Ben Shearon was a university lecturer in Sendai who retired from formal work in March 2022. He has been in Japan since July 2000, and has run the RetireJapan website since 2013. RetireJapan is the best (and quite possibly only) place to find trustworthy information in English on personal finance, investing, and retirement in Japan, with a wealth of free information and a supportive online community. Be sure to keep listening to hear more about his insights into what you can do to improve your financial health and set yourself up for future success and stability while living in Japan. Topics covered in today's episode include:  -four simple principles to improve your financial health -why not having an emergency fund is an emergency -how to think about saving money without reducing quality of life -how to get started as an investor -Japan-specific tools for retirement savings (and why Americans shouldn't use them) Ben's Links:  RetireJapan site: https://www.retirejapan.com/welcome/ RetireJapan forum: https://www.retirejapan.com/forum/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@retirejapan_OG Twitter: https://twitter.com/retirejapan_OG LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benshearon/ Want to support the podcast? Check the podcast's ko-fi page to help keep me well-caffeinated enough to keep making content: https://ko-fi.com/businesssuccessjapan Be sure to follow or subscribe for more Japanese language and cultural insights. And if you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review so that other people can find it as well. And of course, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, please email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you! Leave me a voice message here: https://anchor.fm/businesssuccessjapan/message --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/businesssuccessjapan/message