Financial Samurai

Slicing Through Money's Mysteries

  • About
  • Invest In Real Estate
  • Free Wealth Management
  • Top Financial Products
  • Negotiate A Severance

Should I Get Roadside Assistance Coverage Insurance? Hell Yeah!

Published: 11/23/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 22 Comments

1989 BMW 335i Coupe

Roadside assistance is important. Without roadside assistance coverage, you could be stranded in the middle of nowhere for hours!

Every winter, I make the 180 mile trek from San Francisco to Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe to enjoy the epic snow. There is truly nothing more magical than spending hours riding on powder and having a beer or two in the outdoor hot tub when you’re finished! Oh, the stories I could tell you about what happens in the hot tub.

On the other hand, there’s nothing more frustrating than getting a flat tire at night in the mountains while it’s snowing. I know how to change a tire, but I sure as hell don’t plan to risk my life changing a tire in darkness on a one lane road in the mountains while cars zoom by. I might get a nice settlement if I do get into an accident. But, I also might lose a leg in the process!

Every month, I spend 98 cents to get roadside assistance insurance for Moose. Add up the cost over 84 months of ownership, and we’re talking $83 worth of premiums. And you know what? My roadside assistance insurance is worth every penny! I already mentioned how my alternator died just as I was pulling into my garage thank goodness. A tow truck came when I got back from vacation to follow me to my mechanic thanks to roadside assistance. What I haven’t told you about are my other more traumatic incidences!



Read More…

Own One Car For Show And Another Car For Dough

Published: 11/08/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 84 Comments

There’s an old saying in golf, “drive for show, putt for dough.” Hitting a massive 300-yard bomb looks beautiful, but what really counts is accurate putting. Well let me introduce you to a new saying, “Own one car for show and another car for dough.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost money on the golf course because I three-putted instead of two-putted. I’ve also occasionally won money squeezing in an eight-footer. Those knee-knockers, when all is on the line during an Aloha bet, are intense!

Give me a regular 250-yard drive and incredible putting accuracy over a 300-yard drive and putting yips all day long. The same goes for cars.

I’m a one car type of guy. Owning a car is expensive, especially if you don’t follow my 1/10th rule. With the proliferation of cheap ridesharing options that have emerged since 2009, not owning a car is making more and more sense.

But over the years, I’ve had a tremendous number of complaints that my 1/10th rule is too restrictive. Instead of limiting the median American household to only spending $6,200 on a car, many people feel the typical American should be able to spend much more.

If you want to spend more, it’s totally up to you. Don’t let me tell you what to do. I’m just offering a simple rule to follow to help you achieve financial independence sooner, rather than later.

For those of you who love cars and want to own two or more cars, I suggest owning at least a Dough Car. If you do, you might build your net worth quicker than the rest. You might even better keep yourself out of trouble.



Read More…

The Best Way To Save On Car Maintenance: Know Your Car Warranty

Published: 10/23/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 26 Comments

Ugh. So I just realized something incredibly stupid that only spending hours writing a post could have made me realize. I *think* I missed taking my car to the dealer to get its clicking noise fixed under the car warranty for free! Thus, I want to help you save money by knowing your car warranty so you won’t make my mistake.

I mentioned the clicking noise in my post on paying for repairs by cash or credit. It had had been progressively getting worse for about six months. If true, that means my clicking noise began in April 2019.

My car was originally purchased on July 6, 2015. I bought it from a private party on December 28, 2016. I wanted a larger car in preparation for the birth of our baby in 2017.

For some reason, I had assumed my car only had a 3-year/40,000, transferrable bumper-to-bumper warranty. So I just assumed that I had missed the window to get the problem fixed by 15 months.

But as I was doing research online, oddly enough on my own tax rules for deducting an SUV for a business post, I discovered my SUV has a 4-year/ 50,000 mile warranty!

If I simply understood my car warranty and what it covered, I could have taken my car into the shop by July 6, 2019. I would have gotten the clicking sound taken care of for free. Plus fixed anything else the computer found wrong.

Damn it!

Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.



Read More…

Things I’ll Teach My Daughter: Pay No Attention To A Guy’s Fancy Car And More

Published: 09/22/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 195 Comments

Father and daughter walking on the beach - Things I'll Teach My Daughter

Back in 2016, I wrote this post expecting I was going to have a daughter. Therefore, I started thinking about the various things I’d teach her growing up wrapped around personal finance.

I was nervous about how to be a first-time dad, especially to a daughter. I had one friend in her early-30s perpetually go in and out of terrible relationships. The last thing I wanted was for my future daughter to go through 15 years of breakups.

Instead of having a daughter, we had a son in 2017. Therefore, my thoughts were shelved until the end of 2019, when our daughter finally arrived. Hooray! Now that I am a father to a daughter, this post is even more important than ever. Perhaps you have a daughter as well.

I’d like to revisit this topic and offer additional points. But first, a story.



Read More…

Safety First: Finally Bought A Family Car And It’s Not A Minivan

Published: 08/21/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 127 Comments

My new mid-life crisis car: a Range Rover Sport HSE

After deep deliberation, I decided to pass on buying the $550,000 Mercedes G650 Maybach. It just felt like too much to spend on a family car when I could invest the money and earn $20,000 a year in passive income forever! Instead, I bought a family car for safety first.

What type of family car did I buy? I bought a late model 2015 Range Rover Sport V6 HSE with 11,200 miles in Santorini black with black leather interior.

It’s in perfect condition with a warranty until July 2019. The original sticker was $76,000 before tax or roughly $83,000 out the door. Such good value compared to the G650 Maybach right?



Read More…

Should I Go To Court And Fight My Speeding Ticket?

Published: 08/16/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 102 Comments

Should I Go To Court And Fight My Speeding Ticket?
Back at the scene of the crime

Speed racer is in the house! I got a speeding ticket for going 35 mph in a 25 mph zone the other day and I’m pretty ticked. This post will discuss whether I should go to court and fight my speeding ticket. It should help you weight whether you should do the same as well.

Getting A Speeding Ticket

The cop pulled me over after I sped up in the middle of a yellow light and asked me whether I knew why he pulled me over. I innocently responded, “Because I went through a yellow light?“

He looked at me a little funny and said, “No. Do you know what the speed limit is here on Masonic Avenue?”

“I’m not sure officer. 35 mph?” I responded.

“No, it’s 25 mph and I got you on the gun going 45 mph,” said the officer.

First I was shocked that a five lane artery (2 lanes going south, 3 lanes going north) would have a speed limit of only 25 mph. I wasn’t blowing by anybody at all. Second, I was super surprised the officer said he clocked me at 45 mph!

Couldn’t Believe I Got A Speeding Ticket

Moose is slow as molasses as a 14 year old Land Rover Discovery II. There is NO WAY Moose could reach 45mph in two blocks. His 0 – 60 mph time is 11.4 seconds new and surely he’s lost a step over the years. 45 mph = 66 feet / second. Average city block is around 400 feet. I would have to be putting my pedal to the metal to get to 45 mph, which I wasn’t because that action guzzles more gas.

I looked at the officer when he told me I was going 45 mph and said, “You mean this car? I don’t think so. I haven’t had a speeding ticket in 8 years since my car is so slow and old.“

He kinda laughed and asked me for my license and registration.

When he came back three minutes later, he handed me a ticket and said, “I’m not going to write you up for 20 mph over the speed limit because that’s not good for your insurance and I don’t want to hammer you. I’ll just do 35 mph in a 25 mph instead.“

Gee thanks. What a nice guy! I was actually hoping he’d let me off with a warning as two other cops did in the past six years when I was driving Moose. Who gives a speeding ticket for 35 mph in a 25 mph zone when everybody is driving 35 mph?



Read More…

A Car Fanatic’s Drive Down Memory Lane: Lessons Following The 1/10th Rule

Published: 08/02/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 86 Comments

I’m a car fanatic and maybe you are one too. This post is my drive down memory lane. I go over all the cars I’ve owned in the past.

One of my most financially helpful, but polarizing articles is The 1/10th Rule For Car Buying Everyone Must Follow. I wrote this post to help mostly younger folks not blow their money on the most common financial destroyer. We all know that almost all cars are guaranteed to lose value.

As a young man, I used to view my Toyota Corolla Hatchback as an asset because I didn’t know better. How could a car be a liability when I could take girls out on dates, drive to William & Mary from the DC-area to get a solid education, and take a nice midnight jaunt along the Jamestown river during final exams?

Now I view my vehicle as a liability. All I see in my garage is a large heap of metal necessary to transport my family safely. I’ve got to keep feeding it money in order for it to run – gas, new tires, maintenance, tax, tickets, accidents, and insurance. I’d much rather have the money sunk in my car producing passive income for financial freedom.

For those of you curious about what it’s like to follow the 1/10th Rule For Car Buying for the past 15 years, let me give you an honest assessment as an ex-car fanatic who has owned a dozen cars in his lifetime. The journey just might save you a lot of money and bring you more happiness in the process.



Read More…

Your Car Insurance Coverage Might Not Be Good Enough

Published: 07/28/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 53 Comments

Insurance Is Expensive

Having reliable and sufficient car insurance coverage is so important. But how do you know if you have enough? Car accidents are incredibly expensive today! Here’s how I found that out the hard way.

Several years ago, I did something stupid. Instead of backing straight out of my parking stall, I turned too soon. As a result, I crunched the side of my car Rhino into a pillar. I wasn’t inebriated, tired, or high. I was just in a rush to meet a friend.

The last time I had an accident was in 1998. Instead of backing up into a pillar, I backed into the passenger side door of another car which was also backing out at the same time. It looks like there’s a pattern to my accidents. But who told that Mustang to run into my bumper?!

I remember trading insurance information, paying a $200 deductible, and sending in a sketch of what happened. My insurance company probably paid, but I don’t remember for sure. My premium stayed the same and the cost didn’t stand out. 



Read More…

Opportunity Cost Is A Spender’s Greatest Enemy: My Tesla Story

Published: 07/12/2020 | Updated: 01/14/2021 by Financial Samurai 24 Comments

Opportunity cost is a spender’s greatest enemy. Given America has a spending problem, our country will constantly be in grave danger without adopting better financial habits.

Back in 2018, I decided to join a Meetup softball league in San Francisco. I was one year into being a stay at home father and I needed to get out of the house more. Tennis had always been my sport, but I thought it would be nice to mix things up.

The softball league turned out to be a great outlet. I met people from various parts of the Bay Area from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The person I developed the best relationship with was with the organizer named Bob.

Bob is a preschool teacher who helps manage some of his parents’ properties. As a property fanatic myself we talked about various investment opportunities.

Of course, I shared my enthusiasm for ocean view properties in San Francisco. Then I mentioned my heartland of America investment thesis. Who knew that today’s global pandemic would accelerate the demographic migration towards lower-cost areas of the country.



Read More…

The 1/10th Rule For Car Buying Everyone Must Follow

Published: 07/11/2020 | Updated: 02/07/2021 by Financial Samurai 1,146 Comments

Old Car In Estonia - The 1/10th Rule For Car Buying Everyone Must Follow

If you’re looking for a car buying rule, let me introduce you to the 1/10th rule for car buying. The 1/10th rule will help you spend responsibly, reduce your car ownership stress, and boost your net worth over time.

In 2009, I watched in horror as a total of 690,000 new vehicles averaging $24,000 each were sold under the Cash For Clunkers program.

The government’s $4,000 rebate for trading in your car ended up hurting hundred of thousands of people’s finances instead. With a median household income of only around $50,221 at the time, spending $24,000 on a new car was clearly too much.

Instead of buying a $24,000 car in 2009, if you had invested the $24,000 in the S&P 500, you would now have over $70,000 in 2021. That’s quite an opportunity cost for buying a new car!

Buying too much car is one of the easiest and biggest financial mistakes someone can make. Besides the purchase price of a car, you’ve got to also pay car insurance, maintenance, parking tickets, and traffic tickets.

When you add everything up, I’m pretty sure you’ll be shocked at how much it really costs to own a car and hurl.



Read More…

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »

Top Product Reviews

  • Personal Capital review (free financial tools)
  • Fundrise review (real estate marketplace)
  • CrowdStreet review (real estate marketplace)
  • Credible review (student loans, mortgages, personal loans)
  • PolicyGenius review (life insurance)
  • LendingTree review (mortgages)
  • Allstate review (auto insurance)
  • Masterworks review (art investing)

Financial Samurai Featured In

Categories

  • Automobiles
  • Big Government
  • Budgeting & Savings
  • Career & Employment
  • Credit Cards
  • Credit Score
  • Debt
  • Education
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Family Finances
  • Gig Economy
  • Health & Fitness
  • Insurance
  • Investments
  • Mortgages
  • Most Popular
  • Motivation
  • Podcast
  • Product Reviews
  • Real Estate
  • Relationships
  • Retirement
  • San Francisco
  • Taxes
  • Travel
Copyright © 2009–2021 Financial Samurai · Read our disclosures

PRIVACY: We will never disclose or sell your email address or any of your data from this site. We do highly welcome posts and community interaction, and registering is simply part of the posting system.
DISCLAIMER: Financial Samurai exists to thought provoke and learn from the community. Your decisions are yours alone and we are in no way responsible for your actions. Stay on the righteous path and think long and hard before making any financial transaction! Disclosures