Retirement

Credit card spending needs to be controlled. Otherwise, you may end up with revolving credit card debt at a VERY high interest rate. In my mind, credit card debt is on of the worst debt types to own. Therefore, nobody should have revolving credit card debt. Let me share some credit card spending thoughts from […]

Happy New Year Everyone! The Dow closed up 5.5% in 2011 vs. a prediction of up only 5%.  A 50 basis points differential is a critical error that needs to be rectified if I want to get beyond a “B” grade given to me by a reader.  Apologies for my negligence!  At least the direction

Here is my Financial Samurai 2011 predictions review. It’s trippy reviewing my 2011 predictions 10 years later in 2021. But here we are! On January 2, 2011 I came up with the below predictions for 2011.  The idea behind making predictions is to test the mind and exercise some logic.  It’s important that everyone have

Here are the top 5 hits and misses for 2011. I started Financial Samurai in 2009. As we come to the end of the year, now is the time for reflection.  I generally don’t have many regrets because what’s the point?  I’m an optimist who likes to keep moving forward.  In fact, I have no

According to First Data, credit card usage was up 8.2% YoY in 1Q2011, 9% YoY in 2Q2015, and 10.6% YoY in 3Q.  If those aren’t healthy signs of consumers spending again, I don’t know what is.  What’s a little more shocking is that the latest November industry-wide car sales figures are up 14% YoY to

Do you have frugality disease? I do, which is one of the main reasons why I’ve started to decumulate my assets at age 45. My parents taught me never to order a beverage other than tap water because prices were astronomically high compared to cost.  Until this day, I still have trouble ordering anything other

The Mediterranean is chilly in the Fall, ranging from 48-75 degrees Fahrenheit.  Anybody coming from San Francisco will feel right at home.  The cruise ship was packed with a couple thousand explorers.  Not only that, there were three other ships just as large following a similar itinerary.  Pretty good for the tail-end of the season

Dear Friends, help make Financial Samurai better! It’s been a blast running this site for the past two and a half years.  When Financial Samurai launched in the summer of 2009, the world was still falling apart.  What better time to start something creative! I’m not one to tinker much. Part of the reason is

Greetings from somewhere in the Adriatic Sea!  I’ve been on vacation this past week and I’m hoping you couldn’t tell.  It’s a little hard staying away given how addicted I am to writing and interacting online.  If I didn’t care so much, I probably wouldn’t have responded to 150+ comments, published three new posts, written