Dear Financial Samurai,
Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there. I plan to spend the day the way we like it best: swimming and playing pickleball with my two kids, grabbing crab at New England Lobster Market in Millbrae, and then taking a long nap.
You never know until you try. But now that I’ve tried, I can tell you I do not regret being a stay-at-home father for the first five years of both of my children’s lives. The time zoomed by, and our relationship is strong. Sure, it would be nice to have more money in the bank. But I’m not sure what I’d do with it except invest it, and you can’t reinvest your kids’ childhoods.
If you’re a dad on the fence about spending more time with your young children, do it. I don’t think you’ll regret missing a few meetings, raises, and promotions, because you will always find ways to provide for your family. The career will wait. Kids growing up will not.
Finishing Up Year 17 On Financial Samurai
Beyond financial success, maybe the truest form of success is being able to create the life you actually want to live. I’ve been on that quest since my first week on the job in July 1999, and it’s been a fun ride.
What’s next after FIRE and raising two kids? My dream is slow traveling around the world, a year at a time, while the kids are still young enough to want to come with us.
There are two problems with this plan. First, we have an expensive house that would need to be rented out or watched over. Insurers don’t like covering empty homes, because, counterintuitively, occupied homes are the safer bet. People who live in a house put out small fires, catch the slow leak, and call the plumber before a drip becomes a flood.
Second, my wife doesn’t have the nomadic gene the way I do, having grown up in the U.S. foreign service. But I’ll keep working on her, one adventure at a time.
One of the reasons I’ve kept Financial Samurai going for 17 years is that it gives us the freedom to walk away from everything if we ever choose to. It would also give me something fun and meaningful to do on the road instead of only sightseeing. Somewhere along the way, this site became my ikigai, part of my reason for being.
Check out: Distribution May Be The Last Moat: 17 Years Of Financial Samurai. It’s been an honor to help solve some of your financial dilemmas and perhaps even entertain you along the way.
Don’t Wait To Try
Reflecting on this site’s journey, what I most want to do is encourage you to take more leaps of faith. And I don’t just mean starting a business. I mean pursuing the person you love, switching careers, moving to a new city, taking the unfamiliar job, all of it.
I’m certain you’ll regret the things you don’t do far more than the things you try. The worst-case scenario is usually just this: it doesn’t work out, and you return to the life you already knew how to live. That’s not failure. That’s a free option with a known downside and an unlimited upside.
Yes, FIRE is scary, which is exactly why some people who leave their jobs won’t let their spouse leave theirs too. Others simply trade a full-time job for full-time entrepreneurship. Both are rational. We will always do what it takes to ensure our survival. And if you ever find you need more money, you can go back to work. The door is rarely locked from the outside.
Check out: Stop Waiting For Permission To Build A Fortune
Angel Investing Is Highly Competitive
I’ve been a limited partner in various venture capital and venture debt funds for over 20 years. I’d dabbled in angel investing before, but long ago I decided to farm out my startup exposure to professionals, pay them a fee and carry, and spend my time on public investments and writing instead.
This year, I realized I’d been leaving something on the table. With my platform, I should have been investing in promising startups directly and using Financial Samurai to help them grow. Investing is one of the best ways to build wealth, and with so many AI startups right here in San Francisco, it finally made sense to lean in.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to attend Y Combinator’s Demo Day, I wrote about my experience last week. Going in as a guest VC, listening to presentations and one-on-one pitches from fired-up founders, was a blast.
I also walked away with a newfound respect for full-time VCs, because winning the best deals is far harder than just showing up with a checkbook. The best rounds are often spoken for before you can even raise your hand.
Check out: YC Demo Day: Inside The Quest To Invest In The Best Startups
Back To Regular Personal Finance Topics
Now that my week of playing full-time venture capitalist is over, we’ll return to more regular personal finance topics.
The macro backdrop is shifting fast. The war with Iran appeared to be winding down, with a framework peace agreement signed last week. Unfortunately, Iran’s top joint military command officially released a statement on Saturday closing the Strait of Hormuz once again, largely due to Israel and Hezbollah attacking each other again. So the saga continues.
Further, new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh isn’t ready to celebrate. At his first meeting this week, the Fed held rates steady for a fourth straight time but signaled a hike could come by year-end, with most members now leaning that way.
When the Fed is leaning hawkish and stocks are wobbling, cash stops feeling like a drag and starts feeling like a luxury. So I have to admit, after a summer of freed-up capital, it feels great to be sitting on more cash than usual.
Wishing all the dads a restful, happy Father’s Day. And go team USA!
Sam
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