Taxes are most likely our largest ongoing liability. Therefore, we should understand the latest tax brackets for 2023. I go through this exercise every year to guide how I will spend my time, my most valuable asset. Based on a thorough understanding of the 2023 tax brackets, we can then logically come up with the …
2023 Tax Brackets: The Best Income To Live A Great Life Read More »
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to retire in a cabin in the woods? My dad did it, and I’m here to share some fascinating insights on his experience and how he ended up there. Who knows, if you prescribe to Lean FIRE, it might be just the type of retirement adventure …
Retire In A Cabin In The Woods: Living A Simple And Peaceful Life Read More »
Not raising the debt ceiling could cause another sell-off in the stock market. If so, history has shown it is worth buying the dip as politicians eventually agree to raise the debt ceiling limit and curb some spending. However, have you ever wondered why the government doesn’t spend more responsibly? After all, we individuals are …
Debt Ceiling Debacle: Why Not Just Spend More Responsibly? Read More »
We’ve gone through exercises on how I’d invest $100,000 and $250,000. Now let’s go through an exercise on how I’d invest a million dollars today. Investing a million dollars is slightly different from investing $100,000 and $250,000. You can more easily afford to lose $100,000 – $250,000. But if you lose $1,000,000, you might enter …
How I’d Invest One Million Dollars Today For A Better Tomorrow Read More »
I realized something important after writing about the best reason to retire early. Money doesn’t buy everlasting happiness. However, having more money can reduce stress and anxiety. The goal of achieving perpetual happiness is not realistic. Happiness ebbs and flows. It’s more exciting to be an 8 out of 10 on the happiness scale because …
Top 10 Financial Moves To Reduce Stress And Anxiety Read More »
One of the main reasons why I retired at age 34 was to hedge against an early death. When I was nine, my grandfather died from cancer and I clearly remember seeing my mother distraught for months. Then when I was 13, my 15-year-old friend died in a car accident. Here today, gone tomorrow is …
The Pandemic Was An Experience In Hedging Your Life Read More »
If you’re looking at buying a house in 2023, I believe a window of opportunity has emerged. Let me share the reasons why with some background to start. In my 2023 housing predictions, I forecasted an 8% decline in the national median home price by around summer. The reasons include:
Have you ever visited Pity City? You know, the place where you feel sorry for yourself and all your problems? I think we’ve all been there before. At Financial Samurai, we accept our situation and take action to make things better. Complaining why life isn’t fair is not the Financial Samurai way! We are all …
A Visit To Pity City Shows Your Boss Probably Doesn’t Care About You Read More »
One reason why you might want to attend an Ivy League college or similar college is to earn a higher income. As a parent, you hope your child attending an elite university will make them upwardly mobile. A better life is what every parent wants for their kids. However, the median income earned by Ivy …
Median Income Earned By Ivy League Graduates: Unimpressive At First Read More »
The older you get, the more you will value life because you have less of it. If you want to live longer, you should aim to grow richer and live in a more hospitable place. As you will see in this article, the correlation with life expectancy, wealth, and location is strong. Sadly, life expectancy …
Your Life Expectancy Depends Greatly On Wealth And Location Read More »
Have you ever wondered why there is so much angst and anxiety from some high-income earning households that seem to have it all? Based on my years of research, the three main reasons are: 1) never-ending comparison, 2) a lack of generational wealth, and 3) having children. Generational wealth is next-level wealth. If you have …
Generational Wealth And The Angst Of The Not Rich Enough Class Read More »
After doing a deep dive on the different ways to pay for college and how to get good financial aid, I realized the best thing for my family is for me to go back to work. Coming up with $1,500,000 for two kids’ college experience in 12-15 years is daunting. Going back to work feels …
Sadly Giving Up On Retirement And Going Back To Work Read More »
College is expensive and will only get more expensive over time. If you can get good college financial aid in terms of grants and scholarships (free money), as opposed to bad financial aid (loans), attending college will be much more affordable. We’ve already talked about the different ways for us to pay for college. Now …
Free Money! How To Game The College Financial Aid System Read More »
One of the main reasons why I read lots of books is to learn from people who’ve been there before. And after reading The Price You Pay For College, one of my biggest blind spots I realized is that I don’t have to save so much for college anymore! If you are a parent who’s …
The Different Ways To Pay For College: My Surprising Blind Spot Read More »
After the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank, I decided to review our existing banking relationships and see if we are well positioned to weather another potential bank run. I also wanted to share with you the ideal number of banking relationships to have to feel safe and sound. When I first started Financial Samurai …
The Ideal Number Of Banking Relationships To Feel Safe And Secure Read More »
The tax-now Roth IRA will increase in popularity over the coming years. Let me explain why. When Congress passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TJCA) of 2017, it inaugurated an eight-year period of the lowest tax rates in American history, which started on January 1, 2018. However, due to the sunset clause that was …
Shifting Retirement Assets From Tax-Deferred To Tax-Now By 2026 Read More »
Some Americans fear higher taxes so much they are willing to move. The capital gains tax rate might go up. The step-up basis might go away. And the top marginal income tax rate might go up too. Therefore, may I present the best life hack for Americans: taking advantage of Canada! I’m always looking for …
The Best Life Hack For Americans: Taking Advantage Of Canada Read More »
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the 2023 Social Security COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment) is a whopping 8.7%! This increase is both huge and head-scratching. The 2023 Social Security COLA is huge because inflation peaked in June 2022 at 8.9%. The latest January 2023 CPI came in at 6.4%. Therefore, traditional retirees will …
2023 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 someone who is planning to buy a new car by 2025, I’m having second thoughts. With the average new car price at almost $50,000, it seems like only the rich can buy new cars today! Think about it. If you follow my 1/10th rule for car buying, you need to earn $500,000 to buy …
Only The Rich (Or Fools) Can Afford To Buy New Cars Today Read More »
Although it’s a bummer to hear about more layoffs, I also feel a lot of hope and excitement for those who have lost their jobs for two reasons. First, there is the benefit of getting a severance package. Imagine getting a severance package worth six months of salary and then finding a new job two …
How One Man Negotiated A $40 Million Mass Severance Package 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. Today, you can find many better ways to earn a living, no matter your education level or current occupation. As one of the pioneers of …
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 »
In 2022, my wife and I paid off our vacation property mortgage after 15 years of ownership. Now that it’s been a while since we paid off the mortgage, I realized there is a triple benefit to paying it off early. I didn’t realize one of these benefits when we paid off another rental property …
The Triple Benefit Of Paying Off Your Mortgage Early Read More »
Although COVID has been bad for many of us in so many ways, the pandemic did one good thing. The pandemic helped protect American homebuyers from a resurgence in foreign real estate investors. In a big way, the pandemic has throttled the demand from foreign real estate investors to buy American homes. Before the pandemic …
Foreign Real Estate Investors Are Coming To Buy American Homes Read More »
Sometimes you take a leap of faith and your dreams don’t come true. That’s OK because at least you won’t regret never trying! In this article, taking a leap of faith means trying your hand at entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship means leaving the comfort of a steady paycheck and benefits to make money from an idea. Entrepreneurship …
What If You Take A Leap Of Faith And Your Dreams Don’t Come True Read More »
2023 housing price forecasts from various institutions range from -22% to + 5.4%. There is no consensus as to which way house prices will go. However, the bias is towards the downside. There is also the issue of forecasting the national median home price and the price of your local housing market. While we care …
2023 Housing Price Forecasts: More Bears Than Bulls Read More »
Below are the newest 2023 Wall Street S&P 500 forecasts. The S&P 500 price targets range from 3,675 to 4,500. This implies returns of between -4.6% and +16.8% from the Dec 16, 2022 close of 3,852. The key risks to the S&P 500’s performance include earnings cuts and valuation compression. If these two things were …
2023 Wall Street Forecasts For The S&P 500: Huge Dispersion Read More »
The first rule of financial independence is to not lose money. If you lose lots of money, you are ultimately losing valuable time. Losing time is the biggest financial mistake you can make because time is the most valuable asset. Now let me introduce the second rule of financial independence: never expect your income to …
The Second Biggest Financial Mistake You Can Ever Make Read More »
You don’t need to be a great investor to make lots of money. You just need to be a good-enough investor. Once you’re good enough you’ll be able to ride an almost constant tailwind toward financial independence. Further, you’ll learn to no longer blow yourself up and lose all your progress. One of my favorite …
How To Become A Good-Enough Investor: Investing Lessons Since 1996 Read More »
Deciding whether or not to have life insurance is an individual decision. Whatever you decide to do or not do, it’s important to make an informed decision that’s best suited to your family’s needs. To help you learn more about life insurance, let’s debunk some of the biggest life insurance myths. This post is brought …
As someone who has been consistently invested in private real estate deals since late 2016, I’m now firmly in the window for receiving distributions. My investment thesis to invest in heartland real estate has turned out well, partially thanks to the bad luck of the pandemic. Although a couple of my investments in one fund …
Private Real Estate Investing: Seven Takeaways After Five Plus Years Read More »
With U.S. Treasury bond yields zooming higher, the interest in buying Treasury bonds has followed suit. Let me show you how to buy Treasury bonds online. I’ll then share some buying strategies to help maximize returns and liquidity. Treasury bonds are risk-free investments if you hold them until maturity. You don’t have to pay state …
How To Buy Treasury Bonds And Buying Strategies To Consider Read More »
After two of brainstorming, writing, rewriting, and editing during the pandemic, my book, Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom is now available! The book became an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller and can be purchased on Amazon, B&N, and in bookstores everywhere. Buy This, Not That also became …
Why I Wrote A New Personal Finance Book: Buy This, Not That Read More »
In February 2012, I decided to negotiate a severance to break free from corporate life. By mid-June 2012, I had received a severance check and the last of my three months of WARN Act pay. Ten years of fake retirement later, I want to share with you some of my biggest takeaways. Overall, it’s been …
10 Years Of Fake Retirement Later: The Most Important Takeaways Read More »
Whether you are a fake retiree, a traditional retiree living off Social Security, or someone with a day job, cash flow is more important than net worth, especially during an economic downturn. Net worth is often an illusion that only helps to boost your ego when times are good. When times are bad, calculating your …
Why Cash Flow Is More Important Than Net Worth: Focus On What’s Real Read More »
It’s safe to assume the vast majority of you reading Financial Samurai want to be rich. I trust those of you who’ve been reading this site between 2009 and 2012, when I was writing heavily about investment strategies, have indeed become much richer. The compounding forces since then have been enormous. We are probably one …
The Two Levels Of Rich: One Of Which Doesn’t Rely On Index Funds Read More »
So you’re wondering whether to get whole life insurance even though it costs much more than term life insurance. Our partner Policygenius shares the main reasons to get whole life insurance. You can get real insurance quotes all in one place with Policygenius. Whole life insurance is permanent coverage that lasts your entire life. If …
Reasons To Get Whole Life Insurance Even Though It’s More Expensive Read More »
Your financial independence number is the amount of money you think you need in order to be free. Unfortunately, if nothing changes in your life after reaching your financial independence number, then the number simply is not real. You need to accumulate more capital. In this economic environment, some people continue to believe once they …
Your Financial Independence Number Is Not Real If Nothing Changes Read More »
Recently, I decided to invest in two private funds: 1) Kleiner Perkins 20 (KP20), and 2) Kleiner Perkins Select2. Kleiner Perkins is a top venture capital shop. This article will explain why I invest in private funds even though they charge higher fees. KP20 is an $800 million venture fund focused on early-stage investments in …
Why Invest In Private Funds Even Though They Charge Higher Fees Read More »
At last! After more than three years of deliberating what to do about life insurance, I finally got myself an affordable life insurance policy with no medical exam with Policygenius! If you’re looking to get the same, here’s how I did it. Let me share a bit of background first. Back in January 2012, at …
How I Finally Got Affordable Life Insurance With No Medical Exam Read More »
The best time to own the nicest house you can afford is when you have the most number of people living in it at one time. This way, your house is providing for the most number of people, the most number of people are enjoying it, and the cost is spread out and provides better …
The Best Time To Own The Nicest House You Can Afford Read More »
To contribute to a Roth IRA in 2023, single tax filers must have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $153,000 or less, up from $144,000 in 2022. If you make $138,000 or less, you can contribute the full maximum to a Roth IRA. However, if married and filing jointly, your joint MAGI must be under …
A Roth IRA Conversion Is Probably A Waste Of Time And Money For Most Read More »
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 what our appropriate primary residence value should be as a percentage …
Primary Residence Value As A Percentage Of Net Worth Guide Read More »
There’s no one-size-fits-all best age to get life insurance. However, I believe the best age to get life insurance is around age 30. And the best life insurance term to get at around age 30 is a 30-year term life insurance policy. If you get life insurance at 30, you will likely get the best …
The Best Age To Get Life Insurance Based On Logic And Reasoning Read More »
If you want to get rich, you should focus on trends. I believe one of the best long-term trends is investing in the heartland of America due to growth of technology and remote work. People want to live in a lower-cost area of the country that is less dense. Thanks to the pandemic, work-from-home is …
Focus On Trends: Why I’m Investing In The Heartland Of America Read More »
Curious to know the ideal net worth for retirement? As someone fake retired in 2012 at age 34 with $3 million, let me tell you. I was talking to a tennis friend of mine who said his sister checked out once she cleared 10 million dollars. She was 37 when she decided to quit her …
10 Million Dollars: The Ideal Net Worth Amount For Retirement? Read More »
I’m bullish on real estate for the next several years. With multiple efficacious vaccines, high inflation, continued low and negative real mortgage rates, plenty of stimulus, work from home here to stay, and the desire to own income-producing assets, real estate has a bright future. Here is the latest Fundrise overview. Fundrise is a leading …
For those of you without cushy pensions, I’m sorry folks. The 4 percent rule is outdated. The rule was popularized in the 1990s. It is now unwise to follow the 4 percent rule as a proper safe withdrawal rate in retirement, especially if you are part of the FIRE movement. Instead, I highly recommend lowering …
The Proper Safe Withdrawal Rate: 4 Percent Rule Is Outdated Read More »
Everybody wants to become a millionaire. Unfortunately, not everybody’s chances of becoming a millionaire are the same, partially because the playing field is not even. This article looks at historical data on your chances of becoming a millionaire by race, age, and education. Getting to at least one million dollars in net worth is a …
Your Chances Of Becoming A Millionaire By Race, Age, And Education Read More »
If you’re trying to figure out how much to spend on buying a house, the best home-buying rule I can offer you is my 30/30/3 home-buying rule. I came up with the 30/30/3 home-buying rule back in 2009 during the global financial crisis. Since then, many publications and industry pundits have promoted it since. If …
Savings is the foundation of good personal finance. This article will discuss how much savings to accumulate by age so you can achieve financial independence and retire comfortably. It’s important to have savings targets at every age to keep you on track. When it comes to building wealth, you don’t want to just wing it! …
How Much Savings Should I Have Accumulated By Age? Read More »
If you plan to invest in real estate, there’s a key real estate investing rule you should follow. It’s called Buy Utility, Rent Luxury or BURL for short. Using the BURL method, you increase your chances of making a higher return on your real estate investment while also maximizing your capital for a better lifestyle. …
The Real Estate Investing Rule To Follow: Buy Utility, Rent Luxury Read More »
Negotiating a severance was one of the best decisions I ever made. By age 34, I was able to confidently leave my job in finance and be free thanks to a multiple six-figure severance package. When you work at a startup, a large public company, or a government agency, I believe How To Engineer Your …
How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye Read More »
Can you imagine scraping by on $500,000 a year? Well, believe it. Thousands of households living in expensive cities are running on this never-ending treadmill. It’s only when you can lock down expenses, save and invest aggressively, will you ever escape the rat race. They’ve got big mortgages, private school tuition to pay, and fancy …
Scraping By On $500,000 A Year: Why It’s So Hard To Escape The Rat Race Read More »
Do you need more incentive to generate passive income in order to give yourself more freedom? Then look no further than the below two charts. They show the 2023 capital gains tax rates by income for both short-term and long-term. The short-term capital gains tax rate is equivalent to your federal marginal income tax rate. …
Short-Term And Long-Term Capital Gains Tax Rates By Income Read More »
Taxes are our largest ongoing liability. As a result, it behooves us to optimize our taxes as much as possible. This post will discuss all the smart money-saving tax moves to make by year-end. It gets updated once a year to follow new tax laws. After fake retiring in 2012, my desire to make maximum income …
13 Smart Money-Saving Year-End Tax Moves To Make Read More »
During the global financial crisis in 2008 – 2009, I expected the San Francisco Property Assessor Office to automatically lower my property tax bill. After all, home prices had topped out at the end of 2006 and had declined about 5% a year for three consecutive years. Instead of receiving a property tax bill reduction, …
Downgrade Your Property Statistics Online To Lower Your Property Taxes Read More »
For the first time in my life, I accidentally paid my estimated taxes twice. If you ever do the same, I want to share with you what happens next and when you’ll get your overpayment back. Bottom line: Don’t worry too much. You’ll eventually get your money back within six weeks.
For the longest time, I’ve been a proponent of paying federal income taxes. Federal income taxes among all other taxes collected are used to pay for Social Security (~23% of budget), defense and security (~16% of budget), major health programs such as Medicaid and Medicare (~25% of budget), and other social safety nets. Somebody has …
How To Feel Less Guilty About Paying No Federal Income Taxes Read More »
Seeing your property’s value go up feels good, especially if it goes up more than what you made from your day job. However, the biggest downside is your property taxes will likely go up as well. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always stood up for myself. Whether it was getting bullied at …
Fighting My Property Taxes And Losing: Key Lessons For Battle Read More »
The 2022 income tax brackets and standard deductions are out! Although the actual income tax brackets have not changed, the taxable income range per tax bracket has adjusted upward slightly to account for inflation. That’s nice of the IRS, but at the end of the day, the government still wants our money!. Here are four …
2022 Income Tax Brackets And The New Ideal Income For Maximum Happiness Read More »
The historical gift tax exclusion amount is $17,000 for 2023, up from $16,000 in 2022. As a result, you may want to contribute more to your child’s 529 plan or give them more money. Despite paying taxes your entire life, even when you die, the government still wants something from you! As a financially savvy …
Historical Gift Tax Exclusion Amounts: Be A Rich Strategic Giver Read More »
The Tax Policy Center recently calculated most working Americans didn’t pay federal income taxes in 2020. According to the chart below, supposedly 106.8 million out of 176.2 million total income tax filers did not pay federal income taxes. That amounts to 60.6 of Americans don’t pay federal income tax! Given there are roughly 332 million …
Most Working Americans Don’t Pay Federal Income Taxes – A Problem? Read More »
