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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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!
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
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!
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 ?
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.
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/
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!!!
What does it mean that Google upgraded financial samurai?
Sam,
Merry Christmas, and many thanks!!
You’re changing lives!
Peace!
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!
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