario World hit a guy right in the feels. Food is soooooo cheap. Big waygu steak dinner (waygu just means beef btw), drink, salad, soup for $14 bucks. Thr wife and I gor two big bowls of udon noodles, shrimp temporar, salad, and beers. $18 total... Also NO tipping! They find it rude. Best thing ever. Lots and lots of places to go.

Yes they have bidets for that. Warm water to bumeash. Warm air to bum dry.

I haven't found this to be true at all. People are super respectful. Though one of the guys who had born in country for awhile said it's because I look scary. Everything is soooo quiet. We did get the big X to not come into a restaurant one time, but I think it was because they didn't have seating forn4 and closed soon. Dude seemed super sorry.

Camp Zama, not far from Tokyo actually. Sagamihara area.

I only have 4 picks so... 26

K

Horseman on thr menu in a decent restaurant was surprising. Ot juat one dish either. A whole section. Food is excellent, drinks are cheap.

Initial plan is for me to hang out here and try to get as much stuff established as I can help with and head back to the States at the end of May. I'll fly back in to PDX... grab my rig and work gear and drive down to Colorado to hang out with our son until thr end of Sept/beginning of October. Then head back to Japan for the rest of the initial 3 year tour. Exciting stuff! Aaannnnd jetlagged as heil right now. 14 houe time difference.

Update.... today is the first full day in Japan. Initial thoughts... pretty humid. Like Puerto Rico or Cancun humid. Also way more industrial around Tokyo than I'd have imagined. Like huge abandoned factories and giant scrap yard industrial. Only been tooling around the base thus far. Excited to get off base and see some stuff this weekend.

I'm in... just been really busy the last 6 weeks. 2nd day in Japan rinnow.

Rollover

Congrats Neckbeard!

That's pretty cool. Last regular season game. Divisional # 1 & 2... a win by 4077 clinches the division by record alone. If the Sweatermeats snag the win regular season record is a tie and the total points will go to the Meats. Good job on the upset Peaces! How exciting!

This... seriously. Time has excellerated.

Ohh yeah we have the same birthday... 49 for me.

Boat sailed on weed a few years ago. Now it's cut throat...

Been thinking on selling the house with this PCS move to Japan. We should get something like $300 from the home sale if it all goes smoothly. What if instead of buying another house when we get back . We just invest the whole thing immediately? I mean... we put it in our Vanguard brokerage account? Vanguard 500 ETF (VOO), which is Vanguards SP500 mirror has averaged 12.92% each year since inception 13 years ago. If we do that... $300 in 10 years @ 7% is $590K 10% is $778K 13% is $1,018K When we get back we just rent or I get a VA loan for another house down the road with 0% down. When will we ever have $300k free and clear? Never... Also thought about maybe when we come back (3 years minimum, 5 max) we can use that $300k to down pay several rentals? My pops has rentals... and a couple AirBnB's he's been renting to companies for $2500 a month. So I could learn from him. After thinking about it for awhile, I feel like putting that $300 down on another house would just be a wasted opportunity.

Yeah good post. Most of the business/rental stuff will be when we return in 3 years. I'll be retired so want an income just tooling around.

Nope... the mainland, like 40 mins SW of Tokoyo

Wife applied and got a job that will move us there to an Army base, she's a fed civ employee. I can retire next year when I turn 50. Win win...

Yeah my Old man is a rentals guy... 14 plexes several 6 plexes etc. That being said... feels like we're waaaay over valued right now. Don't want to go the way of the Jerry.... You're exactly right @Whitewonder w'll see what it looks like in 3 years. Maybe we crash and there's shiz to buy.

I already have one and have talked about it a few times in here. Discover Bank Savings account. I started it in July and I currently have about $13k in there. I've been saving for a gap fund between retirement and pension kicking in. It has a current rate of 4.35%.

Current mortgage is $2300. Say we could rent it for $3500. $3500 - 2300 = $1200 - 8% management fee = $1,104 x 12 months = $13,248 a year (not counting any maintenance ie appliances/furnace going out) or paying taxes on that $13K as well. For that little... $300k × 4.3% savings account interest = $12,900/yr not even compounded. With zero risk.

I'll tell you what I'd do...

I really don't want the stress of living in Japan worrying that some idiots are destroying my nearly $700k house back in the States. Also... I didn't mention, the .gov is paying the realtor fees for the sale of the current home. That's a 6% gain for us we won't have to pay. So...$40k'ish savings.