Financial Samurai was started in 2009 and is one of the top personal finance sites online with over 1.5 million organic pageviews a month.
Financial Samurai is also one of the pioneers of the modern day FIRE movement, encouraging people to smartly save, invest, and live off their passive income to life a life of freedom.
One of the most frequently asked questions readers have is what is Financial Samurai's net worth and retirement income? Sam has always been pretty transparent when it comes to sharing his financial journey.
Let's look at Financial Samurai's net worth and retirement income streams in more detail.
Financial Samurai Net Worth
Below is Financial Samurai's net worth history. He graduated from The College of William & Mary in 1999 and went to work at Goldman Sachs in NYC on the international equities desk. After two years, he then joined Credit Suisse for 11 years until he retired from finance in 2012.
In 1999, he only had about $4,000 saved from working minimum wage jobs during the summers in high school and college. He shares his story about trying to achieve financial independence on a modest salary.
Below is Financial Samurai's net worth progression history from 1999 – 2012.
By the time Sam turned 28 in 2005, his net worth surpassed $1,000,000 thanks to some lucky internet stock investments in 2000, a promotion to Vice President at age 27, and the purchase of his first San Francisco property in 2003.
When Sam retired from Corporate America in 2012, his estimated net worth was about $3,000,000. As you can see from the chart, his net worth took a real big hit in 2008 and 2009. The global financial crisis was the reason why Sam decided to start Financial Samurai in the first place. He needed an activity that could help him make sense of the chaos.
Due to Sam's desire to follow the Stealth Wealth mantra, he does not reveal his net worth past $3,000,000. However, the vast majority of Sam's net worth has been invested in stocks and real estate since he left work in 2012. Therefore, you can extrapolate his net worth has growth to well over $10,000,000 as of 2022 thanks to a bull market.
Sam diligently tracks all his finances online with Personal Capital's free financial tools. He's used Personal Capital since 2012 and has seen his net worth drastically grow since. The more you can stay on top of your finances, the more you can optimize your finances.
Financial Samurai's Retirement Income Streams
Sam has been living off his retirement income streams since he left work in 2012. After all, Sam's definition of Financial Independence Retire Early is to have enough investment income to cover one's desired living expenses.
As of 2022, Sam has an investment portfolio that generates roughy $310,000 a year in passive income. In 2012, his passive income was closer to $80,000.
The reason why Sam's passive income has grown by almost 4X is because his investments have grown by 4X. Further, Sam has been able to grow his online income streams as Financial Samurai continues to grow. Finally, he continues to save at least 50% of all investment and online income.
Favorite Investment Of Choice
Sam's current favorite passive income investment of choice is real estate crowdfunding through Fundrise and CrowdStreet. They are the top real estate platforms founded after the JOBS Act was past. Both are free to sign up and explore.
The reason why real estate crowdfunding is Sam's favorite investment is because interest rates have come down, real estate is a physical asset that provides income and utility, and he believes there will be a demographic migration away from expensive coastal cities and into the heartland.
Thanks to technology, there's no need to be stuck paying $4,500/month living in a city like San Francisco or NYC. More people are becoming freelancers and more companies are offering telecommuting options to attract the best talent and save money themselves.
Google is spending $13 billion on non-coastal city real estate to expand its offices and hire more workers. Other companies like Apple, Tesla, Oracle, and more are following suit. Work from home is here to stay.
Invest In Long-Term Trends
Sam enjoys investing in multi-decade trends. Being able to leverage technology and innovation to make money passively is fantastic. No longer to real estate investors need to manage tenants and maintenance issues thanks to real estate crowdfunding and specialty REITs.
Below is Sam's real estate crowdfunding dashboard where he has invested $810,000 so far in 18 different commercial real estate projects across the country. His income and returns are starting to really pay off in 2020+.
If you want to learn from one of the most experienced personal finance bloggers on the web, you can sign up for his free private newsletter for more insights. Over 50,000 people have since 2009! The Financial Samurai Net Worth And Income post is updated yearly.