I'm a late adopter, which is why I haven't thought too much about artificial intelligence (AI). I'd rather have early adopters figure out all the kinks first so I can better spend my time using the technology. However, at a kid's birthday party one Saturday, a dad, who works in finance, came up to me| Financial Samurai
The desire to retire early and live a financially independent life has been around since the beginning of organized labor. Let's explore who started the FIRE movement and how it has evolved over time. In 1992, the book, Your Money Or Your Life, was published by Joseph R. Dominguez, Monique Tilford, and Vicki Robin that| Financial Samurai
Some people who critique my various budget charts are annoyed I list retirement contributions and investments as expenses. Therefore, I thought I'd explain my logic in this post. Once you start treating your retirement contributions and investments as expenses, you will begin to build much more wealth than the average person. And once you build| Financial Samurai
If you're looking to achieve financial freedom before a traditional retirement age (60+), you must build passive income. This post will highlight the best passive income investments in our current economic environment. Passive income is the holy grail of personal finance. If you have enough passive income to cover your desired lifestyle, then you are| Financial Samurai
How To Engineer Your Layoff eBOOK 'I bought How To Engineer Your Layoff for my sister who was then able to negotiate a $50,000 severance. Two years later, I used this book to help me negotiate an $80,000 severance during the middle of a pandemic! What's more, I got a month off to relax, and| Financial Samurai
In the second half of 2023, I significantly impacted our passive income, causing our household to technically lose its financial independence. Prior to this, we had been financially independent since 2012, when I left my banking job. My goal now is to regain financial independence by December 31, 2027. To achieve this, I need to| Financial Samurai
In 2023, my passive income took a significant $150,000 hit, representing a decrease of 39%, following the purchase of a new house we didn't really need. It was funded by proceeds from selling public stocks and bonds. The decision to buy the house with cash was agonizing, as we didn't need a nicer home. It| Financial Samurai
For those of you who are looking to upgrade homes, let me tell you a sad truth. I climbed to the top of the property ladder with my latest home purchase, and after five months, I felt no happier. Whenever someone would congratulate me about my home purchase, I felt nothing. What's there to celebrate| Financial Samurai
Living paycheck-to-paycheck is an unpleasant financial experience. Not only does it mean needing to spend everything you have to make ends meet, it may also create an ongoing feeling of despair. Never feeling like you’ll ever get out of the rat race and retire is demoralizing! You might even have to get into debt to| Financial Samurai
A common suggestion people have made to help me regain my financial independence is to move to a cheaper area of the country or the world to save money. I've resisted relocating so far because I believe the excitement of living in a big city is worth the cost. Instead of focusing on saving money| Financial Samurai
During my time living abroad, about 90% of my friends were fluent in a second language besides English. This high percentage was expected, given that most of my classmates at the International School of Kuala Lumpur and Taipei American School were foreigners, where being bilingual or multilingual was the norm. Upon relocating to McLean, Virginia,| Financial Samurai
After publishing my post on no longer being financially independent, several media outlets picked up the story and thousands of comments on their respective platforms ensued. The main criticism was that my expenses were way too high and that I am greedy. As a result, I thought it would be useful to discuss the impact| Financial Samurai
When my kids were born, I made a promise to be a stay-at-home father for the first five years of each of their lives. Mission accomplished with my son in April 2022, and my daughter in December 2024. I'm now wondering how I will fill the void once both kids are in school full time.| Financial Samurai
In this episode, I interview Ben Miller, the CEO of Fundrise, discussing his revised perspective on the real estate market for 2024 and beyond. I'll then share my follow up interview with Ben for his outlook on 2025. Financial Samurai is an investor in Fundrise and Fundrise is a long-time sponsor of Financial Samurai. The| Financial Samurai