Financial Samurai

Rock Balancing in San Francisco

After my parents pep talk in the 9th grade, I realized there were two things I had to do in order to survive high school: 1) use my brains and 2) develop some pythons.  In other words, getting good grades, joining student government, and being a history buff wasn’t enough.  Sure, I may have an easier time getting into some fancy college, but how was I supposed to get into girls?  “Hey pork chop, did you know that General Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, marking the end of The Confederacy and the Civil War?  Lez go out tonight!”

“Girls, Girls, Girls” by Motley Crue played incessantly in my head at the time.  Frankly, I can’t imagine it being much different for a lot of other teenage boys.

I made it a rule to balance the mental with the physical by playing sports.  As a teenager,  I had a strong fear that I was going to be stuck in nerdom if I didn’t.  I was a study machine who needed balance.  The sports that attracted the most groupies were football and basketball, but I was too chicken sh*t to bang down low.  I chose tennis instead, which had decidedly less groupies.  Good thing all you really need is one!

In the 11th grade, this cute girl slipped a note in biology lab with a cut out from Teen Magazine entitled, “You Know Your Boyfriend Is A Keeper If..“.  To my surprise, #1 said: “Your man is the captain of his high school varsity tennis team!“  Shwing!  As captain of the HS varsity team, needless to say we had a frolicking good time….. studying for our biology lab final of course.

THE OLDER THE WISER, PERHAPS Read more…

The last month of the first quarter is upon us.  Now is as good a time as any to revisit our new year’s resolutions to make sure we’re on track.  I’m on pace to achieve 4 out of 8 so far: 1) meet 36 new people, 2) see the good in others, 3) stay consistent, but not obsessive over this site, and 4) save 50% of my gross income.  Regarding the other four goals, I’m not on pace to make a million bucks, haven’t won any tennis tournaments, nor have I been regularly practicing my acoustic guitar or cooking skills.  Better get cracking!

With 10 months left in the year, it’s time to really ramp up the creative juices and think up some back-end business to help create additional income.  Tennis season is starting up and I plan on doing everything possible to give myself at least a physical edge over the competition.  Finally, from now on at least one hour every weekend will be dedicated to guitar and cooking.

In terms of predictions for 2010 it’s still too early to tell, but 4 of 5 have held up so far: 1) inflation and interest rates remain low with the 10-yr yield still below 4%, 2) the USD dollar has strengthened, 3) the markets have not double dipped, and 4) The Samurai Fund is outperforming the S&P 500 by 2.64% as of Feb 28.  Regarding #5, it’s just a matter of time before Facebook goes public and Twitter gets bought out don’t you think?  We’ll revisit the predictions mid year and see if they still hold true!

Readers, how are you guys doing with your new year’s resolutions?  If you wrote any prediction for 2010, I’d love to see them so feel free to post your links below.

FINANCIAL SAMURAI ARTICLES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

* “Be A Sloth And Don’t ROTH – Why Converting to A ROTH Is A Mistake”

* “How To Get Your Super Motivated Boyfriend (SMB) To Marry You”

* “Do “C” Students Deserve “A” Lifestyles?”

* “Someone Always Farts In A Crowd – The Moral Hazard Of The World”

* “Let Freement Reign! Spending Paralysis, Material Lust and Obsession”

* “Where Americans Pay The Most To Live And Why”

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE: Read more…

For the past two years I’ve taken the bus to work after driving for 7 years prior.  The company removed our free parking benefits and I wasn’t about to pay $350/month to park in a garage just 5 miles away.

I have a love hate relationship with the bus.  When it’s raining, and I have to stand outside shivering, I hate it.  When the bus skips my stop every so often, I hate it.  When the bus driver slams on the brakes a couple feet away from the stop light and we all go flying, I hate it.  When the bus is packed like sardines, but there are some very attractive riders I need to squeeze next to, well, I guess it’s OK.

My VIP Pass aka monthly bus pass costs $60, while taking a cab to and from work costs $30.  Hence, the cost breakdown is simply $60 for a bus, $350 for parking, and $600 for a cab every month.  Out of principle, I wasn’t going to spend 5-10X more on transportation if I could just ride the bus.

WHAT A DUMMY Read more…

Do you hit the snooze button multiple times in the morning because you just don’t want to work?  While at work, do you daydream of being somewhere else?  Well too bad!  You’ve won the lottery and you don’t even realize it!

Let’s say you make $50,000 a year.  Divide your income by the current 4% risk free rate of return and you get $1,250,000!  In other words, if you have $1,250,000 sitting in the bank right now earning a 4% rate of return, you’re making your current salary of $50,000 a year.  Not bad winning $1,250,000 huh?  Now take your income, and divide it by 4% (0.04) and let me know how much you’ve won!

It doesn’t matter what job you have now.  Just know that the job you do have is coveted by a tremendous amount of people.  This includes my first job mopping McDonald’s egg bits at 6am.  My manager told me I was lucky to wear the purple and black (colors of the uniform) because he turned down 8 other candidates over the past month.  I just felt lucky I could stuff my face with as many FREE apple pies when he wasn’t looking!

WHINE AND CHEESE Read more…

The beauty of an economic downturn is cheap credit.  It’s ironic, because cheap credit is one of the main causes of this collapse in the first place!  That said, for those of you with mortgage debt, now is a great time to call your local bank and check up on rates.  Refinancing can be a daunting process, but it shouldn’t be with the right representative and proper frame of mind.

As I’m currently thinking about refinancing one of my rental properties, now is a good time to share with you some key things to think about and assess.  Hopefully by the end of this article you will be able to make an informed decision and save lots of money as a result!

INFLATION Read more…

Author: Lawrence Dorfman, some old fella with three decades worth of publishing experience.

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, soft cover, 167 pages, $12.95

Summary: If you ever need something to prop open a door, or start a fire, The Snark Handbook might just be your solution!  For those who don’t know what snark is, it simply means a slyly biting, smart-ass remark with disparaging undertones.  Larry’s book is a collection of incredibly witty phrases from luminaries the world over.

Communication skills cannot be underestimated.  Give me a good communicator over a brilliant mind any day!  Ever wonder how some people can respond with such quick wit?  Some say it’s a gift of tongue, but I say it’s a learned skill that everyone can cultivate.  With The Snark Handbook, not only will you bust a gut laughing, you’ll be able to insult others without them evening knowing!

Please enjoy some snarky examples from each of the 14 chapters below: Read more…

The luckiest people on earth are those who don’t make a lot of money.  They’ve got very little downside and can really pursue their childhood dreams.  Imagine if from the moment you graduated college, you landed a plum corporate job that paid just enough to keep you motivated, but not enough to enjoy your freedom.  The longer you work the more you realize there’s really no escape, because there’s simply too much at stake.  This is the problem that plagues my friend, Lyndon.

THE STRATEGY CONSULTANT WHO MAKES BANK Read more…

The Mon Oda (Crest)

Dear Yakezie Group,

It’s been just over a month since the Samurai Alexa Ranking Challenge was announced, and I’m pleased to report we’ve made tremendous progress!  With 35+ members strong, we are actively helping each other achieve our respective goals.  I’d like to use this opportunity to recognize several Yakezie members for their achievements and initiatives in helping the team.

* Daniel-San from Sweating The Big Stuff took the initiative to compile the list and keep track.  His efforts have in turn created a home for us members to visit once a week and get pumped.

* @Elle_CM from Couple Money has been amazingly selfless in retweeting my posts and many other posts.  She is exactly the type of member the Yakezie Group seeks.  @FinEngr created a Yakezie Twitter Group to keep track of us and follow.  Pls follow so the group can follow you back.

* Monevator, The Amateur Financier, Evolution Of Wealth created weekly wraps to specifically highlight posts from the Yakezie Group.  Meanwhile, Money Funk wrote a derivative post on how to increase your Alexa ranking.

* Eliminate The Muda and Planting Dollars have busted through their 200,000 goal and should obviously now shoot for top 100,000!

THE RULES HAVE CHANGED AND WE WILL ADAPT Read more…

In celebration of tax time, I surveyed five of my married friends to answer two questions: 1) Did you pay more or less in taxes after you got married, and 2) How much more or less did you pay?  The answers I got were concerning.  They all responded they paid more and by a magnitude of $3,000 to $25,000!

It’s just not true that the “marriage penalty tax” no longer exists.  The IRS just renamed it the “love me long time tax.”

I’m by no means a personal income tax expert.  All I’m doing is highlighting facts from people around me, and proposing the likely reasons as to why their taxes went up.  Our income tax system is so darn confusing, hopefully someone can shed some light on the situation!

TWO QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT AND UNDERSTAND Read more…

$1,780 is what it cost to book two last minute tickets to Lost Island.  I let the web page sit for a while, hesitant to click away a nice chunk of savings.  But what’s the use of money if it’s not spent?  We can save and save and save until we have some magical number we call “enough.”  Or, we can live for experiences that will last until our memories gray.

Why is it that some of us have spending paralysis over good times, but spend so easily on material things?  My fear was due to the impermanence of the experience, and the permanent loss of money.  That was some time ago when I had little savings.  It’s different now.  Memories are always what makes me smile the most.  It’s as if good memories blossom with time.

Readers, what are your thoughts on impulse spending for experiences?  Can spending on experiences be considered less imbecilic than spending on things?  If so, why should there be a difference?

The Samurai Fund: +2.1% YTD vs. -0.53 S&P 500.  I’m making room for a couple new picks to replace a couple existing picks due to inactivity and performance.  Shoot me an e-mail if interested and please read the guidelines first.

Yakezie Alexa Challenge: Stay tuned for a large update this Wed, Feb 24.  We’ll discuss what happens when the rules change on us, how to deal and flourish!  I will introduce a new initiative which should be able to help more members.  Keep on promoting others Yakezies!

HIGHLIGHT POSTS OF THE WEEK Read more…