Retirement

On October 8, 2025, we decided to go on a family vacation I was decidedly unexcited about. That entire week was supposed to be my time to attend the Fairfield Challenger tennis tournament every day with my buddy Richard. September and October are tennis paradise months in the Bay Area, with multiple tournaments and ideal […]

If you want to FIRE, one of my regrets was pulling the ripcord too early at age 34 in 2012. Even though I started writing about FIRE in 2009 with the launch of Financial Samurai—trying to uncover as many blind spots as possible before taking the leap—I still feel like I made a mistake. In

I haven’t checked my net worth for four and a half months until recently. That wasn’t on purpose, because normally, since 2012, I check at least three times a week using Empower’s free app. The only reason I stopped was because I could no longer log in. One day, I was suddenly locked out of

After a week of reviewing the tax-free exclusion rule for selling a rental property, I decided not to sell. I’d already used my $500,000 tax-free exclusion amount and would need to wait at least two more years before I could potentially use the full amount again. Most importantly, I’m on a mission to boost my

To celebrate Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps To Seven Figures making the USA TODAY national bestseller list, I want to share how you might feel and what you might do as you hit various levels of wealth (net worth). Perhaps by sharing, I’ll motivate you to save and invest more aggressively. We’ll start with reaching your first

Since starting Financial Samurai in 2009, I’ve encouraged folks to keep an open mind and embrace as many different perspectives as possible. So often, we get set in our ways and think our approach is the only right way to do things. But I can assure you, you’re probably missing something—or could do something a

How much money do you need to feel financially comfortable or wealthy? The answer depends on where you live, your household size, and your lifestyle desires, of course. However, according to the 2025 Charles Schwab Wealth Survey, Americans say it now takes a net worth of $839,000 to feel financially comfortable—up from $778,000 in 2024. More surprisingly, the

Imagine spending your life building wealth, investing in real estate, stocks, or your business, with the hope of leaving a legacy for your children. Then one day, you find yourself wondering: Will the government take a massive chunk of it anyway? If your estate is well above the federal estate tax exemption threshold — $30 million

One of the things that gives me great comfort about the health of the U.S. economy is our historically low household leverage (liabilities to net worth). According to the Federal Reserve Board, household leverage is now at an 80-year low—a remarkable sign of financial discipline. So let me be the first to congratulate you for not loading up