Dear Readers, Welcome to Financial Samurai! My name is Sam Dogen (doh-gun), the founder and main writer for this site. Financial Samurai is one of the leading personal finance sites in the world with roughly one million organic visitors a month. Everything is written based off firsthand experience because money is too important to be| Financial Samurai
For over 10 years, my father has been my primary editor on Financial Samurai. When my father isn't available, my wife steps in. This system has allowed me to maintain a consistent publishing schedule of three quality posts a week. Typically, I spend 1.5–3 hours writing a post. Then, my father spends 1–1.5 hours editing| Financial Samurai
Want to learn how to become a millionaire by 30? Here’s my story on how I reached a million dollar net worth in my late-20s. It involved a lot of luck, a lot of effort, and a lot of risk. I believe all Financial Samurai readers will eventually become millionaires due to disciplined saving and| Financial Samurai
In order to comfortably raise a family in an expensive coastal city like San Francisco or New York, you've probably got to make at least $300,000 a year. Thanks to elevated inflation post pandemic, the middle-class lifestyle is getting harder to obtain due to rising costs of gasoline, food, housing, travel, tuition, and healthcare. You| Financial Samurai
The 60/40 portfolio is a classic investment portfolio consisting of 60% equities and 40% fixed income. If you are within five-to-ten years of retirement or are in retirement, a 60/40 portfolio is a common recommendation. Thanks to a low or negative correlation between stocks and bonds, soon-to-be retirees or retirees have been encouraged to hold| Financial Samurai
There is a never-ending debate between real estate versus stocks as a better investment. Currently, ~50% of my net worth is in real estate while ~30% of my net worth is in stocks. Perhaps the main reason why is because I believe real estate is less risky than stocks. With real estate, you don't wake| Financial Samurai
The best way to get rich is to turn funny money into real assets. By turning funny money gains into real assets, you increase your chances of holding onto your gains. But what is funny money? Funny money is money that is built upon far out assumptions that may never come true. Funny money is| Financial Samurai
In 2017 and 2019, I superfunded two 529 plans for my two children. Since then, my wife and my parents have also regularly contributed to the two college savings plans. You would think with all this aggressive saving, I would feel confident we'll have enough saved to pay for college. But I'm still unsure. Given| Financial Samurai
Passive and active investing are two ways to make investment returns in the stock market. Since my first job in finance, I've always actively invested some of my funds to chase unicorns. The question is: what is the best split between passive and active investing in the stock market? If you are only a passive| Financial Samurai
Zillow recently released an intriguing study that outlines the income needed to afford a 'typical home' in different cities. The study considers a 10% down payment and utilizes the Zillow Home Value Index to determine the median home price in each city. A 10% down payment is lower than my recommended 20% down payment based| Financial Samurai
Curious to know the ideal net worth for retirement? As someone fake retired in 2012 at age 34 with $3 million, let me tell you. $10 million sounds like the ideal amount of money to retire with. With $10 million, you can easily generate between $300,000 - $500,000 of low-risk investment income. I was talking| Financial Samurai
Although being a millionaire sounds nice, it's not that impressive anymore thanks to inflation. In order to be a real millionaire, you will need to have a net worth of at least $3 million, not $1 million. A $1 million net worth provided a great lifestyle before 1990. Not so much today. If you retired| Financial Samurai
Thinking about joining a startup to get rich? You're not alone. After so many successful IPOs and media stories about employees and founders getting filthy rich, there is a growing desire to join startups. But joining a startup is like counting on a lottery ticket to get rich. The vast majority of startups fail or| Financial Samurai
Your net worth composition will likely change the wealthier you get. The wealthier you get, the generally more conservative your net worth allocation. However, wealthier people also have more of their net worth in business equity as you'll see below. For example, my net worth composition in my 40s looks nothing like it did when| 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
Although the Roth IRA is an important tax-advantaged retirement account, there are also disadvantages of the Roth IRA that are seldom discussed. For years I've been an opponent of the Roth IRA. After the government came out with its tricky way to let us all do a 'one-time' Roth IRA conversion from our traditional IRAs,| Financial Samurai
If you're trying to figure out how much to spend on buying a house, the best home-buying rule I can offer you is my 30/30/3 home-buying rule. I came up with the 30/30/3 home-buying rule back in 2009 during the global financial crisis. Since then, many publications and industry pundits have promoted it since. If| 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
Ever since the global pandemic began, the private jet market has been booming. But as a financially savvy person, you might wonder how much does it cost to fly private? Further, are there any cost-efficient ways to fly private? Flying private is one luxury that can improve your life once you become rich. No more| Financial Samurai
If you want to invest in venture capital, you now can by investing in the Fundrise venture product. Fundrise has democratized access to venture investing with only a $10 investment minimum for all investors. In comparison, traditional venture capital funds are invite only and have $100,000-$250,000 minimums. My first venture capital investment was in 2007.| 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
Recently, I received a capital distribution from a private real estate fund, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The experience brought me both joy and relief, prompting me to share it in the hope that it might inspire you to invest more for your future. After purchasing a new home in 2023,| Financial Samurai
Who stands to gain the most from the settlement reached with the National Association of Realtors regarding commission price collusion? The clear beneficiaries are residential real estate investors and owners. Why? Because they were the ones burdened with paying the so-called 'standard' real estate commission ranging from 5% to 6%. Following the judgment against the| Financial Samurai
If you're aiming for more value and cost-efficiency, you might find it surprising that opting for a more expensive home over a median-priced one could be the way to go. While it may seem counterintuitive, let me explain. Since purchasing a pricier home in 2023, my family and I have been grappling with the budgetary| Financial Samurai
Net worth composition for the top 1%| Financial Samurai
My family and I could have been set for life. Instead, due to my inability to beat back real estate FOMO, I blew up our passive income. And because our passive income is now much lower, we are no longer financially independent. Desire is the cause of all suffering. Due to my desire to own| Financial Samurai
Everybody wants to become a millionaire. Unfortunately, not everybody's chances of becoming a millionaire are the same, partially because the playing field is not even. This article looks at historical data on your chances of becoming a millionaire by race, age, and education. Getting to at least one million dollars in net worth is a| Financial Samurai
