Career & Employment Archives - Financial Samurai

Real Median Household Income By Race Reaches Record Highs For All!

Real Median Household Income By Race Reaches All-Time Highs For All!

At last! After three years, the U.S. Census Bureau has come out with its latest Income and Poverty Report In The United States: 2019. From the report, I’m pleased to announce that the real median household income by race has reached all-time highs for all!

Not only has the real median household income by race reached all-time highs for everyone, but as you’ll also soon see that the rate of increase has accelerated for all races as well.

Let’s have a look at the details to see how high household income figures really were before the pandemic began.

Read More…

It’s Time To Focus On Big City Living Again: The Opportunity Is Huge

Posted by Financial Samurai 78 Comments

I haven’t been this excited in a very long time. Due to the coronavirus and tremendous media hype about the death of big cities, the time is ripe to focus on big city living again.

Try and use the media to your advantage. For example, if you want to sell something, highlight the most absurdly bullish article you can find to the potential buyer and vice versa.

Since 2003, I’ve highlighted articles from various negatively predisposed sites to help me buy real estate at a discount. The strategy has been effective because people tend not to do their due diligence. Instead, they tend to just read headlines and assume it to be true.

Here’s the thing though. By the time you read things in the news, the trend is sometimes stale. For example, I’ve been writing about investing in the heartland since 2017. Only now is there full-blown mania about buying in and relocating to lower-cost areas of the country.

To build wealth, you must constantly try to predict the future. Because of this, you may often get beaten to smithereens by the masses for thinking differently. However, thinking differently is how you can build enormous wealth.

It is now my belief that the death of big cities is completely overblown. We’ve got roughly a two-year window to take advantage of big city opportunities before they disappear.

Read More…

Spoiled Or Clueless? Try Working Minimum Wage Jobs

Posted by Financial Samurai 123 Comments

Are you spoiled or clueless? Or perhaps you know of other spoiled or clueless people who complain about everything in life.

If you are or know someone who is, my #1 recommendation is to work a minimum wage job as an adult. Better yet, work a minimum wage service job. I guarantee you that once you do, you will no longer be spoiled or clueless no more!

Life is on extreme hard mode now with the coronavirus pandemic. However, we should spend more time being appreciative with what we have and the people who make our lives better.

Growing Up As A Spoiled And Clueless Kid

I was born in Manila, Philippines to U.S. Foreign Service Officers. During my first 13 years of life living in Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, The Philippines, Zambia, and Virginia, I was able to see a great dichotomy between the rich and poor.

Seeing so much poverty really scared me into not messing around too much as a kid. But all the same, I still screwed up plenty of times. Despite living a good life, I was still quite clueless in so many things.

In high school, I decided to try and make some money for date money. So I applied for a job at my local McDonald’s for $3.75. Only a month later, I quit.

The main reason why I quit working at McDonald’s wasn’t the low pay or the abusive, ego-tripping manager. After all, the endless supply of broken apple pies went a long way to make up for the unpleasantry at work.

The main reason why I quit was because I was embarrassed.

I lived in McLean, Virginia, a now upper middle class neighborhood 20 minutes away from Washington D.C. Some kids would drive to school in new SUVs their parents bought them.

My high school home - don't be spoiled or clueless — My townhouse mansion during high school

One of my friend’s even had a separate house just for his indoor pool! While other friends lived in government housing. It was a strange mix of wealth and normalcy.

As the son of U.S. State Department workers, life was low key. We had a seven-year-old Toyota Camry and lived in a cozy 3/2 townhouse. I rode my bike or walked to school.

My parents provided my sister and I all the opportunities we could ever ask for. I just knew we weren’t rich based on what I saw in comparison. The clues started seeping in.

Read More…

Upper Class Definition Based On Income And Other Factors

Posted by Financial Samurai 28 Comments

We’ve got the poor, the middle class, the upper class, and the rich. This article looks at the definition of upper class based on income and several other factors.

When you think of the words “upper class,” what do you imagine? I often conjure some passengers sitting on a British Airways flight. They are literally sitting in a section of the plane called Upper Class. Weird.

Let’s be frank. Upper class has an arrogant tone to it. I don’t know anybody in America who uses the term upper class when speaking. Perhaps it’s a European thing.

In America, we use the term “mass affluent” or “aspirational class” instead of upper class. Nobody in America would ever publicly say they are upper class unless they want to get beat over the head. Instead, people would much prefer to say they are middle class.

Read More…

Income By Race: Why Is Asian Income So High?

Posted by Financial Samurai 230 Comments

Income by race is an especially interesting topic during these times of social awareness and racial injustice. Let us breakdown income by race based on the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.

Before we begin, I want to emphasize that your day job income should be only one source of income. You must build multiple income streams if you want to eventually achieve financial independence sooner. Further, you should continuously invest due to inflation.

In this post, we’ll first address income by race. Then I’d like to talk about some factual reasons and some personal reasons why Asian income is the highest in the United States. Race-related debates seem to be constant in America, yet Asians are largely left out of the conversation.

Read More…

Who Makes A Million Dollars A Year? Exploring The Top 0.1% Income Earners

Posted by Financial Samurai 148 Comments

If you want to get rich, you might as well focus on joining industries that pay very well. But there’s more to just joining a well-paying industry to get you to a million dollar income. You’ve also got to perform at a high level, survive cutthroat competition, and receive lots of luck along the way. Let’s see who makes a million dollars a year.

Corporate politics can be brutal on your climb to the top of the pyramid. Oftentimes, it’s those who’ve been able to successfully sell themselves internally who achieve the greatest rewards.

During my career in investment banking, I was too defiant. Despite getting promoted quickly in my 20s, I stalled in my 30s because I didn’t want to relocate to grind cities like New York or Hong Kong. Nor could I pretend to like enough people who could push me forward. In the end, I decided to see what I could do entirely with my own fingers.

Today, we know that an American top 1% income starts at around $470,000. We also know that a top 1% income varies by age as well. For those interested in making a top 0.1% income, let’s take a look at some career profiles.

Read More…

Definitions Of A Middle Class Income: Do You Consider Yourself Middle Class?

Posted by Financial Samurai 195 Comments

A middle class income is all you need to be happy. However, we are a society who always wants more. Even after we reach an arbitrary income level, we aren’t satisfied for very long.

I have a theory the majority of us, no matter how little or how much we make, consider ourselves part of the middle class. When I worked at McDonald’s for $4 an hour, I was dirt poor, but considered myself middle class because both my parents had jobs and I had a bicycle and a cozy home to come home to.

When I finally graduated from The College Of William & Mary and started making more money, I felt poor because all I did was work in expensive New York City!

For example, I shared a studio with a high school classmate for $2,100 a month and that was in 1999. It was the only way I could attempt to achieve financial independence on a modest income.

It was only after I moved to San Francisco did I feel I was part of the middle class again. Money was more plentiful, a starter home back then was “only” cost about $1,100,000. I also had more free time to explore.

I’ve experienced all three classes to varying degrees and I believe there are wonderful merits to each of them. From the poor Haitian immigrant who goes to college and becomes the first black female mayor in Utah, to the billionaire investor who gives 99% of his net worth to charity, everyone tends to come to center.

My favorite class is the middle class. But first, we must define what middle class means.

Read More…

Candid Advice For Those Joining The Startup World: Sleep With One Eye Open

Posted by Financial Samurai 72 Comments

Thinking about joining a startup in th new decade? You’re not alone.

There’s been a great shift away from traditional careers like big law, medicine, and banking towards joining startups. With promises of riches and the greater ability to make an impact, who wouldn’t want to join a startup?

The Importance Of Equity Ownership

Ever since college graduation in 1999, I’ve had equity ownership in every single company I’ve worked for. When you get equity, no matter how small it is, you tend to pick up the litter in the hallway, champion your company outside of work, and work harder than the actual value of your total compensation. In short, having equity makes you care more!

Pride of ownership is important for maximizing employee production. There’s just one problem: sharing.

If you’re a founder, you’ve got to have the generosity and foresight to let your employees share in your company’s equity. Giving up equity is one of the hardest things a founder can do because we are all naturally greedy. We want everything for ourselves despite the need for great people to make our company a raging success.

Sometimes, we’d rather fail and hold onto everything than give up equity in order to succeed. Irrational.

As an owner of an online business and as a consultant/advisor for startups, I straddle both sides of the fence. I’ve found it impossible to get truly passionate about something without any equity.

Working with no equity feels off. It makes me want to do only 101% of what is expected, not 130%. I wonder if this is how much of the workforce feels where they don’t have any stake in the organization they are working for? Please let me know.

If you want to join a startup, this post offers up some candid advice. I’ve lived in San Francisco, the startup capital of the world, since 2001. I’ve seen the good and bad. This post is a 3,500 word beast that will make you see the world a little differently by the end.

Read More…

How To Become A Rockstar Independent Contractor

Posted by Financial Samurai 44 Comments

The government estimates that roughly 31% of the American workforce are independent contractors. Meanwhile, Intuit did a study a couple years ago saying that 40% of the American workforce, or ~60 million people will be freelancers, contractors and temp works by 2020. Well, it’s 2020 now and more people want to know how to be a rockstar independent contractor than ever before thanks to the global pandemic!

It’s clear the trend towards independent contracting / freelancing is on the rise thanks to technology and the Internet. Company benefits like pensions and 401k matches, are also declining. Finally, everybody wants to be free.

79% of independent contractors say they are happier working on their own. This is according to the 2019 edition of the State of Independence report from MBO Partners, a business services company focussing on the self-employed.

As someone who unexpectedly consulted for the financial technology industry over the past seven years thanks to my site, I strongly believe independent contractors will overtake full-time employment in the near future. Furthermore, you can actually make a lot more money as a freelancer than a full-time employee if you pack your schedule.

Read More…

Examples Of Good Resumes That Get Jobs

Posted by Financial Samurai 166 Comments

With the coronavirus pandemic causing local economies to shelter-in-place for months, the unemployment level in America has skyrocketed. There are over 40 million Americans unemployed in 2020 and many of these jobs are not coming back. Thus, having a good resume is crucial for getting a job. Below you’ll find many examples of good resumes to help get your own in top shape.

Hiring Seasons

In normal times, the first half of the year is when ideally all hiring shall be done. This is because:

1) The best available people are still available. There is a bias against people looking in the 3rd and 4th quarter because rightly or wrongly, companies may wonder what’s wrong with you for not having found something earlier.

2) Companies need to spend their budgets while they are still available. There’s no time like the present.

3) Hiring an employee at the start of the year gets the most out of the employee, especially if there is a guaranteed compensation package.

If you find yourself looking for a job in the second half of the year, it’s important to hustle a little more or prepare for activity to pick up in the spring.

Don’t give up hope. Use this time to plan more thoroughly. And utilize the examples of good resumes below to improve your own, especially as economies start opening up.

I’ve seen over 10,000 resumes in my 13-year career in finance and hopefully this article can help you build an excellent resume. An excellent resume should be standard, not the exception.

Read More…