This is a free Financial Samurai newsletter that was published on June 15, 2024. Every week, I come out with a free weekly newsletter to help readers achieve financial freedom sooner rather than later. Join 65,000 other readers and subscribe here. This way, you'll never miss a thing.
Financial Samurai began in July 2009 and is the leading personal finance website today with over 1 million organic pageviews a month. Everything is written based off firsthand experience because money is too important to be left up to pontification.
Sam is the pioneer of the modern-day FIRE movement. He attended The College of William & Mary for undergrad, got his MBA from UC Berkeley, and worked at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse for 13 years until he retired in 2012 at age 34. Sam is one of the rare personal finance writers who actually has the background and experience in finance. Everything written on Financial Samurai is based on firsthand experience.
You can learn more about Sam Dogen by clicking his About page. You can also visit his Top Financial Products page to help you save, invest, and organize your finances better. Finally, you can check out Sam's media kit to see where he's been featured.
Financial Samurai Newsletter June 15, 2024: Breaking Out To The Upside
What a positive week in the markets! Apple stock surged higher after announcing new artificial intelligence initiatives, resulting in what will likely be an upgrade super cycle for its iPhones this fall. Apple is my largest position and I'm actively investing in private AI companies.
May core CPI came in below expectations at only 0.16% MoM, or 3.4% YoY. May PPI came in at -0.2% MoM vs. +0.1% expectations. Meanwhile, jobless claims came in at 242K vs. 225K expectations and the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to a 7-month low in June.
In other words, it seems like the Fed is behind the curve in cutting rates if its dot plot is indicating only one cut by the end of the year. But thankfully, as veteran investors, we're prepared for boom bust cycles.
Given we're currently experiencing good times in the stock market, I thought I'd write about the correlation with the stock market and the economy. One of the most common pushbacks I get from some readers of my investing and economy-related articles is that the stock market isn't the economy. To conflate the two would be a mistake.
However, the older I get, the more I realize the stock market is absolutely the economy! Why? Because unlike discrimination in college admissions, companies that provide goods and services are not allowed to discriminate against its customers!
The people who have the most money will dictate the prices of goods and services for the rest. There's no discount checkout line at the grocery story for people who don't invest in the stock market. Instead, the price of your rubber chicken sandwich is the same no matter who you are and what you do with your savings.
See: Why The Stock Market Absolutely Is The Economy

Controlling Your Vacation Spending Impulses
My kids will be taking their first flight in their lives this coming week to see their grandparents in Honolulu. Hooray! We plan to stay at my parent's place for 5-6 nights out of the 8 nights we are there. Then we plan to drive up north to my aunt's place in Laie. Wish us luck.
As I got to asking other parents about tips for traveling with kids to Hawaii, one parent said they spend $19,000 on lodging alone for 13 nights in Honolulu every year! Holy moly that's a lot of money.
I don't know what the parents do for a living, but I do know they drive a Honda Pilot and live in a median-priced home in a cheaper area south of San Francisco. I understand that personal finance readers tend to be more frugal than the average person, but come on! There's no way this family should be spending so much on vacation.
Hence, the personal finance enthusiast in me had to come up with a vacation spending guide to help folks better protect their finances. Because when it comes to vacation spending, discipline can get thrown out the window.
If you spend too much on vacation, you might have to work even longer to then pay for future expensive vacations. And if you don't like what you do, this cycle will grow into a problem.
I'm pleased to say only a view readers thought my vacation spending guide to be “absurd.” If you think it's absurd too, please come up with a better formula. My guide logically anchors to the living expenses of your primary home to determine how much you should spend on vacation.
See: A Vacation Spending Guide: The True Cost Is More Than You Think
Give Some Dads Some Love Too
Finally, happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!
I'm not sure enough is discussed about the struggles dads go through to provide for their families. There could very well be a much greater amount of dad guilt than mom guilt. Why? because men are taught to surprise our feelings and greater percentage of men are working full-time.

On this Father's Day weekend, I wanted to provide insight to all the dads out there who don't want to work full time after having children. However, because society still looks askew at dads who want to be full-time dads, most dads continue to grind it out in the workplace.
To not be who you want to be because of societal pressures is a sad situation. But I understand! It took me a while to own my status as a full-time dad. Coming out of the closet to live your true self is hard.
See: The Transition From Part-Time Father to Full-Time Father Can Be Tricky
To Your Financial Freedom,
Sam
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