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Financial Samurai

Slicing Through Money's Mysteries

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It’s OK To Love Money: Money Is Not Evil

Updated: 08/25/2021 by Financial Samurai 63 Comments

I love money said the bunny rabbit
“I love money,” admitted the bunny

Do you love money or wonder why some people do? Loving money is not a bad thing. It can actually help set you free, which I’ll discuss below. Despite my failed attempt to ascertain whether some people are just born with a frugal gene and thereby able to amass much greater wealth than the average person, that’s OK! 

I’ve found some great takeaways from the post, “The Unfair Competitive Advantage Of The Wealthy: The Frugal Gene,” such as:

  • The more people feel guilty about spending money on services they know they can easily do themselves, the more pissed off they will be if you say something. It’s therefore unwise to speak out against how people should spend their money. We all have our own desires, skills, and values. But as a personal finance writer, these are exactly the topics that make for robust discussion.
  • DIY can be seen as a side-hustle to make more money. Now there are zero excuse for folks who are unwilling to moonlight, start a side business, or create a product to generate passive income. You can simply increase the amount of DIY projects, like cleaning, to earn more money by saving money.
  • In any business transaction, question everything. Be thorough. Stand your ground, while listening to the other side’s point of view. Folks who let their emotions get the best of them in business usually lose. Get things in writing, make things clear, explain your situation, and go from there.
  • If you love money, you will probably be better at accumulating more money. You’ll do a lot more research on how wealthy people got rich, what to invest in the stock market, how to get a raise, and all sorts of money attracting stuff. You might even subscribe to a personal finance blog.

The love of money is something I’d like to discuss in this post because I finally read a comment from a reader who admits that he loves money!



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Some Things Money Can’t Buy – How About A USTA 5.0 Tennis Rating

Updated: 03/29/2022 by Financial Samurai 74 Comments

Everybody wants to be rich. At least, everybody wants to feel rich. However, there are some things money can’t buy. And one of those things is a USTA 5.0 tennis rating.

For all you personal finance and tennis fans out there, this post discusses one man’s rise to 5.0 in 2015 from 4.0 in 2008. Today, at 44, I still have a USTA 5.0 tennis rating. However, I long to get back down to 4.5 and have more fun.

Playing at the 5.0 level gets pretty brutal at my age, especially as the USTA seem to be letting more and more young Division I college players compete at 5.0. I believe a USTA 4.5 level rating is the sweet spot for fun and competition.

Getting To USTA 5.0 Tennis As An Aging Athlete

One of the most comical, yet sad things every aging athlete must face is that we no longer are what we once were. Our minds are there, willing us to keep fighting, but our bodies don’t cooperate. This is a post about perseverance.

At the beginning of 2015, I highlighted several personal goals in a post. One of those goals was to win just one USTA 5.0 rated tennis match. I had just gotten bumped to 5.0 after being a 4.5 for the past four years. It was a big surprise since I never believed that I belonged.

To give you an idea of the caliber of players in the 5.0+ USTA league, here are some bios:

* Cal team captain in 1998 who played No. 5 singles and owned a 25-6 match record that year.

* No. 6 singles player for USF in 2013. That’s right, he’s only 24 years old.

* Captain for UC Santa Cruz, and 2009 Division III National Champions.

* All-American in singles and doubles at Stanford for four years.

* Hall-of-famer at William & Mary with a 70-40 singles record.

In other words, these guys are legit. Winning a singles match against some of these young bucks is impossible. I’d lose 1-6, 1-6 if I’m lucky. Winning a doubles match at the USTA 5.0 level is almost impossible without a good partner. 



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When Did Being Rich Become So Evil?

Updated: 05/08/2019 by Financial Samurai 37 Comments

Evil eyes. When did wealth become so evilWith good intention, I proposed one way to help level the playing field through a Wealth Identification Program run by our all-powerful government. By identifying wealthy people who got wealthy through 100% luck (born into wealth), we could empower decision makers to make more informed choices when deciding between equally qualified candidates. Whether a decision maker chooses to help the less lucky is entirely up to their discretion.

The Wealth Identification Program could also put pressure on life’s lucky winners to use their finances to give back to those who need help the most, while pushing themselves to see what they can achieve on their own. Imagine being born with the gift of Mozart, but never realizing your full potential because you didn’t have to. Having money from the start can limit motivation!

With a public wealth ID program, the fortunate will tend to give more and try harder to maximize their potential. After all, when the the boss is not around, why do anything at all?

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From Welfare to Well-Off: My Journey To Financial Independence

Updated: 03/24/2021 by Financial Samurai 64 Comments

The journey to financial independence - From Welfare to Well-Off

The following is a guest post by Dominic. He shares his story about escaping the life of trouble and poverty towards one day reaching financial independence. He shares his journey from welfare to well-off. Reading different perspectives is what makes the Financial Samurai community so awesome. – Sam

They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. You know when the second best time is? TODAY!

As you are about to discover, it doesn’t matter where you start in life, what matters is how you play the hand you were dealt. You can stand around and complain how the world is unfair, and yes it is very unfair…get over it. Complaining and dwelling on your dire circumstances will do nothing to improve your life, so don’t waste your time. The thing to remember is that successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.

We live in unprecedented times with more opportunity than any other time in history. You just have to decide if you are willing to put in the work to achieve your vision of success.

You could say I am one of those rags to riches stories in the making. I entered this world like most, in a hospital room naked and screaming. However, I entered the world with absolutely no advantage. Some might say I was dealt a crap hand. I grew up in a low income area, where my family and most other families were on welfare or some kind of government support. Growing up I slept on the hard-floor of my grandmother’s 2-bedroom apartment with my 3 brothers, while my grandmother and mom shared a bed, and my uncle had the other room.

Shit, we were so poor that my grandmother would use the oven to heat the apartment (not cooking for, but cracking the oven door while it was on with nothing in it). That could not have been safe. And to this day I don’t really know if it was actually cheaper to heat the apartment using the oven vs. the actual heating unit. Either way my grandmother was determined it was the best and cheapest way to heat the house.



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The State Of The Union Address 2015 Cheat Sheet

Updated: 12/12/2019 by Financial Samurai 62 Comments

State Of The Union President Obama 2015When President Obama gave the State Of The Union Address at 6pm PST, I had just left the office to go eat some yummy butter chicken and garlic naan at Amber Restaurant in downtown San Francisco. I assume many other hard-working West Coasters missed the SOTU address as well. Alas, living through an East Coast centric TV schedule is something we’ve grown used to.

But as any true patriot would do, I DVRed the SOTU address, watched the one hour long speech, took notes like a good student, and spent several hours putting together this 2,000 word article to help others think about our nation’s issues.

It’s important we all know and have an opinion about the main topics our nation faces. We don’t have to all agree, but having the knowledge helps us make choices about how we want to live, what occupations we should pursue, the type of investments we should make, and how others might view Americans on a global stage. Oh, and after reading this article, I promise you’ll be able to hold your own at any stuffy cocktail party on the planet.

Knowledge is what will set us all free!

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Financial Samurai Personal Year In Review 2014

Updated: 09/24/2018 by Financial Samurai 53 Comments

Financial Samurai Year In Review Happy Holidays Everyone!

Year in review posts are one of my favorite posts to write because we tend to forget some of the things that happened in the first half of the year in favor of things that happened in the second half of the year. This type of cognitive bias is the reason why if you must slack off at work, you might as well do so from January – June and really shape up afterward. Almost every single company I know decides on bonuses and promotions in the second half.

I hope all of you have read 10 Helpful Financial Moves To Make Every Year, and checked off at least five of the ten items by now. I promise you that if you can go through all ten items, you’ll be ahead of 99% of the population when the chaos begins again.

Here’s a post about some things that went well, and some things that didn’t go so well this year. Surprisingly, it was pretty easy to find 10 of each. 

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Even Billionaire Ron Conway Stands In Line To Wait His Turn, Why Can’t You?

Updated: 03/25/2021 by Financial Samurai 13 Comments

I was driving up to participate in a fun community picture collage event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts when I noticed billionaire Ron Conway, one of the fathers of angel investing stand in line just like the rest of us. He was probably in line for 10 minutes as the process took forever.

Ron Conway Angel Investor Venture Capitalist

The reason why he’s a billionaire is because he invested in Larry Page and Sergey Brin when their company was still called Backrub at a sub $75 million valuation. Google is now worth $379 billion. Then there’s other hits such as Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox, Pinterest, Airbnb, and Zappos.

I briefly met Ron at a fund raiser for San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee a couple years ago, but didn’t say anything more than a “hi.” What strikes me about Ron is that he seems like a nice guy who deeply cares about the city of San Francisco through his various activism.

Ron’s patience reminded me that no matter how rich you get, it’s a good idea to stay humble and wait your turn like everybody else. Entitlement is a poison that will ruin you. And if you don’t want to respect the existing organization’s methodology or people, feel free to start your own.

See you at Ed’s election party this Tuesday Ron Conway!

Related: Billionaires: They’re Just Like Us!

What Do You Have Left To Prove?

Updated: 07/08/2021 by Financial Samurai 89 Comments

Are you wondering what do you have left to prove? I’ve been wondering this a lot lately after 12 years of writing on Financial Samurai. I’m tired, and I don’t think I have anything left to prove. However, I also like to keep busy.

I like conflict because it gives me motivation to try harder.

During high school I had the talent to play at an elite level of tennis if I trained more. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to work on my backhand and nobody was really badgering me. As a result, I only received “First Team All District” honors instead of achieving “All Sectionals” honors at the end of senior year.

Because I wanted to spend more time with my girlfriend and I didn’t want to spend time traveling on weekends to play tennis tournaments, I never received any recognition from college coaches except for a small Division III school. I sometimes wonder what could have been if I went all out.

Nobody made me feel like a loser about tennis because I was already the team captain for two years and had a girlfriend. Girlfriend + Captain in high school is a respectable combo. I didn’t have anything to prove, so I didn’t do anything more.

What Is Left To Prove But Everything

But now as a 37 year old, I love playing tennis. I’ve worked on my topspin backhand religiously for three years and I’m entering tournaments now. The problem is my body isn’t as fast or as strong as it was 20 years ago. I’ve got a torn meniscus that is slowing me down. Damn. I wish I had the same enthusiasm back then. It’s because I know my time left playing competitive singles is limited, that I’m trying to do as much as I can now. When you’re young, you think everything will last forever.

There are other events that have left an indelible mark on my psyche. When I was 20 years old, four offensive linemen from the university football team came into Denny’s and attacked me and my girlfriend with racial slurs. We were used to racial conflict living in the South, but I was still pissed because they attacked my girl’s honor.

Attack me all you want, but don’t attack the people I care about. The incident motivated both of us to do well for the remaining two years of school and try to become financially independent as soon as possible. I wanted to prove to them that I could rise above their bullshit perceptions.

When I was 32 years old, a junior colleague started making fun of me when I told him I was starting a personal finance site. He started making a weird face and typing on an air keyboard, mocking my idea. I guess I smiled, but inside I was thinking, you little prick.

Whenever the going gets tough online, I remember back to this incident and push on through. Word has it he’s miserable at his job because he’s stuck. Welcome to the real world, buddy. Guess you should have joined me in air keyboard class.



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The Secret To Perfect Happiness Revealed! Make Over $500,000 A Year

Updated: 11/12/2018 by Financial Samurai 90 Comments

Wealth And Happiness Chart

In an amazing Gallup poll highlighted by the Wall Street Journal, it says that 100% of those who make more than $500,000 are “very happy”! That’s right. Not 98%. Not 99%. But a pure 100%.

This is a breakthrough research finding that has amazingly received little publicity. When you find perfection, it must be revealed! Surely this study is more earth-shattering than a University of Alabama PhD finding that those who ate more fried chicken had a higher chance of a stroke. More money, more delirious happiness, not more problems, silly Biggy. Read: Evidence Making Money Has Never Been Easier

Hence, the simple solution to eliminating wars and eradicating all levels of sadness is to make over $500,000. Folks like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Li Ka Shing, The Walmart clan, Ray Dalio, and anybody who just inherited a bunch of money can make a difference in the lives of so many. All they have to do is donate $449,000 a year to median families given the median household income is roughly $51,000.

I want to see a tag-team cage match between Princeton economist Angus Deaton and Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman who say that $75,000 is the ideal income for maximum happiness vs. Michigan Public Policy professor Betsey Stevenson (currently serving as a Member of the Council Of Economic Advisers) and Michigan economist Justin Wolfers who conclude that $500,000 is the magic number. Don’t you?

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Tenacity And Faith – Do You Have It To Get Ahead?

Updated: 03/25/2021 by Financial Samurai 55 Comments

Tenacity and faith are so important for getting ahead. With tenacity and faith, you will feel more emboldened to overcome any obstacle.

I’m not sure if it’s by coincidence or because I’m spending more time listening, but I’ve noticed more people sharing with me how they lost a lot during the 2008-2010 financial crisis, and how they’re doing everything possible to get back on track.

Stone Henge

Meeting Tenacity And Faith

I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond the other day when I met a sales clerk in the home decor section. He was probably around 65-70 years old with withered skin and dark patches all over his arms and head. He looked quite ill and smelled like he had been hitting the bottle the night before. His name was “Bob” and he was full of smiles as he sought to help me find the perfect barstool.

I selected a set of four handsome barstools from the choices he showed me for my kitchen. I didn’t have the famous 20% off coupon BBB sends in the mail, but Bob gave me a wink and told me, “I got you, don’t worry.”

He asked me whether I had recently bought a new home, and I told him that I did. “I finally found that room with a view I’ve been searching for all this time,” I replied.

Lost So Much, But Keeps Fighting

“I used to have a view, but then I lost my business of 20 years and then I lost my partner. It was just me in this old house for a couple years until I realized I could no longer afford the rent, so I moved. I have a small place now with the view of the street and another apartment’s window, but it will do,” Bob lamented.

I gave Bob my condolences and tried to cheer him up by continuing on the conversation, “Hopefully your new place is comfortable and at least much cheaper yeah?”

“Oh, yes, much cheaper,” Bob responded with a smile. “I miss the view, but I’m just thankful to have found an affordable place to live in the city.”

To lose money is one thing. I did that spectacularly well during the downturn. To lose love and money at the same time is unbearable.

But Bob showed an incredibly positive attitude during our time together, and he made me a very happy customer that evening. I even ended up doing some research on BBB and bought some of their stock. Fingers crossed their debt offering will help their financials and they can compete effectively with the likes of Amazon and other online retailers.

Maybe all Bob wanted was for someone to listen to his sorrows. Unless we die first, we might also one day end up alone. 



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