The 2024 Social Security COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment) for over 71 million Americans is +3.2%. What was even more impressive was the 2023 Social Security COLA was a whopping 8.7%! An increase of that size is both huge and head-scratching. The 2023 Social Security COLA is huge in comparison to 2024 and prior years […]
The Social Security COLA Is Huge: Traditional Retirees Rejoice! Read More »
Much has been said about inflation hurting society. As people’s buying power decreases, life gets more costly. Heck, the Fed seems hell-bent on causing another recession to contain inflation. However, as I look at the historical price changes of some of our most important consumer goods and services, I can’t help but think combatting inflation
Combatting Inflation Is Straightforward But Not Easy Read More »
As more people look to retire early, more people are looking for shortcuts in order to reach early retirement quicker. Some hate their jobs so much they are willing to retire early and live in poverty! Instead of retiring early to live in poverty or near poverty, wouldn’t it be better to find a different
The Amount Of Money Needed To Retire Early And Live In Poverty Read More »
Early retirement / FIRE is becoming obsolete and that’s a good thing! No longer do you have to grind as hard and save as much to quit your job ASAP and retire early. Today, you can find many better ways to earn a living, no matter your education level or current occupation. As a result,
Why Early Retirement / FIRE Is Becoming Obsolete Read More »
I’ve finally discovered the best reason to retire early. A longer steady-state period of happiness. It has taken me 10 years of fake retirement to come up with this epiphany because I had to experience the process myself. In the past, I’ve written that early retirement isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I went through plenty
The Best Reason To Retire Early: Years Of Greater Happiness Read More »
Since I left my day job in 2012, I’ve been constantly preparing for economic devastation. I had to because I no longer had a safety net. My plan was to take a leap of faith and succeed. It would have been too embarrassing to ask for my old job back if I had failed. Besides,
Economic Devastation Might Be Exactly What We Need To Win Read More »
In the good old days, several friends and I liked having beers after each softball game. We got to discussing what is the one ingredient necessary for achieving financial independence early. Here were some of their responses: All of these ingredients are important for helping all of us achieve wealth and financial independence. However, the #1
The One Ingredient Necessary For Achieving Financial Independence Read More »
“What happened to your friend who bought Tesla stock on margin,” a reader asked. He likely lost a lot of money, but I haven’t asked for details. That would be rude. On March 31, 2021, I published a post entitled, Buying Stocks On Margin Is A Bad Idea: You Could Lose Big. I wrote the
Losing All Your Money Investing On Margin Is Not The Worst Thing Read More »
Happy New Year everyone! I’ve made goals publicly for over ten years because it helps keep me accountable. Making goals also makes the year more exciting and challenging. Hence, here are my goals for 2023. Once again, I’ve divided the goals into five categories: Health, Wealth, Family, Financial Samurai, and X-Factor. My goal is to achieve
2023 Financial Samurai Goals: Back To Easy Living Read More »
We made it! My goal for 2022 was to do less work and have more fun. 2020 and 2021 were difficult years thanks to the pandemic so I needed a break. Overall, I give 2022 a B+. The year was great from a family and health standpoint. But the year was piss poor from a
2022 Financial Samurai Year In Review: Family Over Money Read More »
