Financial Samurai

One of the best things about running your own blog is that you can write whatever you want, whenever you want.  There’s really no pressure to do anything really, and I don’t understand why some would feel otherwise.  Several blogging buddies have gone straight up cold turkey, not writing anything for months.  They tell me they can’t keep up with the schedule of writing great content.  Who says content has to be great?  They say new jobs lead them to not have the time.  Are you working 100 hours a week?  I’m sad because I miss their posts and our interactions. Read more…

Are you afraid of hard work?  I’m not.  You can lock me in a room, tell me to demolish it down to the studs and build it back up again.  I’ll do it even if there’s only a sliver of hope of something good waiting at the end.  As many of you may or may not know, Yakezie.com will launch this Monday, August 16th.  A tremendous amount of hours have been spent formulating the game plan, working with Chris the web guru to implement features, and create content.

Everything always seems so calm on the outside, but behind the scenes there is nonstop debugging, planning, and trial and error.  Major respect to anybody who has ever tried to start any collaborative project!  Our Google Groups is alive with discussion, and the ideas are endless.  Yet, ideas are useless without implementation.  I often wonder how on earth we’re supposed to coordinate the talents and ideas of so many.  I’m worried that great ideas will fall by the wayside because we’re too focused on narrow objectives.  As a result, we’re going to do our best to capture them all.

With the August 16 deadline, I feel like I’m back in school, working on a project that will determine my final course grade.  Yet in reality, there’s simply no fear of failure except for the fear of not doing.  What a pity it would be to never launch Yakezie.com with so many diverse and passionate members, each of whom have something special to offer.  After all, the Yakezie.com is not for me, but for all the members who participated in the challenge, as well as all the potential new readers out there who are looking for unique insights.

Weekends are meant for relaxation, but not this weekend.  It’s crunch time and I’m going to kick my ass to ensure that everything goes according to plan.  See y’all over at Yakezie.com this Monday!

Readers, for those of you who run multiple sites any tips on how to manage?  

For those who only have one site, have you ever thought of starting another site and implement what you’ve learned from your first site?

When was the last time you kicked your own ass at something? Haiiiii yah!

UPDATE: Yakezie.com is up and we are currently working out all the kinks.  Please feel free to share your feedback!Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS feed.

I don’t talk much about my finances, but I will tell you that I’m in the process of refinancing a couple mortgage loans down by 1% each.  The interest savings is tremendous, making me very positive about consumption trends going forward as 10 other people I know are also refinancing.  It behooves you to at least call your local bank and check their latest rates.

It does make me wonder with the strength of the stock markets lately, how the bond market can still be so frothy to provide such record low interest rates.  Do remember that the higher treasury bond prices go, the more yields fall.  Could there really be deflation on the way?  I highly, highly doubt it but the bond market is telling us otherwise.

To humor our minds, lets say there is deflation on the horizon.  What would you do with your spending habits?  You’d probably stop consuming due to the assumption that whatever it is you want to buy will be cheaper in the future.  As a result, you’d hoard cash and de-leverage.  Bingo, that is exactly what plenty of folks are doing, including myself.  This self perpetuating mentality is very damaging to economic progress.  In addition to delaying consumption, you will probably seek ever higher yields.  With the 30 year treasury yielding 4% right now, it sure looks like a buy compared to only 2.85% on the 10 year.

When talking about deflation, keep in mind that money is simply a medium of exchange.  The more money currency you have, the better as the strength of your currency improves vis a vis the goods and services which it can buy.  Frugality really is en vogue again, and I just can’t wait until Samurai September when I spend the whole month buying nothing!

POSTS THAT CAUGHT MY EYE: Read more…

Well, here we are!  It’s been six month since the original challenge was announced and I want to congratulate all of you for making it this far!  The network has grown to be a powerful one and now it’s up to us to harness it for the greater good  This is where the 2nd challenge comes in, which officially starts on August 16th when Yakezie.com is launched.

The 2nd challenge is simply to use the power of the Yakezie network to help others through monetary means or donations of our expertise, while at the same time grow our online revenue by various rates (i.e. 25%, 50%, 100%).  The good thing about percentage increase targets is that we can all challenge ourselves whether we have a $100/month site or a $10,000/month site.  More will be explained once Yakezie.com is launched.  The first challenge of getting our Alexa rankings below 200,000, and now below 100,000 still stands.  As long as we are part of the network, we should strive for progress or at least a steady state of satisfaction.

Some of the most interesting types of posts around the web are voyeuristic posts about what goes on inside the mind of the blogger.  Part of the reason why DVDs are such a hit is because of the “special features” section where you can watch outtakes and behind the scenes featurettes.  Many have asked whether I had a grand plan all along for this group, and the simple answer is no.  It was because all of you that the group flourished.  I’d like to share with you some of my thoughts as The Yakezie grew.  Perhaps you’ll do the same and post your own write-up as well!

DECEMBER, 2009 – BEFORE THE YAKEZIE.  Alexa Ranking 94,000. Read more…

"Carried By The Wind" by Veronika Nagy

My nose plugs up and I can hardly breathe when I’m around cats too long.  I don’t know why I’m allergic, I just am.  One time I stayed over a friend’s place with three cats, and I woke up with red hives.  It was a surprise that I was able to fall asleep at all, because I could have sworn I sneezed over 100 times until the underside of my nose bled.

One of my best friends invited me over to visit her childhood home this fall.  Her mother lives near Boston, and unlucky for me another downside of East Coast living is the enormous pollen count.  I remember countless days when I couldn’t go to work because my allergies were so bad.  Ever since moving out West, my reactions have been much tamer.  The San Francisco Bay acts as a natural filter, sucking out stagnant air to sea.

In addition to being out East, my friend’s mother also has a couple of dogs and cats!  She sees this trip as a fun homecoming to introduce me to where she grew up.  To me, I have no attachment there and it’s like going to a gas chamber for vacation.  Imagine only being able to breathe through your two front teeth.  That’s how I feel sometimes when allergies attack.  You can’t get enough oxygen, so you aren’t able to speak.  You lose energy and let sleep take over even though it’s in the middle of the day.

THE QUIET PLEA Read more…

Thanks to the invention of blogs and social media, you can intimately feel the summer malaise upon us.  To participate in the change in moods, I’ll be lightening things up a little bit.  I’ve always been kind of a joker and all this structured writing with beginning, middle and end is oh so well….. structured!  Also, to invoke Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man from AP English class is going to the extreme of stiffness, right?  I’m not sure many really connected with the reference at all.

Who wants to read about the struggles of an African American man in the oppressive 1950s when everything is so hunky dory and harmonious nowadays.  I do, but I think most others don’t.  Does anybody even read the classics anymore?  A little Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut or Crime & Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky anybody?  Yeah, maybe 20 years ago, but not now.  Now, all we read are gossip magazines and blogs with bad punctuation (yours truly) that tickle our guts with spurts of information.

Hence, from now until the end of August I’ll be throwing a little wasabi on the teriyaki as they say in Japan.  I just made that up, but thought it sounded good.  You might read a little more rambling and a lot less structure as I attempt to change writing styles.  The Yakezie.com project is well underway and now is my time to goof around a little bit.

HIGHLIGHT POSTS OF THE WEEK Read more…

Despite an honest attempt to seek out more great things about the East Coast, several readers actually proceeded to bash the West Coast instead!  What’s up with that?  Some curiously mentioned that the East Coast is fantastic because the horrendous weather for half the year makes the other six months so wonderful.  Ummm, that’s like saying you appreciate your right hand more because you chopped off your left hand!  Wouldn’t you rather have both hands?

The only positive takeaway from the comments I agree with is the cluster of historically significant cities within a several hours drive.  Other than that, nobody came up with any stand out reasons other than the six I provided as to why East Coast living is great.  Given that the West Coast was attacked, I feel it’s important to stand up and defend our honor!

WEST COAST > EAST COAST Read more…

Even at 7:30pm the night is hot.  That’s what happens when you go barbecuing somewhere in the South Pacific in the middle of summer.  You can almost taste the grilled chicken from the remnant fumes simmering off the grill.  Dinner is served!

The family gathers around the picnic table.  We take a deep breath and begin to eat.  In just the first bite, my father freezes, tries to swallow and let’s out a little gag.  We ask him what’s wrong, and he shakes his head not knowing.  One of us gives him a glass of water, and still, no change.  My father raises up his hand, excuses himself and says that he has to go to the emergency room.

DOUBT AND CONFUSION

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Every year, there’s inevitably a headhunter or a competitor who gives me a ring to ask whether I’m interested in leaving my current firm for a hefty salary increase.  And every year I turn them down because I respect the people I work with, like the camaraderie, and believe in my firm’s management and future.  My 10th year anniversary is coming up, and just like how I freaked out for a couple days before turning 30, I’m starting to wonder whether I’ve become too content and also too comfortable with what I have.

Dodging bullets is a myth, but I can safely proclaim that I dodged at least one bullet by not taking an offer from a firm that inevitably went bankrupt.  Phew, I sometimes remind myself.  But, what about the other firms I wonder.  If I joined them, would I be making more money and doing more in my career than ever before?  Maybe, I don’t know.  What I do know is that many who have job hopped have indeed made an incredible amount more and rocketed their careers than if they had stayed.

LOYALTY CAN BE OVERRATED Read more…

May retail sales drop 1.2% or the most in 8 months as more and more people turn to personal finance bloggers for frugality advice!  I’m pretty certain nobody has ever come up with this statement, but think about it for a little bit.  Why is it that the public should take personal finance advice from BusinessWeek, for example?  The articles are written by relatively well-paid writers who are on a mission to report the news.  They do a fine job at that, but perhaps not as fine a job making things visceral like the personal finance community.  What’s more personal than a real person like Jeff delivering pizzas to get out of debt?  Not much!

It’s very hard for the mass media to compete against a team of personal finance bloggers such as the Yakezie.  We’re real life people responding to comments and putting ourselves out there.  There’s a two-way street with us.  If I were Editor in Chief of any mass media publication, I’d go out and hire an bunch of influential personal finance bloggers and put them on my payroll.  $75,000 a year will do or perhaps $150,000 a year if you want us to write an article a month exclusively for you.  By doing so, the Editor will inject new life, new readers, and therefore a wealth of new advertising dollars to the publication.

As evidenced by May’s retail sales figures, we are creating the news with our frugal ways instead of just reporting the news.  There’s a movement underway, can you feel it?  Maybe we’ll band together and talk about how we should never buy new cars again, causing June’s new car sales to dip.  Or maybe we’ll discover how amazing one person’s unsung journey is to fight poverty in Uganda and direct millions of dollars their way.  That counts for something.  Let’s make a palatable difference with the words we write.  Someone is out there listening.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

Any rational person would agree that living on the West Coast is better than living on the East Coast.  Anybody who tells you otherwise probably has never experienced West Coast living long enough to understand the difference.  I’m rational, and I’ve lived on both sides for many years and I don’t believe there’s really much of a debate.  Who doesn’t want to live in more moderate temperatures where the sun is always shining?  Unless you like super cold winters and uncomfortably muggy summers, the East Coast isn’t for you.

When your family and friends are on the East Coast, it’s hard to leave I understand.  We’re afraid of change.  I know I am.  But, this is not a post to bash the East Coast.  This is a post to understand what truly makes the East Coast and other uncomfortable climate zones special.

You see, a friend of mine is thinking about relocating to New York City or Washington DC for a little bit of adventure.  I think she’s a little nuts leaving our California sunshine behind and I’m trying to understand why, and maybe even a why not.

EAST COAST POSITIVES Read more…

Dear Readers,

It’s been a wonderful journey so far and I want to thank you for visiting my tiny slice of the matrix.  We may not always agree, but that’s the beauty of it all.  Through differences of opinion, we’re allowed to learn from each other and flourish mentally, and hopefully financially as well.  Besides, it’s not like I’m going to hold your puppy hostage or something if you challenge my opinion!  Hope you feel the same.

Sometimes it’s hard to to respond to all of your wonderful comments (7,100+ so far), yet I will always try.  I wish there was an easy way to tag all of the most interesting comments and show case them.  Perhaps I still will!  It’s so fun to visit other sites, comment, and interact, I want you to experience the same here.

Each blog has a different personality and tone to it.  I’d like to think that Financial Samurai is unique with a flavor that challenges conventional thinking.  We can go back to basics regarding budgeting, savings, and retirement planning.  Or, we can continue blazing new trails.  It’s really up to you frankly.  What would you like to read more of going forward?  Generally we should enjoy writing what we’d enjoy reading.

Finally, I thought it would be fun to dedicate this song to all the female readers who helped share their viewpoints.  Five String Serenade was composed by Mazzy Star in her 1993 album, So Tonight That I Might See.  The original plan when I learned Five String Serenade 12 years ago was to sing to a girl after an evening picnic on a beach somewhere.  I never got the chance until recently, and now it’s been recorded, in my own version for you.  Funny how things never turn out quite like you plan.

Here’s to another 200 posts!  Thank you again! Read more…

Yowza! Source: NY Times

Over 11 million people are estimated to have died by the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust just 65 years ago.  5 to 6 million of the 11+ million were Jews and over 300,000 were Athenians during the Axis’ occupation of Greece.  It’s a fallacy to blame modern day Germans about the atrocities of the past.  Yet, just because the demons have all died, shall we forgive and forget?  Absolutely not.  The offspring and relatives of the 11+ million dead live on, and their stories will never ever be forgotten.

With a GDP of US$3.6 trillion, Germany is now the largest economy in Europe as well as the 4th largest economy in the world.  Germany also has roughly $50 billion in estimated loans to Greece, a large amount, but not an overwhelmingly debilitating amount given the size of their economy.  Saving Greece helps the Germans and the rest of the 27 EU members who in some way were all negatively affected by Germany decades ago.

GRAND STANDING AND FINGER WAGGING Read more…

My mother is a white cloud.  Every time I see her, she smiles even bigger than I can ever smile.  She loves to talk stories about any of life’s teachings she’s discovered, and I generally just keep quiet and listen.  Sometimes I don’t understand everything she says, but that’s OK.  It makes me happy just knowing she’s happy imparting wisdom onto me.

One of the holiday presents I got my father was a signed copy of Andre Agassi’s autobiography, “OPEN.”  To me, the book was gold, because Andre is my idol.  It was my only copy, and I decided to give it to my father because I remember him loving to read and enjoying the game long ago.

When my father opened his present, he did thank me and showed his appreciation.  However, a week later, the book still lay on the coffee table unread.  Somewhat dismayed that Agassi was being ignored, I spoke to mom about perhaps taking the book back since I cherished it so much.  She mentioned her unused Barnes & Nobles gift card and had an idea.

Later that evening, my parents went to the Mall for date night without us.  Apparently, Carl’s Junior had a two-for-one special and my father was just dying to go!  When they returned, my mother brought me over to the kitchen and told me, “Shhhhhh, take a look at the book.  I bought another copy of “OPEN” and swapped it with your signed copy, so you can take it home!  Dad will never know!” We laughed so hard it hurt and gave each other high fives!  My mom was right, dad never found out.  Mom, who knows very little about tennis, was encouraged by my enthusiasm she even read “OPEN” before dad!

LESSON LEARNED Read more…

Looking back at history brings mixed emotions of happiness and fear.  How can it be that 20 years have passed since Pearl Jam was huge and mullets were still in?  It can’t be, can it?  The 90′s don’t seem too long ago, yet so much has happened since.

People say that we’ve just experienced the lost decade, given the lack of returns in the stock market.  I disagree completely.  What’s more important here is ironically nominal increases not “real”.  If you compare what you have now to what you had 10 years ago, I’m pretty sure you have lots more. Heck, some of you may have still been in school or had absolutely nothing but a tit to suckle.  You may have developed a business, or found someone over the past 10 years.  Rest assured you’ve made a lot of progress.

The one thing we have less of is time.  10 years past means 10 years less of life to go.  I think about what I’ve done and what I’m doing in 5 to 10 year blocks all the time.  If I plant the seed now, will the project be worth something in 5 years?  If I slave away at business school part-time, will I be able to leverage the degree and the relationships 10 years down the road?  If I master one guitar song a month, will I be able to play 6 albums worth of songs in 5 years?  The idea is to just start now and stay consistent.  You ignore the short-term tribulations and just focus long term.

The problem is that eventually, we all run out of rope.  That’s when we can only look back and hopefully smile at all the things we’ve accomplished.

A SONG THAT CAPTURES THE QUESTION IN THE TITLE Read more…