"I Regret a Life Focused on Building Assets... Realized Only After My Wife Passed Away"
A Japanese man in his 60s, who amassed more than 600 million won through a lifetime of frugality, has become the subject of public attention after expressing deep regret over his choices following the loss of his wife.
A Japanese man active online under the nickname "Absolute Resignation Man" is following a frugal diet to become part of the FIRE movement (people who achieve financial independence and retire early). Screenshot from X (formerly Twitter)
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on September 28, a 67-year-old man identified as A, who lives in Japan, was born into a poor family and started saving money from his middle school years by working part-time at restaurants. Even after entering the workforce, he maintained a frugal lifestyle. He always brought a homemade lunch from home and never considered eating at restaurants near his workplace.
He lived in a rented apartment costing 280,000 won per month, far from his workplace, and commuted and traveled exclusively by walking or cycling. To reduce heating and cooling costs, he hardly ever used the air conditioner.
He met his wife through an office romance. Even after their child was born, family outings were limited to picnics at nearby parks or riverbanks, and for longer trips, they always chose the cheapest means of transportation. The couple never purchased a house or a car.
A man's confession about living frugally by hardly using the air conditioner to save on heating and cooling costs but regretting it has become a hot topic. Photo by Getty Images
As a result, his savings reached 35 million yen (about 33 million won), and his pension amounted to 240,000 yen (2.26 million won) per month. When he retired at age 60, A invested his entire severance pay and grew it to 30 million yen (about 28 million won) within five years. By the time he was around 65, his total assets, including savings, had reached 65 million yen (about 610 million won). At the time, he said, "I felt reassured knowing I had this money in case anything happened."
However, shortly after his wife turned 65, she fell ill and passed away about a year later. Only then did A deeply regret his choices, saying, "I should have traveled with my wife and enjoyed good food together while she was healthy. The time that has passed will never return." He added, "Is a life focused solely on building assets truly a good one? I don't think so."
This story was first reported by the Japanese media outlet THE GOLD ONLINE. It later gained widespread attention on social networking services (SNS) and became a hot topic. Internet users who read A's story commented, "Money cannot be everything in life," and "This is an ironic tragedy born from the anxiety about old age in Japanese society."
Stories of people in Japan who have accumulated wealth through extreme frugality also attracted attention last year. A Japanese man active online under the nickname "Absolute Resignation Man" made efforts to become part of the FIRE movement (people who achieve financial independence and retire early). He shared photos on X (formerly Twitter) of his dinners consisting of pickles or convenience store rolled omelets, and revealed that he sometimes used free points collected at convenience stores to buy energy drinks for dinner. In a 2023 interview, this man stated, "I saved 94.7 million yen (about 860 million won) by the age of 45."
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