I faced a number of fears upon graduating from college: 1) Getting stuck in a terrible job, 2) Not making enough to comfortably support a family of four, 3) Not being able to financially help my parents if they needed assistance, 4) Not leading a fulfilling life, and 5) Never realizing my potential… to name a few. You could say I feared failure the most. Over time, my fear of failure was replaced with the fear of regret.
After ten years of working on Wall St., I started feeling comfortably numb in a job that paid a lucrative salary. Although my interest in the financial services business began to wane towards the end, I kept telling myself that all I had to do was gut it out for one more year to bank another six figure bonus. I discussed the “one more year” syndrome with a number of close colleagues and they all admitted to suffering the same plight. Why do something else when very little else pays as much?
Originally, I had planned to work for 18 years until age 40 and then call it quits. Instead, I only lasted for 13 years right before the age of 35 before going off on my own. Giving up a multiple six figure income in one’s 30s sounds ludicrous, I know. But you have to understand that I had been living way below my means since graduation so I’ve never really experienced what it’s like to live a multiple six figure lifestyle. I didn’t anticipate such a collapse in the financial markets nor did I anticipate the X Factor of online growth. Besides, happiness tops out at $200,000 anyway.
The only monster expense I had post college was for a 20% downpayment on my current house eight years ago. My main rental that was purchased 10 years ago was from stock market funny money, so that didn’t count. 70% of my income for the last five years was saved, providing no utility except for financial comfort. I realized one day that I’ve been content for a very long time already but wasn’t really aware.
According to an American Psychological Association survey, 72% of Americans say they’ve felt stressed about money at some point in the last month with as many as 50% so stressed out they admitted to not being able to sleep. Is that you? Hope not, because this is Financial Samurai! If so, please read every single post on my site before spending your next buck.
Since writing, 
Once the first dirty bomb detonates in San Francisco, fake news king Mark Zuckerberg has 700 acres of Kauai lands to retreat to (as soon as he gets done suing the native Hawaiians out of their ancestral lands). Mark’s plan to build a wall all along his property to keep the locals out is smart because you know they’ll pound the shit out of him at first sight.
To start, there is no “correct” asset allocation by age. But there is an optimal asset allocation I’d like to share in this post. Your asset allocation between stocks and bonds depends on your risk tolerance. Are you risk averse, moderate, or risk loving? I’m personally risk loving or risk averse, and nothing in between. When I see “Neutral” ratings by research analysts, I want to slap them upside the head for having no conviction. Then the optimist in me thinks what a great world to have occupations that pay well for providing no opinion!
