The more money you have, the more you can do what you want. The more power you have, the more you can do what you want as well. Perhaps ideally, you have so much money and power that you’re able to consistently be above the law.

Here at Financial Samurai, we’re able to help readers build wealth over the long term. Sometimes we get lucky by calling bottoms in the short term. But what Financial Samurai isn’t capable of doing is directly giving you power. Then again, knowledge is power.

With all the double standards that have involved politicians since the beginning of time, I’ve got a solution for all of us to become more free. Befriend more politicians.

After all, if you can’t beat politicians, you might as well join them.

Given our primary residence is likely one of our largest assets, buying responsibly is prudent. At the same time, living a better lifestyle by owning a nicer home as we get wealthier is also something many people desire.

Therefore, let’s try and figure out the target primary residence value as a percentage of net worth. I’ve got a certain percentage in mind that will help maximize lifestyle, provide enough investment exposure, and minimize financial worry for being too house rich.

One great thing about a bull market is that the unnecessary big-ticket stuff we buy declines as a percentage of our net worth over time. If we can survive the initial liquidity crunch, things tend to turn out well.

For example, let’s say you have a $100,000 net worth that is all in your company’s stock. You inexplicably purchase a $50,000 BMW even though you only make $80,000 a year. That’s unwise because you just spent 50% of your net worth and 62% of your gross income on a car. Driving a beater or taking public transportation would have been more appropriate.

However, let’s say your company hits it big and your company stock grows to $5,000,000 in 10 years. If you still own your car, its original purchase price only ends up being less than 1% of your net worth. Meanwhile, you were able to enjoy a fun vehicle for 10 years. Therefore, purchasing a $50,000 BMW 10 years ago turned out to be a good gamble.

I want to do the same type of thought exercise with a house. How much should we really “gamble” to live a better lifestyle today?

Using net worth as a variable to determine how much home one should buy or continue to own is a useful exercise.

Today’s guest post is from Jim at Route To Retire, an early retiree. His family of three decided to leverage international geoarbitrage to start a brand new life in Panama.

Jim is living a life that I eventually want to try once both our kids are old enough to remember their adventures (5+). If you’ve always wanted to learn how to move overseas to live a better life for less money, here’s how they did it.

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Becoming a millionaire was something I always dreamed of but, honestly, never really expected to become a reality. Through some intentionality in saving and investing though, that’s exactly what happened by 2017.

The goal I was working toward was to retire early so I’d have freedom with each day. I wanted to enjoy the present more and be able to concentrate on time with my wife and young daughter. Seems like a reasonable goal, right?

However, I think we all know that a million dollars ain’t what it used to be. And to make that last for possibly 45 years or more? That seemed like an impossibility.

So I started thinking that even though we lived in a pretty low cost-of-living area near Cleveland, Ohio, maybe there was somewhere else we could go that might be less expensive.

Then I realized that we weren’t really limited to just the U.S. if we were no longer going to be working. Maybe we could move to another country and get more of a bang for our buck as well.

And that was it. Without even realizing it, I had discovered the idea of international geoarbitrage without even knowing that was a thing. The idea of taking your money and making it worth more by moving to a lower cost-of-living area can be an effective financial tool.

In our case, we decided to move to Boquete, Panama after going on a single vacation to the country in 2017.

Imagine retiring by age 40. You may have to prepare for a 50-year retirement! Traditionally, the average American would retire by age 65 and prepare for a 20-year retirement.

However, with the median life expectancy increasing and more people desiring to retire earlier, we must plan for even more unknowns.

When I first started writing about early retirement in 2009, I was 32 years old. My original plan was to work until 40 and call it a career in finance. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do after finance. All I knew was that my interest in the industry was fading.

Instead of lasting until 40, I left a couple months before my 35th birthday because I negotiated a severance. The severance paid for five years of living expenses, which I translated into five years of time saved.

Leaving behind maximum earnings potential was a bummer for the first six months. But I got over it. The money you lose by retiring early will quickly be replaced with the joys of doing what you want to do.

The best way to achieve financial freedom is to make more money. You can only save so much on a capped income. And one of the best ways to make more money is to side hustle!

I’ve put together a list of the 20 best side hustle ideas below to help you fill up your money coffer. They’re organized by virtual gigs followed by in-person ones. There’s something for everyone.

I’m a big believer in side hustles. They got me through my quarter-life crisis, boosted my savings, and eventually helped me break free from a stressful job working 50-60 hours/week.

There’s nothing special about me either. I started out with a minimum wage part-time job when I graduated college. Then, thanks to networking, I landed a meager $30,000 full-time job shortly thereafter. Overtime, I worked my way up to a sustainable six-figure income.

How did I do that? Mostly by working long hours. I utilized my free time in my 20s and 30s to do a lot of side hustles. Even today, after everyone in the house is fast asleep, I often work into the wee hours of the morning on Financial Samurai and other household work.

If you want to achieve financial freedom sooner rather than later, I encourage you to take on a side hustle or two to boost your income. There are an endless number of things we can now do to make extra money.

When I first started writing about FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) in 2009, my main goal was to first survive the Global Financial Crisis. If I did, then I would find some way to permanently change my life for good.

Back then, the FIRE movement was a bear market phenomenon. Plenty of people were getting laid off from their jobs. Partially due to pride, some of these folks said they retired early. Others said they were digital nomads.

Whatever they called themselves, many proceeded to try and make money online in order to supplant lost wages. I was impressed with the human’s spirit to adapt, even if some of their stories felt a little disingenuous.

I took notes as I planned my own escape from the corporate grind while chronicling my journey on Financial Samurai. Mainly due to luck, I survived seven rounds of layoffs.

1H 2021 turned out to be a raging bull market! The S&P 500 closed up 14.4%. At the beginning of the year, I had predicted an 8% rise in the index. However, my original year-end target price of 4,088 was quickly breached by early April.

Then, after 1Q 2021, I upgraded my year-end target to 4,200, and it was breached again on May 6. Now it feels like we’re just running up the score. Let’s really cherish the good times. We deserve it.

In this 1H 2021 Financial Samurai review, I’d like to highlight some things I’ve learned about investing, family, and business. I also want the review to provide a glimpse of life during the pandemic for future generations.

According to Credit Suisse, the global number of millionaires expanded by 5.2 million to reach 56.1 million in 2020. That’s a 9.8% increase in the number of millionaires since the pandemic began.

As a result, an adult now needs more than $1 million to belong to the global top 1%. But to be in the top 1% in America, an adult needs to have more than $10 million.

When it comes to wealth, everything is relative. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at the millionaire data by country.