Life is a series of trade-offs. Many members of RetireJapan may not know that Ben Tanaka, the founder of this influential website and online community, may have chosen to keep his financial planning advice and insights a secret if he had joined Britain’s secret service. Hear the full backstory about a potential James Bond starting at 5:24 .

Fortunately, Ben chose different paths during his extensive career in Japan. After chatting with him for over an hour, I would sum up his story in one word: resiliency.

You see, Ben decided to become financially independent after he was fired (listen from 10:07 ). Although it was a gut-wrenching experience for him at the time, it was, luckily for the rest of us, the seed of RetireJapan. Through thick and thin, Ben has always found a way to make ends meet, even supplementing his income as an ordained wedding celebrant for a period (jump to 17:05 for more details). Today, he is a trusted source of sound financial advice for thousands of people living in and outside of Japan.

Key Takeaways

* RetireJapan mainly focuses on helping people start their journey toward financial independence (e.g., "Your First Ten Million Yen" on-line 5-week course about personal finance outlined from 31:24 ).

* Sometimes a temporary setback opens up new opportunities; for example, Ben was fired at one point. This experience led him to become determined to attain financial independence so as not to become vulnerable in the future. This was also the impetus behind RetireJapan.

* As Ben demonstrated in his career, it is possible to pivot along the way, which can make you more resilient.

Timeline

Substack does not yet have the functionality to allow you to use a link to jump to a specific section like YouTube's "chapters." Please refer to the times listed below to navigate through our hour-long conversation. Thank you for your understanding.

Key Contacts

* RetireJapan Website: https://www.retirejapan.com/

* RetireJapan Substack:

* RetireJapan YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetireJapan_OG

* Blog Post about Being a Wedding Celebrant: https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/only-in-japan-wedding-celebrants/

#BenTanaka #RetireJapan #TheFluencyCourse #foreigner #田中勉 #リタイヤジャパン #外国人 #外人

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