How big of an investment portfolio should I have to be financially free or start feeling free? This is one of the most common questions people starting on their financial independence journey ask. For background, I’ve been writing about achieving financial independence since 2009, when I started Financial Samurai and helped kickstart the modern-day FIRE […]
The Minimum Investment Portfolio Balance To Start Feeling Free Read More »
You may not realize this, but a health savings account (HSA) can be used as a retirement vehicle. If you’ve maxed out your 401(k) and IRA contributions, maxing out an HSA could be another source of retirement funds. A health savings account offers triple tax savings because you contribute pre-tax dollars, pay no taxes on
Using A Health Savings Account As A Retirement Vehicle Read More »
Fundrise is a leading real estate investing platform today with over 220,000 clients and $2.5+ billion in assets under management. The firm recently launched a new performance track record tool to boost transparency for individual investors. With stock market volatility back and negative real mortgage rates, my focus is moving towards capital preservation and investing
New Fundrise Performance Track Record Tool To Boost Transparency Read More »
A strong mind is everything. You need a strong mind to get rich. You also need a strong mind to win at sports and get ahead in many aspects of life. One of the goals of achieving financial independence is financial security. We want to feel secure financially so we ironically don’t have to think
The Ultimate Source Of Financial Security: Your Strong Mind Read More »
The maximum 401k contribution limit for 2026 is $24,500, up from $23,500 in 2025, and up from $23,000 in 2024. Your 401k is one of the three legs of the new retirement stool: you, you, and you. The maximum employee 401k contribution limits today feel like big money. Take advantage! Historically, the 401k contribution limit
The Maximum 401k Contribution Limit: What You Could Have If You Max Out Every Year Read More »
It occurred to me while writing my bestselling personal finance book, Buy This Not That, that a good percentage of you are HENRYs. A HENRY is a “high earner, not yet rich” consumer who is on the path to financial freedom. HENRYs mostly earn six-figure incomes who also save and invest aggressively. However, HENRYs often
Are You A HENRY? High Earners, Not Rich Yet Read More »
For the longest time, I’ve wondered whether Social Security is a dependable source of income for traditional retirees. As someone still over 16 years away from being able to collect, it’s hard to believe in the system given it is already underfunded by ~22%. Therefore, when the Social Security Administration announced the cost of living
Social Security Cost Of Living Adjustments: Keeping Up With Inflation Read More »
A Roth IRA conversion is potentially a way to save on taxes in retirement. However, for most people, converting to a Roth IRA is probably a waste of time. It is highly unlikely you will make more in retirement than while working. As a result, your tax rate will likely be lower in retirement. I
A Roth IRA Conversion Is Probably A Waste Of Time And Money For Most Read More »
There’s a saying that goes something like this: To feel rich, take whatever you earn and triple it. Once you get there, triple it again. In other words, due to hedonic adaptation, it’s impossible to ever permanently feel rich! We all know that making a top 1% income or top 0.1% income means you are
When Do You Finally Feel Rich? It’s Not Always About The Money Read More »
The right asset-to-liability ratio is important if you want to retire comfortably or achieve financial independence. If your ratio is too low, you may stress too much about your finances because you have too much debt. If your ratio is too high, you might not be taking enough advantage of enough cheap debt to get
The Right Asset-To-Liability Ratio To Retire Comfortably Read More »
