Search Results for: early retirement

Newsletter For Oct 25, 2025: Love For The Wealthy Is Back

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Since 2009, I’ve encouraged readers to practice Stealth Wealth instead of flaunting luxuries. You don’t want to attract unnecessary hate and scrutiny on your journey to financial independence. But one example last week caught me by surprise. Senator Amy Klobuchar, while defending the extension of enhanced healthcare subsidies, tweeted in support of a couple featured by CNBC […]

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The Main Way To Save Your Children From AI Is To Invest In AI

31 Comments / Investments / By

Welcome CNBC readers. I’m currently investing in private AI companies through Fundrise Venture to save my children from AI. The minimum investment amount is only $10, and Fundrise owns positions in leading AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, Anduril, and more. I started Financial Samurai in 2009, and it has since become one of

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When Refinancing Your Parent PLUS Loan Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)

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If you’re a parent who took out loans to help your child through college, first of all—kudos. That’s no small thing. You didn’t just write checks; you made a deliberate investment in your child’s future. And now, with them hopefully launched, you’re looking at that repayment schedule for your Parent PLUS loans and asking: Should I

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The Ideal Length Of Time To Hold A Mortgage Until Paying It Off

32 Comments / Mortgages / By

Deciding whether to pay off a mortgage early—or how long to keep one—is ultimately a personal choice. In this post, I’ll share my perspective by drawing on both real-life experience and some numbers to frame the decision. In 2022, my wife and I finally paid off the mortgage on our Lake Tahoe vacation property. That

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Being Truly FIRE Is Terrible For Entrepreneurship, But That’s OK

18 Comments / Entrepreneurship / By

In 2020, during the heart of the COVID pandemic, I remember listening to a FIRE-focused podcast hosted by two people who claimed to be financially independent and retired early. Even though it’s been over 16 years since I first started writing about FIRE, the topic still fascinates me. The journey toward financial independence is full

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Artificially Feeling Poor May Help You Grow Rich One Day

12 Comments / Budgeting & Savings / By

What if one of the best ways to get wealthy is to trick yourself into thinking you’re poor? It sounds counterintuitive, even ridiculous. But after decades of saving, investing, and observing how people behave around money, I’ve realized one thing: abundance often breeds complacency. When you feel flush, you spend more, work less, and get

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Why Diversifying Your Financial Strategies Is More Important Than Ever

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned from investing and writing about personal finance since 2009, it’s this: nothing stays the same for long. Markets rise and fall, interest rates swing like a pendulum, governments change policies, and new technologies like AI disrupt entire industries overnight. If you’re relying on a single financial strategy to carry

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To Be A Successful Landlord, Setting Expectations Is A Must

39 Comments / Real Estate / By

The older I get, the more I dislike being a landlord. There’s too much potential for disappointment, misunderstanding, or outright unpleasant moments. When you’re dealing with people and one of your most valuable assets, the margin for frustration is high. If you want to be a successful landlord—and not get run over—you need to set

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Owner-Occupancy Mortgage Fraud: Benefits, Risks, and Legal Workarounds

27 Comments / Mortgages / By

Embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is facing accusations of mortgage fraud—specifically, owner-occupancy mortgage fraud. The claim is that she took out two mortgages in two states, within two weeks, while designating both properties as her “primary residence.” If true, it’s a terrible look for someone sitting on the Fed, the very institution tasked with

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