Slicing Through Money's Mysteries
While working in finance, I fantasized about travel blogging. I saw a bunch of people write about all the new places they visited. They chronicled the food they ate and the activities they did while making money online.
Given their niche was travel, they could also deduct their travel expenses from their online income. It was a sweet, sweet deal. As a result, I tried my hand at travel blogging for one year between 2012 – 2013. It was wonderful.
If you’re like most people, you want to get as much value out of any purchase as possible. Therefore, you’d probably never buy a First Class or Business Class airline ticket. You might use miles to upgrade. But you certainly wouldn’t pony up your hard-earned dollars to sit in a wider seat.
However, money is meant to be spent. And if you’ve been successful in your career and/or had tremendous investment gains, maybe you should treat yourself to flying first class.
This post will set up parameters for when paying for a first class ticket is OK. OK is defined as feeling comfortable enough paying the premium where you don’t feel buyer’s remorse.
As a frugal person who has taken hundreds of flights from Economy Class, Business Class, and First Class, I’m trying to figure out the answer myself.
For someone who lived abroad for 13 years, has so far traveled to over 60 countries, and traveled constantly for work, I’m traveled out! Getting on a plane to see the world is no longer a top priority. Therefore, traveling with kids is towards the bottom of my to do list.
However, if you have a pre-retirement checklist for post-pandemic life, traveling with kids may be on the top of your list. Therefore, it’s a topic worth discussing, especially if you have very young kids.
One thing I’ve been made fun of by some parents was my refusal to bring my boy on a plane before he turned two. I met a father once who proudly proclaimed he took his daughter on 10 roundtrip flights from San Francisco to the East Coast before she turned two. That’s certainly impressive. But why?
When the lockdowns started, the only thing that bummed me out in relation to travel was not being able to see my parents as usual. Pre-pandemic, I would fly to Honolulu twice a year on average. They would also come visit once a year on average.
We didn’t plan to travel for all of 2020 and 2021 anyway since our daughter was just born. Given kids can’t remember much before age 5 anyway, traveling with young kids is really for the parents. Kids are usually happy being anywhere so long as they have a safe place to play.
However, traveling with kids is definitely in the cards with 2022 and beyond. Sure, the Omicron COVID variant is now raging on. But preliminary signs are that this latest variant is less potent.
Despite all the hassle, you want to travel or live abroad with kids. Exciting! As the global economy reopens, more families are wanting to travel or live abroad. This post will give you some food for thought as I’ve been thinking about doing just that over the next 24 months. I loved growing up overseas and have always wanted to live abroad with kids once I became a dad.
Growing up abroad, it was always a treat to meet new people, eat new food, and learn about new cultures. My parents’ careers enabled them to live abroad with kids. They worked for the US Foreign Service and lived all over.
During my childhood, they were stationed in Manila, Lusaka, Kobe, Taipei, and Kuala Lumpur. Our final stop was McLean, Virginia for my high school years. McLean is 20 minutes away from the US State Department in Washington D.C.
Because I attended international schools for 13 years, I felt like I had a much richer childhood compared to many of my high school peers. All they really knew was the Northern Virginia region.
Most of them spent their entire lives there for elementary school, middle school, and high school. On the other hand, every summer I’d go back to see my friends in Taipei and KL. It was an absolute blast.
Living abroad helped me understand and embrace different cultures. For example, roughly 61% of the Malaysian population is Muslim. Thus, I had several close Muslim friends who shared their traditions with me. I’m certain there would be much more love and harmony around the globe if more folks traveled.
The best place to rent a vacation property in Lake Tahoe is at The Resort At Squaw Creek. Despite the pandemic, The Resort At Squaw Creek is open and ready for business. Please note Squaw Valley has been renamed to Palisades Tahoe in 2022.
I’ve been coming to The Resort At Squaw Creek since 2001 and firmly believe it is the best place in Lake Tahoe for couples, friends, and families.
Lake Tahoe, California is one of my favorite places to vacation in America. Lake Tahoe is situated roughly 205 miles away from San Francisco and 35 minutes from the Reno, Nevada airport.
It’s a place I’ve been going to for amazing skiing/snowboarding during the winter and golfing, hiking, swimming, biking, and fishing during the summer since 2001.
Most people think of Lake Tahoe as a winter destination given the 1960 Winter Olympics were hosted in Squaw Valley USA. Squaw is one of the largest mountains with a 2,850 foot vertical; a top elevation of 9,050; 4,000 acres of skiable area and 270 trails after joining forces with Alpine Meadows in 2012.
The mountain is so big that even during peak holiday weekends, there’s hardly ever a wait for the lifts when they are all open. Palisades Tahoe is great for beginners and advanced skiers alike.
But if you’re a summer lover, summer in Lake Tahoe can be even more beautiful! Every year I spend 4-5 weeks up at my place during the summer and fall for a writing retreat. I love to hike and there are scenic trails all around.
Ever since the global pandemic began, the private jet market has been booming. But as a financially savvy person, you might wonder how much does it cost to fly private? Further, are there any cost-efficient ways to fly private?
Flying private is one luxury that can improve your life once you become rich. No more long security lines. No more sitting next to a massive smelly person who takes up your arm rest. You won’t ever have to panic about missing your flight either.
You don’t have to be a billionaire to fly private either. A regular personal finance enthusiast who saves and invests 50% of his or her money for 25+ years will probably do. Don’t confuse the ability to fly private with the ability to own a private jet. Owning a private jet is a different stratosphere of wealth.
Part of creating great wealth and happiness is anticipating the future, understanding the future, betting on the future, and adapting to the future. Well I’ve seen the future and it looks so bright.
With President Joe Biden in power until 2024 at least, the government will be getting bigger. Taxes will be going up and there will be a larger social safety net.
Thanks to trillions of dollars of stimulus and an accommodative Fed, the best time to retire may be under a Democratic President! Why keep grinding so hard if your taxes are going to go up? Not me. No sir.
After a long pandemic, it’s time to take things easier. Otherwise, we’re all going to end up burned out and miserable.
America will become more like Europe. And that’s not a bad thing given the top 5 happiest countries in the world all hail from Europe.
We just need to be careful not to be Europe in its existing form where too much debt torpedoes our entire economic livelihood. But even if we go overboard, there will always be the Federal Reserves of our greatest nations to help us out. As the world police, they owe us!
Given America is becoming more like Europe, I decided to go to Europe and see for myself what our future might be like. You thought I was just going on a 2.5 week vacation to inject $10,000 into the Eurozone to help save the world didn’t you?
Au contraire mon frere. My main purpose was to conduct some front lines investigative reporting to provide readers with unique, real-time insight into how to live and prosper over the next four years!
The funny thing about seeing the future is that I originally wrote this post in 2012 and talked about President Obama. Now that we’re in 2021, it seems like all my predictions hav come true. And, we’ve gotten rich as a result!
Travel is amazing, especially when you can travel for free. This post will highlight the best way to travel for free and lower your taxable income as well!
Since childhood, I’ve had the travel bug because growing up, that’s all I did. I was born in Manila, Philippines, stayed briefly in Washington, DC and moved to Lusaka, Zambia for a couple years. In Kobe, Japan I started kindergarten. In Taipei, Taiwan I had four years of elementary school.
Then I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for middle school where I learned a lot of bad things. Finally, I returned to the States for high school and college. As the son of US foreign service parents, life was interesting.
As an adult, my frequent travel continued because luckily I found jobs in the international equities department of two large financial organizations. Up to four times a year, I’d travel to Asia to attend conferences or bring clients to see companies. Kissing the ring in New York City HQ was also an annual rite of passage. It was a whole lot of fun!
Traveling to new places on business is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have. Not only do you get to explore new worlds and meet amazing people, you get to travel for free. All your flights, hotels, and meals are free because your employer foots the bill. Since I’m no longer in Corporate, I needed to some how recreate this perk.
An abundance mindset is key to growing your wealth. As soon as you start believing you deserve to be rich, you will experience more opportunities. Too many people adopt a scarcity mindset when it comes to building wealth. It’s such a shame.
I’m on a financial journey just like all of you. The only real difference may be that I record my thoughts and feelings about my progress publicly. I will do my best to be as authentic as possible. By sharing what we know, we’re able to learn from others. I think we all have blind spots that need illuminating.
There’s one new observation I’ve learned since starting Financial Samurai in 2009 and leaving Corporate America in 2012 that I’d like to share with you. It’s a realization that lends weight to the power of positive thinking.
Once the pandemic is over, I’m sure millions of people are going to gear up to travel as much as possible. One such destination is Asia. I grew up in Asia for 13 years and it is my favorite region of the world to explore. This post goes into the cost of traveling to Asia to help you save and plan.
Much of Financial Samurai’s culture is about bringing various worldwide perspectives to financial topics we care about. If we can assemble the best aspects of each culture onto one site, we could create a valuable resource of wealth and happiness for millions.
From 2011 – 2017, I traveled to Europe for several weeks at a time to understand the happiest people on Earth. We looked into more sensitive topics such as combatting apathy and whether it was so bad that America was turning into Europe with higher taxes, increased welfare, and an overall larger government presence.
I could go back to Hawaii or Lake Tahoe for a vacation, but I’ve decided it’s time to return to a region where I spent the first 13 years of my life. It’s been four years since I’ve been back and I’m curious to see how things have changed.
