Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
September 3, 2024
4 min read
📚 arvy's Book Club
arvy's Teaser: On the Japanese island of Okinawa, more people live past 100 than anywhere else on Earth. They don't have a word for "retirement." They have ikigai — a reason for being. This book explores what keeps them going — and it has surprising implications for how we think about money, work, and what we're actually building wealth for.
The Book in 60 Seconds
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life (2016) by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles explores the Okinawan concept of ikigai — the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. The authors spent time in Ogimi, a village with the highest concentration of centenarians on Earth, to understand what keeps people alive, active, and happy into extreme old age.
Héctor García & Francesc Miralles · 2016 · Purpose, Longevity & Lifestyle
Idea 1: Never Retire — Stay Active With Purpose
The Okinawan centenarians don't retire. There's no word for it in their dialect. Instead, they have ikigai — something that gives them a reason to get up every morning, whether they're 65 or 105. A garden to tend. A community to serve. A craft to practise.
The research is striking: studies consistently show that people who retire without a sense of purpose experience accelerated cognitive decline, depression, and even earlier death. Purpose, not leisure, keeps the body and mind alive.
The question isn't "When can I stop working?" It's "What would I keep doing even if I didn't need the money?"
The Investor Lesson
Financial independence isn't about stopping work. It's about choosing your work. Build wealth so you can say no to what drains you and yes to what gives you energy. The goal of investing isn't a number in an account — it's the freedom to live according to your ikigai.
Idea 2: Simplicity and "Enough" — The Antidote to Lifestyle Inflation
Okinawan centenarians live simply. They eat until they're 80% full (a principle called hara hachi bu). They maintain small, tidy homes. They walk everywhere. Their happiness doesn't come from abundance — it comes from not wanting more than they need.
This is the direct opposite of what modern consumer culture teaches: that more is better, that upgrades equal happiness, that spending is self-expression. The Okinawans prove otherwise. The world's longest-lived people have less — and are happier.
Swiss Context
Switzerland offers some of the highest salaries in the world — and some of the strongest social pressure to display them. The 4.5-room flat instead of the 3.5. The leased SUV. The Verbier week. Each "upgrade" costs CHF 300–500/month that could compound to hundreds of thousands over a lifetime.
Ikigai's lesson: knowing what "enough" looks like is the most profitable financial skill you can develop. (→ Art of Spending Money — Book Club)
Idea 3: Community, Movement, and Flow — The Real Dividends
The centenarians' longevity isn't explained by one factor. It's a combination: deep social bonds (called moai — support groups formed in childhood that last a lifetime), daily gentle movement (gardening, walking, tai chi), a plant-rich diet, and regular experiences of flow — being fully absorbed in meaningful activity.
None of these things cost much money. The most valuable assets in the longest, happiest lives on Earth are free: community, purpose, movement, presence.
The Investor Lesson
The best returns aren't always financial. Investing CHF 200 in a dinner with friends, spending an afternoon gardening instead of scrolling, taking a walk instead of a taxi — these compound too, just in health, relationships, and happiness. Build financial wealth to fund these things — not to replace them.
What This Means for Swiss Investors
| Ikigai Principle | Financial Translation |
|---|---|
| Never retire — find purpose | Build wealth for freedom, not for stopping. The Swiss pension system (3a, PK) gives you a runway. Use it to transition to work you love, not to stop entirely. |
| Hara hachi bu (80% full) | Spend to 80% of your capacity. Save the other 20%. That's your 3a (CHF 605/month) + free investing. The 20% you don't consume today becomes freedom tomorrow. |
| Moai (community) | The best financial decisions are made with trusted people. Find your financial moai — whether it's a partner, a friend group, or an advisor you trust. Don't invest alone in the dark. |
arvy's Take
What holds up: Ikigai isn't a finance book — and that's exactly why it belongs in a finance book club. It answers the question that most money books ignore: what are you actually building wealth for? The Okinawan centenarians live proof that the answer isn't "more stuff." It's purpose, community, health, and the freedom to spend your time on what matters. That reframe alone is worth the read.
What's missing: The book is light on science and heavy on anecdote. The ikigai diagram (passion × profession × mission × vocation) is a nice framework but oversimplifies reality. And the authors sometimes romanticise Okinawan life without acknowledging its challenges — poverty, isolation, rapid cultural change.
What we'd add: Pair ikigai with a financial plan. Purpose without money is fragile. Money without purpose is hollow. The sweet spot: automate your wealth-building (3a, savings plan, set and forget), then use the mental energy you save to find and pursue your ikigai.
3 Sentences to Remember
1. The world's longest-lived people never retired. They had ikigai — a reason to get up every morning.
2. Knowing what "enough" looks like is the most profitable financial skill you can develop.
3. Build wealth for freedom and purpose — not for things and status.
Buy the book
English (Amazon) · Deutsch (Amazon)
Also in Book Club: The Art of Spending Money → · Naval Ravikant →
Build wealth for your ikigai.
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This article was written by Thierry Borgeat, Co-Founder of arvy, and reviewed by Patrick Rissi, CFA, and Florian Jauch, CFA.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute personal investment advice. Amazon links are affiliate links. arvy is a FINMA-supervised asset manager.
