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The Best Financial Samurai Articles Of 2019

Updated: 05/05/2020 by Financial Samurai 15 Comments

The Best Financial Samurai Articles Of 2019

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everybody!

2019 was a prolific year for Financial Samurai. There were over 200 posts and even more pages published.

Blogging is like fishing in a big ocean. You’ve got to be patient. Most of the time you’ll catch nothing. But every once in a while, you’ll catch a big fish that can feed your family for weeks.

The biggest fish I caught was Google. After Google upgraded Financial Samurai in August 2018, I wasn’t sure the upgrade would last.

But after 16 months, the upgrade has been maintained. 2019 organic search traffic remains higher than 2018 organic search traffic. And most of Financial Samurai’s traffic comes from organic search.

I really appreciate Google’s love because I’m not very active on social media. I’m not part of any online cliques or mastermind groups. Nor do I consistently promote myself or this site to bigger media outlets or podcasts.

If folks ask, I’ll definitely oblige. But so much of my time since 2017 has been devoted to being a stay at home dad. What time I have left is spent writing, playing recreational tennis and softball, and spending time with my wife.

Google enables me to be myself and just focus on what I like to do best – write about personal finance. I’m sure Google will one day turn on Financial Samurai. When that day comes, I will reflect on the 10+ years it has treated Financial Samurai well and be thankful.

My writing goals throughout the year are always to help readers save more money, make more money, think more broadly about issues, and better prepare for an unknown future.

By category, here are some of the best Financial Samurai articles for 2019.

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2019

Retirement

How To Retire Early With Kids: A Nearly Impossible Task 

It’s Hard To Frugal Your Way To Early Retirement 

If I Could Retire All Over Again These Are The Things I’d Do Differently

You Can’t Save Too Much In Your 401(k) For Retirement 

The Amount Of Money You Need To Retire Early And Live In Abject Poverty

The Internet Retirement Police: Who And What They Are

Investing

What The Last 20 Years Of Inflation Teach Us About Building Wealth 

In Search Of FIRE: Financial Samurai Retirement Portfolio Review 

Annualized Returns By Asset Class From 1999 – 2018 

A Buy Signal For Stocks: S&P 500 Yield > 10-Year Bond Yield

Financial SEER: A Way To Quantify Risk Tolerance And Determine Appropriate Equity Exposure

Real Estate

A Golden Opportunity To Buy Real Estate Is Upon Us 

Refinance Your Mortgage Now As The Yield Curve Inverts

To Save Money On Property Tax Don’t Update Your City Property Records 

Real Estate Is A Hedge Against Many Bad Things In Life 

Paying Off Your Mortgage Is A Bad Move When The Yield Curve Is Inverted 

FS20: A Property Buying Indicator To Implement

Entrepreneurship

Why I’ll Always Regret Selling My Online Business For Millions Of Dollars 

The Secret To Your Success: 10 Years Of Unwavering Commitment 

Your Wealth Is Mostly Due To Luck: Be Thankful! 

General Living

Why Households Need To Earn $300,000 A Year To Live A Middle Class Lifestyle Today 

Solving The Happiness Conundrum In Five Moves Or Less 

Increase The Value Of Your Professional Network By Befriending These Five Archetypes 

Mental Illness Deserves A Sick Day Just Like A Physical Illness 

How To Take Advantage Of The Rich So You Can Get Rich Too

How AOC Can Afford To Raise A Family

AOC Loves Financial Samurai

Family Finances

It’s Time To Ban The SAT And The College Board 

Reflecting On Being A Stay At Home Dad For Two Years: Eight Takeaways 

If You Love Your Spouse, You’d Make Them Financially Independent 

Why Preschool Is Absolutely Worth It

Family Vacation

Work / Career

Warning! Be Careful Revealing Your Financial Independence Plans Too Soon

A Productive Morning Will Probably Make You Richer, But Not Happier

The Largest Severance Package Ever For Blowing Up A Company

How The FIRE Movement Will Help Narrow The Gender Pay Gap

The Best Life Hack For Americans: Take Advantage Of Canada

Let’s Keep Things Interesting

I hope you found many of my articles helpful and entertaining this year. I always try to write about things I myself would like to read.

My favorite reader is someone who reads the entire post, instead of just the headline, and shares a different perspective. Not only do I consistently learn by tackling new subjects, but I’m also constantly learning from many of you.

Although I’ll be focusing more on entrepreneurship in 2020+, I’m never going to stop writing interesting articles that will make all of us think.

Thanks for reading and sharing my work all year. If you have any favorites, I’d love to hear them!

For those looking to start their own site, here is my step-by-step tutorial on how to make it happen. Starting Financial Samurai has been my best career move by far.

Happy Holidays!

To sign up for my private newsletter, click here.

Sam

Related:

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2018

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2017

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2015

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2013

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2012

The Best Of Financial Samurai 2010

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship

Author Bio: I started Financial Samurai in 2009 to help people achieve financial freedom sooner. Financial Samurai is now one of the largest independently run personal finance sites with about one million visitors a month.

I spent 13 years working at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. In 1999, I earned my BA from William & Mary and in 2006, I received my MBA from UC Berkeley.

In 2012, I left banking after negotiating a severance package worth over five years of living expenses. Today, I enjoy being a stay-at-home dad to two young children, playing tennis, and writing.

Order a hardcopy of my new WSJ bestselling book, Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom. Not only will you build more wealth by reading my book, you’ll also make better choices when faced with some of life’s biggest decisions.

Current Recommendations:

1) Check out Fundrise, my favorite real estate investing platform. I’ve personally invested $810,000 in private real estate to take advantage of lower valuations and higher cap rates in the Sunbelt. Roughly $160,000 of my annual passive income comes from real estate. And passive income is the key to being free.

2) If you have debt and/or children, life insurance is a must. PolicyGenius is the easiest way to find affordable life insurance in minutes. My wife was able to double her life insurance coverage for less with PolicyGenius. I also just got a new affordable 20-year term policy with them.

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Comments

  1. Ropefish says

    December 30, 2019 at 10:46 am

    Financial Samurai is the only blog I read regularly. It’s my hands-down favorite. Thank you so much for putting in the time and effort to create such valuable and thought-provoking content. You have certainly helped and entertained so many of us. I have certainly benefited.

    A Superfan

    Reply
  2. EMS says

    December 29, 2019 at 1:15 pm

    Sam,

    Thanks for all your writing in this, future and past years. FS is truly a worthwhile blog, so I hope you keep it going for as long as you find it enjoyable.

    All the best.

    Reply
  3. Financial Chipmunk says

    December 26, 2019 at 12:39 pm

    Hi Sam, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge and experiences the past year and past decade!

    All the best for 2020!

    Best woshes,
    Financial Chipmunk

    Reply
  4. Philip Sigler says

    December 26, 2019 at 11:55 am

    Sam-
    As a recent subscriber, I want to thank you for your interesting and educational website, blogs, etc. You say what YOU think, and there’s a purity to that that’s really refreshing.
    There’s so much information available that it’s kind of bewildering for me at first. However, I’m enjoying being a “sponge” and soaking up all of this new stuff!
    Thanks again!

    Sincerely,
    Phil

    Reply
  5. Alec says

    December 26, 2019 at 6:55 am

    Just discovered this site back in May and I always look forward to the interesting, informative, and thought provoking articles. Apparently I visit this site a lot as it’s the #1 ‘favorite’ suggested website that always pops up on my phone.

    Thank you for all the information and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family! Here’s to a great 2020!

    Reply
  6. Bill says

    December 25, 2019 at 6:05 pm

    Hi Sam, I’ve really enjoyed your site this year. The provocative articles, “and comments” are my favorite.

    As far as making money your “Buy signal for stocks” article was spot on and very profitable. You almost bottom ticked the 10 year yield on that one. I didn’t follow your advice exactly. Instead of buying the S&P and shorting treasuries I bought semis which basically accomplishes the same thing. I thank you for this very profitable trade!!

    Merry Christmas to all,
    Bill

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      December 25, 2019 at 6:14 pm

      Glad you made some money! Obviously there are no guarantees, but it’s always good to pay attention to history and to interesting kinks in the system to try and profit.

      I am so pleased with the stock market and with the ability to refinance this year. That is a two for one special or a cash flow for hopefully millions of Americans have increased as a result. Happy holidays!

      Reply
      • Erick says

        December 26, 2019 at 2:47 am

        Merry Christmas Sam thank you for all your posts they have been very helpful as a recent retiree.
        Could you posy update on how Fundrise is doing for you ?

        Reply
  7. Financial Freedom Countdown says

    December 25, 2019 at 12:20 pm

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family Sam. Holidays are when we truly have time to step back and appreciate everything in life.

    I am surprised you did not get a lot of trolls from the AOC tweet. Her followers are vicious and don’t understand the struggle Financial Freedom entails. I got some rude comments on my blog as well from her followers.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      December 27, 2019 at 8:08 am

      Oh, the AOC supporters had a field day with my budget! But all on Twitter, the greatest dumpster fire the modern internet has :)

      But, once I did the math for her and other Congress people, there was a lot of understanding.

      See: https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-aoc-and-other-congressional-members-can-afford-to-raise-kids-in-washington-dc/

      Reply
  8. Terri says

    December 25, 2019 at 9:38 am

    Merry Christmas to you and your family and for everyone to have a safe, productive and happy 2020! I look forward to reading more posts from your list that I might have missed Sam. We have sold our house in late 2019 and are moving our family of 4 and 2 pets to New Zealand in January – so excited!!!

    Reply
  9. Tom says

    December 25, 2019 at 9:06 am

    What does it mean that Google upgraded financial samurai?

    Reply
  10. James says

    December 25, 2019 at 8:40 am

    Sam,
    Merry Christmas, and many thanks!!
    You’re changing lives!
    Peace!

    Reply
  11. Untemplater says

    December 25, 2019 at 6:25 am

    Congrats on an incredible year Sam! So many helpful, unique and mind opening posts! It is VERY hard to keep up a consistent publication schedule for as long as you have, especially with the high quality, clever and useful content
    you have.

    My faves in each category are below (truncated titles)
    How to retire early with kids
    Retirement/abject poverty
    Financial SEER
    FS20
    10 years of unwavering commitment
    Luck/wealth
    5 archetypes
    SAHD
    Productive morning

    Congrats again on your accomplishments this year and thank you thank you for all the articles you’ve published and let us enjoy!!!

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

    Reply
    • Jumana says

      December 25, 2019 at 8:23 am

      Merry Christmas!!!

      Thanks for all the wonderful posts!!

      I am a fairly new follower – 3 months old:-)

      Can’t wait to catching to all of these!

      Jumana

      Reply

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