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Financial Samurai

Slicing Through Money's Mysteries

How To Make Six Figures A Year At Almost Any Age

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How to make six figures at any age

If you want to make six-figures, know that you can if you want to. Nothing in this world is stopping you with the right money mindset to get rich. I’ll teach you how to make six figures a year at almost any age.

I believe $250,000 is the ideal six-figure income for an individual for maximum happiness. $350,000 is the ideal household income for a family of up to four. Inflation is really forcing households to earn more money just to run in place.

At these income levels, you’re earning a healthy six figures to buy a lot of what you want. But you’re not earning a super-high six figure income that takes a lot of work and gets taxed like crazy.

Further, taxes might be increased for individuals making over $400,000 and married couples making over $450,000. If you’re already working 60+ hours a week and miserable, paying even more taxes won’t feel great.

I’ve been making six figures since my second year in investment banking in 2000. Earning a six figure income helped me achieve financial independence at age 34 in 2012. Today, my passive investment income generates roughly $340,000 a year to take care of my wife and two children.

If you want to learn how to earn a six figure income at almost any age, you’ve come to the right place! After earning six-figures at work for 12 years, I now earn six-figures online.



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Diverse Interests Create Diverse Income Streams

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Diverse Interests Create Diverse Income Streams

Having diverse income streams is vital for achieving financial independence. And if you have diverse interests, you will likely also have diverse income streams.

The more interests you have, the happier you will be. Imagine if one of your hobbies is analyzing clouds, or cumulonimbuses for the scientifically savvy. You could step outside any time during the day and entertain yourself for hours. 

There are so many things around us that our minds tend to filter things out so we can focus on more important tasks. If we stopped to admire everything, we’d probably never get anything done!

Diverse Income Streams Are Beneficial

Income diversification is important during weak economic times since you never know when one stream might dry up. Having more than one source of incoming cashflow is beneficial for reducing stress and staying out of debt.

The funny thing is that I never purposely thought about creating new income streams for the purpose of diversification until a few months before I wrote this post. 

Instead, my diverse interests have lead me to have a diverse amount of income! It never occurred to me to count up my non-job income and figure out what percent it is of total income.

But, as I started adding things up, I was amazed to realize some months would regularly achieve 25% and up to 50% of my gross base salary! Check out my diverse income streams.

Various Diverse Income Streams

Watches & Collecting

Ever since I was 8, I’ve been enamored with watches. I remember my first watch being a black Casio sports watch for $10 bucks and I was hooked! During the past five years, I’ve been able to collect and sell some of the more coveted watches on the market which can’t just be purchased at any store i.e. Stainless Steel Rolex Daytona, Panerai Ceramic, Patek Philippe Rose Gold Perpetual Calendar, IWC Big Pilot, and several vintage Omega Seamasters for example. 

These are the types of watches where you need to get on a waiting list, or get hooked up by your jeweler since you’ve bought so much already.  For a couple years, I made about $10-$15,000 a year buying and selling watches. When I was a kid, I used to collect sports cards, comics, and ancient (1,000+ year old) coins as well. I wonder what those are worth now 25 years later. As a watch collector now, it’s one of my favorite diverse income streams.

Teaching Tennis

I used to give private lessons for $40-50/hour for about 5-10 hours a month. Teaching is a great way to meet new people, keep in shape, and earn some spending money on the side. In fact, one of my dream jobs is to be a tennis instructor in Bora Bora a couple months a year. Who knows, one day I might meet a sugar mama! I no longer teach tennis, but find comfort knowing that if I needed some money, I could.

Update 2017/2018: I finally landed my dream job coaching Varsity Tennis at a high school here in San Francisco! It only pays $5,000 over a three month season, but it’s incredibly rewarding to help be mentors to kids.

We ended up winning back-to-back championships for Northern California Sectionals. In 2021, I plan to defend our title and three-peat!

Blogging

I love blogging, almost to the point of recognizing that I may have an addiction.  I’ve never focused on blogging as a way to make income, but as the advertising inquiries started flowing in, I realize that one could make thousands of dollars a month from their site so why not. 

A lot of the money after the operating costs are donated away, however if I were to one day retire, blogging is definitely a great source of side income. People will be surprised by how much you can actually make blogging.

Learn how to start a blog with my step-by-step tutorial.

Blogging For A Living Income Example: $300,000+ - Diverse Interests Create Diverse Income Streams
A real income statement example from a blogger. Look at all the income possibilities!

Real Estate

Real estate is one of my favorite diverse income streams. I’m cashing out of stocks to buy more real estate for income and stability in 2022+.

I’ve been buying property for the past 10 years and I don’t think I’ll stop. I equate real wealth to real assets such as property. I like the idea of owning land, shelter, and structure instead of just having dollars and cents stashed away in a bank somewhere.

Ever since the beginning of time, having property meant having wealth. It’s amazing to watch your returns tick up as rent increases, while your payments stay the same. Inflation works great that way for asset owners.

For the next 10 years I think the biggest investment opportunity is buying real estate in the heartland of America through real estate crowdfunding site Fundrise. They’ve allowed easy access to much cheaper properties with higher yields compared to the coastal cities.

Realtyshares Investment Examples
Fundrise Investment Examples

Stocks and Bonds

The stock market is a fascinating animal. I’ve been trading stocks and bonds for about 15 years now and hit the big one in 2000 when some now defunct internet stock returned 52X on my investment in three months. I’ve never been that lucky again, and have also lost plenty of money too, but that was enough to whet my appetite forever.

As a result, I’ve got a couple stock portfolios along with my 401K which I play around with. What you come to realize over a long enough period of time is that once you build a large enough portfolio, small returns still mean relatively large absolute dollar amounts.

Related: The Proper Asset Allocation Of Stocks And Bonds By Age

Freedom As An Income Stream

The only way to save is to save a lot. For the past 20 years I’ve been saving at least 50% of my after tax pay. It’s quite straight forward actually. All one has to do is save one bi-weekly paycheck a month and you’ve got saving 50% down. Once your savings is robust, you can buy CDs, bonds, rental properties, and dividend stocks. Eventually, you might have enough interest income where it’ll cover all your expenses.

Diversify And Be Interesting!

Each of the six items above is like a hobby or a game to me. Play the game long enough and one day, you’ll wake up as I’m waking up now to discover the income potential of them all.

Keep on focusing on building diverse income streams for financial independence. Once you do, you will realize how awesome life truly is.

Wealth Building Recommendation

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In addition to better money oversight, run your investments through their award-winning Investment Checkup tool to see exactly how much you are paying in fees. I was paying $1,700 a year in fees I had no idea I was paying.

After you link all your accounts, use their Retirement Planning calculator that pulls your real data to give you as pure an estimation of your financial future as possible using Monte Carlo simulation algorithms. Definitely run your numbers to see how you’re doing. I’ve been using Personal Capital since 2012 and have seen my net worth skyrocket during this time thanks to better money management.

Personal Capital Retirement Planner
Is your retirement plan on track? Find out for free after you link your accounts.

Buying Blogs, Selling Blogs: How I Built My Blogging Business

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Building a blogging business and making money from blogging is one of the most attractive opportunities in the new decade. Buying blogs makes a lot of sense post pandemic.

A blog can be a very lucrative business, especially since it cannot be shutdown. When a blog can stay open 24/7 during a pandemic, of course the reliability of its revenue increases.

Further, with interest rates so low, the valuation of blogs has gone way up because blogs are high margin businesses. When you have a cash cow, please hold onto it for as long as possible, especially in a low interest rate environment!

Below is Mike’s story on how he built a blogging business running his own sites, selling blogs, and buying blogs. Today, I’m much more partial to buying blogs rather than selling blogs.



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Dear Personal Trainer, You Are Worth The Money!

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Ouch. I’m so sore it feels so good baby! I gave it a go with Meredith the personal trainer for a free 45 minute trial session and she did things to me that no woman has ever done before. She made breathe heavily and sweat profusely!

She showed me exercises I never would have thought of doing to solely focus on getting me into shape for tennis.

45 Minute Trial Routine

* Sumo squat rope wave. Whuh?

* Three TRX exercises to improve the quads, core, and shoulders.

* Wind sprints on the treadmill 3 minutes jog, 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds rest 8X up to 12 mph. I would never do these voluntarily. Why suffer?

* Pro-roller stretches to roll out the calves, quads, IT bands and hamstrings. Talk about pain all over.

* Side stepping through a maze for quickness and agility.

* Core training with cable pulleys three different ways.

* Four different stretches for the back, torso, and legs.

In retrospect, all the stuff I’ve been doing at the gym has been all wrong. I was doing bench presses, butterfly squeezes, lat pull-downs, biceps, and triceps. That’s it really. I never bothered to do anything cardio, or work on the muscles that would help improve my serve or backhand. I just went the easy route. There is also 100% NO CHANCE I would have ever done any wind sprints or anything to make me sweat. Again, I hate working out so I just focused on doing the easiest exercises that required the least amount of effort!

USING THE BLOG AND PERSONAL TRAINER TO SAVE SOME MONEY

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Hire A Personal Trainer Or Get Buff On Your Own?

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If you hate working out, hire a personal trainer to get you motivated. A personal trainer will help kick your ass when you don’t want to do anything.

Working out sucks. I hate it with a passion because I find it so wasteful to expend energy on doing nothing. I would rather use the energy to build a house in Somalia, landscape the backyard, or play sports than lift some stupid weights. 

That said, working out is also convenient because there’s a gym right across from me that I attend before every team or client dinner outing.  I figure I better pump some iron and jog a little before blitzing my diet!

One of my goals in 2016 is to win a tennis tournament.  To do so, I have to improve my endurance given I faded in both tournaments since we had to play back to back matches each day.  The season really gears up in March, leaving me with a solid two months to get in shape.  I know there is no way in hell I will be able to go to the gym 3X or more a week so I’ve thought about enlisting a personal trainer for help.

Personal Trainer: Spending Big Bucks

For $795, I get 10 one hour sessions with any trainer of my choice at my local club.  Yes, $795 sounds like a ridiculous amount of money, which is part of the reason why hiring a PT might just work!  If you’re spending $79.5 a session, it’s likely you will always attend and work your butt off to see results.  If the sessions were free, I’d probably slack off here and there until I don’t go at all.  Think about how often you go to your gym’s free classes.  If you’re honest, the answer is not as much as you should.

I always thought hiring a physical trainer was for clueless rich people who need a lot of hand holding.  I mean come on, who can’t read the little instructions on the machine and move one’s arms back and forth?  Who can’t go on Youtube and watch a workout video and emulate what they’ve seen at the gym?  And then I realized, maybe it’s not all just about getting fit.

Why Do I Feel Guilty With My Personal Trainer?

As I was surveying the 12 trainer’s bios with pictures on the wall, I found myself gravitating towards a very fit and attractive looking woman.  I could choose the beefcake body builder guy, the Madonna-arms looking woman, the crazy-eyed man, the woman in this post’s picture (momeee), or this attractive looking woman named Meredith.  Who would you choose if you had the choice?

Meredith has three years of personal training experience and is obviously in great shape.  She’s an ex-athlete herself and can empathize with me on all the mental anguish that athletes go through during crucial match scenarios.  I met her in person and she’s very friendly and fun to talk to.  She invited me to observe her train one fella and I obliged.  She was terrific and her client obviously felt the same when he told me to jokingly “get in line“.

Do you remember in school where there was this really hot girl (or guy) in your class you had a crush on?  The class could be the most boring subject on Earth, but it didn’t matter because you got a chance to see her for 50 minutes. 

A personal trainer like Meredith is like that.  She makes you automatically want to get in shape because she’s very attractive and you develop this unconscious desire to look good for her. 

OK, maybe it’s a very conscious desire since you’re scheming to ask her out once you’re ripped.  She not only introduces you to some great exercises, she’s also 100% behind you for a full hour.  Some people pay thousands of dollars an hour for this type of companionship.  Just ask Elliot Spitzer or Charlie Sheen!

So what do you think folks?  I know that if I spend $795 for 10 sessions with Meredith, I will be in the best shape of my life and ready to achieve one of my many goals for 2011 of winning a tennis tournament.

Recommendations For A Better Life

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Related: The Healthiest Foods To Make You Fit And Rich

Updated for 2021 and beyond.

Nature vs. Nurture: How Important Are Parents To A Kid’s Success?

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Nature vs. nurture is an ancient debate about determining a child’s future success. Success is often defined in terms of money, career, and status. Personally, I think there is an unhealthy desire for prestige and money that is ruining many people’s lives.

I think it’s much better to get rich and then get off the radar. Being famous is often a prison of your own making! But that’s just my thoughts after working in finance for 13 years and leaving for good.

Let’s rewind to 2011 when Amy Chua and her tiger mom ways was a big hit after her book came out. Her kids were still in grade school.



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The Best Of Financial Samurai 2010

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Financial Samurai - Samurai Alexa Ranking ChallengeYou guys have really rocked the discussions with multiple 100+ comment posts this year!  You’d think this was a big blog or something.  I can’t begin to thank you enough for your contributions and what I’ve learned from you.  A post recap of 2010 is a good exercise to not only discover what worked best for some guidance in the new year, but to also give new readers a chance to catch up via one easy page.

There are literally 36 posts in the queue for 2011, with some of them just screaming to get out.  Why has the queue gotten so large?  Two things mainly:

1) Using a wine terminology, it’s good to give each post a chance to breathe.  Often times there’s so much discussion that to post a new post the very next day feels off.  This is the main reason why I don’t post everyday.  A topic needs to be sussed out thoroughly before we move on.  I like to respond individually to all comments who require a response.  Also, I love reading all the other great blogs out there every other day.

2) I guess I just like to write a lot.  There is always something ridiculous going on in the world that needs addressing.  If you are a blogger who is afraid of running out of ideas, don’t be.  Just read the newspaper, turn on the TV, or go out and socialize with friends.  Remember, if you can speak forever, you can blog forever!

For 2011, I probably should only have a queue 10 deep because I’ve found multiple times that I forget what I wrote just a month ago, and sometimes the topic gets stale or irrelevant.  Let’s add that to the blogging new year goal!  Happy reviewing.

TOP POSTS FOR 2010

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The Comfortable Lifestyle Business Or The Big Payout?

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Contemplating the Lifestyle Business In Hawaii - The Comfortable Lifestyle Business Or The Big Payout?

Back in late 2010, I had a dilemma. I was wondering whether to have a comfortable lifestyle business or the big payout. I’m pleased to say that 13 years later, I’m still happily running Financial Samurai as a comfortable lifestyle business.

Sure, I’m not crazy rich. But I feel rich. More importantly, my wife and I have the freedom to do what we want.

One Night At The Poker Table

Over poker one night, we got to talking about what we always talk about: entrepreneurship.  

Out of a table of 10, four work at start-ups, three are at Google, one is a high-tech lawyer, one works as a medical correspondent for CNN, and then there’s me, a hybrid. I had just got done working on Yakezie.com for three hours after working an 11 hour day. Needless to say, I was a little bit tired.

I love going to Friday night poker mainly because I get to bounce ideas off of really smart and incredibly hard working people. 

When I hear stories of one start-up player working from 7am to 3am every night for two weeks straight to launch a product offering, I get pumped. When the Venture Capitalist player recounts his firm rejecting a pitch by Tim Westergren, Pandora’s founder in 2008, I wince, but daydream in amazement.

The Comfortable Lifestyle Business Or The Big Payout



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Deep Thoughts On Twitter: Cold Food And Suffering

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If you ever find yourself in a bizarre situation or want to get some interesting answers to a question, turn to social media. I recently got some deep thoughts on Twitter over cold food and suffering. Here’s how it all went down.

I clicked the 2 minute super nuke button on my microwave before leaving to park my car. Moose was left outside after a late night of partying. And I didn’t want the parking crazies to give me a lovely $70 ticket for blocking my own driveway.

Two minutes should have been enough sizzle time to keep my food toasty before I got back. Eight minutes later (checked and read the mail too), I came back to ravish my leftover Pad Thai. Oh, how disappointed I was my food was cold.

Amusing And Deep Thoughts On Twitter

And so I tweeted:

“If room temperature is considered warm, why does my food always get cold? #Deepthoughts as I ponder the meaning of life while writing.” via @FinancialSamura

My question was sincere, in the moment, and with no time to think.  I got a couple sincerely interesting responses.



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Sun Tzu’s Art of War Applied to Your Battle Against Debt

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“Every battle is won before it is ever fought.” – Art of War, Sun Tzu.

This was the infamous line said by Gordon Gekko in the popular 1987 film Wall Street. Derived from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, a 2400-year-old Chinese text on military strategy, the teachings of this tactical mastermind have proven useful in various aspects of present-day life besides warfare.

Although Sun Tzu’s Art of War is studied most religiously by military commanders, political leaders, and corporate executives, the concepts are scalable to conflicts as minuscule as your struggle with debt. Like in war, where the objective is to overcome the enemy resistance, it is everyone’s goal to conquer their personal debt.

Debt is the bad guy. We are the good guys. The road to financial independence is a righteous path where we’ll have multiple encounters with debt – a merciless obstacle that seeks to consume us. Luckily, an old man from many many years ago jotted down some powerful advice that may serve the purpose of securing a victory against debt.

Universal Debt Teachings From The Art Of War

Debt is, without a doubt, a dangerous adversary. A vast majority of the American population acknowledges the risks of carrying debt, yet we peacefully welcome it into our lives. The failure to understand the depth of the matter is a major reason that so many of us become victims of debt.

We must remain cognizant of the responsibilities of debt:

It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. [Laying Plans: #2]

Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril. [Waging War: #20]

  • Personal debt is influential in more than just our financial lives – it can alter lifestyles, sway career decisions, destroy relationships, and disrupt any sense of stability and comfort. Take it seriously because it truly could be a matter of life or death to not only yourself but also everyone around you.

The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success. [Tactical Dispositions: #16]

  • In any attempt to maintain a firm grasp on our goals, consistency and persistence nurtures the attitude to make them realities. Financial independence asks of the same – a relentless drive when faced with an enemy such as debt.

Declaration of War Against Debt

So, you’ve resolved that debt should no longer be a part of your life. It has presented you with a hostile environment that warrants forceful attention. Waging war against debt requires an aggressive demeanor and steadfast composure.

If you are preparing for battle against debt, heed Sun Tzu’s advice:

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. [Waging War: #6]

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns. [Waging War: #19]

  • Time is a friend of the enemy. Debt’s stranglehold will only get stronger the longer you take to deal with it. Consequently, interest accumulates – the power of compounding begins working against you. So, the cutthroat approach is ideal.

Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards. [Waging War: #16]

  • You know the benefits of being debt-free: fewer worries, less stress, and restful nights. To obtain these rewards, get angry at the very existence of debt. If you are keeping debt around, you don’t hate it enough.

Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive. [Tactical Dispositions: #5]

Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength. [Tactical Dispositions: #6]

  • Progress is essential to the removal of debt. Minimum payments can only keep you afloat for so long. A defensive stance merely keeps debt from overwhelming you, which it will eventually do. Instead, tread forward. With every extra payment you make, you are taking back another inch of your life.

Holding Your Ground Against Debt

Cheers to you if you’ve managed to defeat debt – but you are not in the clear just yet. We all know how easy it is to go on a reckless spending spree. The next thing you want is to have to repeat your hard-fought endeavors due to preventable mistakes.

On future engagements with debt:

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable. [Variation in Tactics: #11]

  • Keep your guard up because debt remains a lingering opportunistic foe. You’ll never know when an emergency brings debt back into your life. For most of us, it is inevitable that debt will crawl in and out of our lives. But in the end, with the right preparations, it will always leave.

We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country – its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. [Maneuvering: #13]

… If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. [Attack By Stratagem: #18]

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory. [Tactical Dispositions: #15]

  • Know what you are getting yourself into. Know your financial habits. Know how evil debt can be. Take on consumer debt knowing that you have absolute confidence in your ability to kill it.

Multipurpose Advice

If you are thoroughly amazed at how a military text can be of such insightful relevance to your battle with debt, then you’d probably be interested in the entire text. The versatility of Sun Tzu’s Art of War can be extended to the other areas of our personal finances and the daily undertakings of our eventful lives.

A free download (PDF) of Sun Tzu’s Art of War is available here.

With an open mind and some creative thinking, you’ll find even more precious wisdom that will be advantageous in your war with debt – including more lessons applicable to many other situations.

Sun Tzu wishes you triumph and glory on the battlefield!

The following is a guest post by Simon Zhen who is a big Art Of War Fan.

Recommendation To Conquer Debt

Mortgage rates are at all-time lows. Take advantage by checking the latest mortgage rates on Credible. Credible is a top mortgage marketplace where lenders compete for your business. Get free refinance or purchase quotes in minutes.

Related: Ranking Debt Types From Best To Worst

(photo credit: Pedronet)

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