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The Best Place To Rent A Vacation Property In Lake Tahoe – The Resort At Squaw Creek

Published: 01/07/2021 | Updated: 03/01/2021 by Financial Samurai 37 Comments

The Best Place To Rent A Vacation Property In Lake Tahoe - The Resort At Squaw Creek
Dumping snow at The Resort At Squaw Creek!

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. They have instituted tremendous cleanliness and safety protocols as well.

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. Squaw 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. 



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Flying Private: The Cost And Benefits Of Luxury Travel

Published: 12/09/2020 | Updated: 02/03/2021 by Financial Samurai 24 Comments

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.



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I’ve Seen The Future And It Looks So Bright

Published: 09/06/2020 | Updated: 02/16/2021 by Financial Samurai 72 Comments

I've Seen The Future And It Looks So Bright
Copenhagen Sunrise

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.

The Future Of America Looks Like Europe

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!



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The Best Way To Travel For Free And Lower Your Taxable Income

Published: 06/26/2020 | Updated: 11/21/2020 by Financial Samurai 84 Comments

Travel is amazing, especially when you can travel for free. 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.

Free travel tips

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.

Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.



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The Cost Of Traveling To Asia: Time For Another Business Trip!

Published: 05/02/2020 | Updated: 11/21/2020 by Financial Samurai 50 Comments

Angkor Wat, Cambodia by Linda Russell - Cost of traveling to Asia
Angkor Wat, Cambodia

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.

Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.



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Living In An Expensive City Can Make You Richer, Happier, And More Diplomatic

Published: 04/07/2020 | Updated: 01/30/2021 by Financial Samurai 111 Comments

Chrysler Building, NYC

Living in an expensive city has been the main way for millions to get ahead for decades. After all, most of the high paying jobs are all in expensive cities, which is why they are expensive in the first place!

When asked about career advice, I always recommend people just follow the money. New York City has all the financial firms. San Francisco has all the tech, internet, and venture capital money. While Washington DC and the surrounding suburbs have all of our tax money to spend on massive government contracts!

I’ve lived in all three types of cities for extended periods of time. In my experience, I’ve seen massive fortunes made in multiple ways.

If you want to “get lucky,” then you might as well go where there’s the most opportunity in an expensive city. Because twiddling your thumbs in a dying town, complaining why you can’t get ahead doesn’t make sense. We live in a free country with no state border controls.



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If You Can Make It In Hawaii You Can Make It Anywhere

Published: 02/20/2020 | Updated: 02/18/2021 by Financial Samurai 89 Comments

If you can make it in Hawaii, you can make it anywhere. This saying is a play on an old saying, “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.”

The idea is that with New York City being so competitive, only the strongest survive. I worked on the trading floor at one of the most hardcore investment banks around and I can unequivocally tell you that making it in NYC is brutal.

The weather beats you up for at least six months a year, the work hours are long, and your money doesn’t go very far.

Two years and 15 pounds heavier I left NYC in 2001 for an easier life out in San Francisco where I didn’t know a soul. I thoroughly admit I didn’t make it in NYC.

Perhaps I could have stayed on as a third year financial analyst, but surely Goldman would have made me go back to business school afterward rather than promote me directly to Associate. The thought of returning to school at the time and spending all that money wasn’t appealing.

By spring 2001 it was clear the economy was not in good shape one year after the NASDAQ collapsed. I decided to take matters into my own hands and jump to a competitor for that Associate promotion and raise instead.

Waiting to get let go is like waiting to die.



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Never Risk Your Life For Money: A Beijing Abduction Adventure

Published: 11/01/2019 | Updated: 11/30/2020 by Financial Samurai 40 Comments

How Stealth Wealth Failed Me: A Beijing Abduction Adventure - never risk your life for money

If there’s one recommendation I can confidently give to you all, it’s that you should never risk your life for money!

Back in 2002, something crazy happened that I will never forget. It was 10pm and I had just arrived at my hotel in Beijing. Having slept on the plane for 10 hours straight, I was more awake than a hooting owl.

My client wasn’t due to arrive until the next morning, so I dropped off my bags and went for a stroll. I had been to Beijing before as a study abroad student in 1997, but this was my first time out alone in this particular area of the city.

Does anybody sleep? I kept thinking, as the roads were jammed with side-stalls of people eating dumplings and pork-topped rice dishes. It seemed as if every other place I walked past was a dive bar inhabited by strange European tourists. Sanlitun (三里屯) was alive and kicking!

After about an hour of happy, mindless meandering through alleyways, I was struck all at once by an awful realization: I had no idea where I was. Drat! How was I supposed to get back to the hotel? What was worse: I was no longer inhaling the heady aromas of stale beer and beef broth with delight.

The air had suddenly turned sour as I noticed several shady-looking guys peeing beside a dilapidated stone wall nearby. Worse still, as soon as they were done they started heading my way, one guy barking obscenities. I looked over my shoulder–  perhaps he was yelling at some other luckless trespasser? Nope, it was me. Fudge…



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An Inside Look At Communist China: Where Capitalism Is All The Rage

Published: 10/13/2019 | Updated: 01/25/2021 by Financial Samurai 126 Comments

Chongqing, China

Communist China is really a capitalist country in overdrive. I’ve been covering China’s economy since 1999. Further, I studied abroad in Communist China in 1997 for six months.

As soon as Houston Rockets General Manager’s, Daryl Morey, tweeted “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” the lucrative relationship between the NBA and China began to disintegrate.

Given the Communist China market is worth roughly $1 billion a year to the NBA (versus $0 for FS), it was fascinating to see some owners, coaches, players, and the commissioner either say nothing, throw Daryl under the bus, or grovel for forgiveness.

If you care about your reputation and want money, sending one-liners on social media about a controversial topic is probably not the best idea. Wait until you are truly free. There is always two sides to every conflict.

Of course everybody is going to be pro freedom. But to think the Chinese people are tyrants and don’t want freedom and prosperity themselves would be naive. Please differentiate between a country’s citizens and its government.

Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.



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How Europeans See Money Differently From Americans

Published: 06/30/2019 | Updated: 01/30/2021 by Financial Samurai 100 Comments

Europeans see money differently from Americans. Where Americans are obsessed with money, Europeans seem to have a lighter approach about money.

After almost finishing my loop around Stonehenge, I stumbled across a French woman who was lying on the ground sideways. She adjusted herself a little bit to get more comfortable, but paid no attention to fellow tourists wondering what she was doing.

Stonehenge Sideways View - How Europeans See Money Differently From Americans

She made me want to lie down sideways as well to see what she was seeing. I didn’t because I felt a little silly copying her in broad daylight. So instead, I took this picture and tilted my phone. Perhaps you are now bending your head sideways or lifting your laptop sideways to see what she sees.

What do you see?

Disclosure: Financial Samurai has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Samurai and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.



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