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The story
A post on 5ch’s “Live News G (Anything Goes)” board describes how, after starting Japan’s new NISA tax-free investment program, the poster quit weekend pachinko-slots, sold off a motorcycle and camera that used to be hobbies, and stopped upgrading their iPhone every cycle. The money saved, they say, now goes into high-dividend stocks and index funds. The thread sparked a values debate that kicked off with “what’s the point of having money once you’re old?” — opinions split over the balance between spending and building assets, with some arguing a pension plus investing surplus income is plenty, others sharing how their urge to spend shrank as their savings grew, and still others bluntly calling it just an excuse to justify a spending habit.
What people said
Sold my motorcycle and camera (used to be my hobbies) and put the money into high-dividend stocks and index funds.
Also stopped buying the new iPhone Pro every two years like I used to.
Because being an old geezer with no money sounds worse.
What about the guy who becomes an elderly geezer with no money — what's he supposed to do? I get regretting it if you end up like Kiritani (a famous Japanese investor known for living lavishly off stock shareholder perks), getting enough money to enjoy but still obsessing over growing it further. But a broke old man with no strength left, getting bossed around by young people, wrecking his body and never able to retire — that sounds like a miserable life to me.
Just build your portfolio so you can draw it down along the way.
Bike prices shot up since COVID so selling that was a good call, but I regret the camera a bit.
You broke past 20 million yen but then suddenly dropped back down — what happened?
Honestly, getting this far probably kills your desire to buy stuff.
Some broke guy talking down to people in the replies — that's pathetic.
I'm not talking down to anyone. I'm still plenty broke myself. If anything, I bet the people here have more money than me.
Normally you've got a pension payout and savings, and if you invest your surplus income while working, you'll have money by the time you're old. Ending up "NISA-poor" just means you had the wrong goal to begin with.
I'm useless so I'm never getting promoted anyway.
"What's the point of having money once you're an old geezer?"
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"Because being an old geezer with no money sounds worse."
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"If you invest your surplus income while working, you'll have money by the time you're old."
😅
Same here for me.
A motorcycle eats money either way, so I don't think I would've kept it up regardless. But I do think I should've at least kept the lenses for the camera.
I moved out of my parents' place for a job in a regional city, so from my mid-20s I could play golf every week and still save 100,000 yen a month. If you keep your fixed costs down, you can have fun and build assets at the same time without having to pinch pennies.
The camera gave me a lot of experience. The bike was so-so. The iPhone I regret.
But isn't it genuinely worth worrying about? I think the pension system is basically collapsing.
Then you'd better cut back even more — you never know what'll happen in life.
Even getting exploited beats having nothing.
Investing your surplus income so you don't overspend, and ending up "NISA-poor," are completely different things though.
For the record, I justify mine by telling myself figures count as assets.
If you were using flagship gear that's one thing, but for mid-range you can get everything, lenses included, for under a million yen — just buy it all back.
When you're deep in the camera rabbit hole it doesn't faze you, but paying hundreds of thousands of yen just for a lens is honestly insane.
I don't even know what to spend the money on.
If you mean spending it on self-investment to raise your income, sure, that makes sense. But just blowing it for no reason doesn't.
What it means is: get into a good-paying company where you can spend and invest at the same time.
People have been saying that for two years now.
Is NISA's influence really that huge?
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The term “NISA-poor” spread online as slang describing a state where, after Japan’s new NISA program expanded its lifetime tax-free investment allowance starting in 2024, people prioritize their contributions so heavily that they end up cutting out everyday pleasures. The program itself doesn’t force anyone to scrimp — how much to contribute is entirely up to the individual. What split the thread was a single question: is sacrificing the present for future peace of mind the right choice? Some pushed back, arguing that a pension payout plus regular savings already covers retirement, while others shared their own experience that assets and material desire move in opposite directions. A point readers can easily misread is that even though the original poster calls themselves “poor,” their finances aren’t actually in trouble — it was simply a deliberate choice to cut hobby spending and redirect it into investments.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Live News G) thread “[Sad News] I’m NISA-poor, I’ve Lost Too Many Things.”
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