So far over $7 million has been raised to help Haiti by just texting the word “HAITI” to 90999. You'll get a confirm receipt from your mobile carrier once sent. Please consider donating!
This week on Financial Samurai, we'll share our thoughts on the latest government rhetoric, highlight a guest post by Flexo, introduce a new fun challenge, and perhaps discuss one of the key things to consider for job seekers.
THE SAMURAI FUND UPDATE: +3.85% vs. S&P 500 +1.88% as of Friday, Jan 15th. 203 basis points of outperform puts us in the Top Tier of all funds.
Stars: Lenar +25%, Toyota +8%, GE 9%, Harmon +7.4%,, Calgon +7%, Big Lots +7%.
Dog Poops: Lumber Liquidators -7%, Berkshire -1.6%, Steris -1.25%, ABM -1%, Monsanto -1%.
Looks like there's some good demand from new entrants, and investors who want to give us several hundred million more to build new positions! Contributors, please provide an update on your name in the TSF page above, especially if your name is sucking wind. Will be making room for new names in February.
Week In Review: Let's Help Haiti
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was a devastating 7.0 magnitude natural disaster. The epicenter was near Leogane, about 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
It's estimated 3 million people in Haiti were affected. And several hundred thousand people died in the tragedy. Haiti is asking for emergency aid to help survivors.
SAMURAI WEEK IN REVIEW
* People now realize that converting to a ROTH IRA is pretty ridiculous as Kevin M reminds us that the first $18,700 (equivalent to $470,000 in pre-tax funds at 4%) you withdraw from your retirement funds is tax free.
Meanwhile, JoeTaxPayer highlights that if you retire with $2.17 million in today's dollars, you only have to pay 15% tax! You'll have to retire with more than $5 million dollars to average a 25% tax rate, based off a 4% income return.
$5 million is only 50X your $100,000 “average” income. Always good to dream big for those of you who've justified your ROTH IRA contributions. Joe, you made my day!
* Family seems to be the number one reason why people choose to freeze during the winter, and melt during the summer. FYI, it is possible to make friends in paradise folks. It's also possible for your family to fly out and visit you on the beach. If you're miserable, don't limit yourself! Just think about how much easier it is to travel now vs. 300 years ago.
* The “Get Financially Naked” book giveaway ends on Saturday, January 23rd. It's a great little book for couples who feel they need some help in improving their communication as it relates to finance. With all our book giveaways, we'd like to share them with those who'd like and need them the most.
* Americans really shouldn't complain about our finances since we're wealthier than 99% of the rest of the world. That said, it's all relative, and if everybody is wealthy, then it's really hard to feel special. The key seems to be to amass your wealth, and move elsewhere!
Further Reading
- Earthquake Disaster In Virginia Has People Fleeing And Californians Wondering “Huh?”
- Is It Better To Give Randomly Or Selectively?
- Improving At Golf Is Like Improving At Life: Impossible After Awhile!
- The S&P And Deven Sharma Wants To Destroy Your Wealth And Future
- Osama Bin Laden Is Dead: Good Or Bad?
- How To Help Japan Recover From A Terrible Earthquake
Keigu,
Sam Samurai – “Slicing Through Money's Mysteries”
Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamurai and subscribe to our RSS Feed.
It’s so kind of you to keep Haiti’s earthquake victims in mind.
@admin
Now you’re talking!
.-= Credit Card Chaser´s last blog ..Are Credit Card Companies Evil if They Don’t Waive Fees on Haiti Donations? =-.
@LeanLifeCoach
Good pick Lean! “Will it hold?” You tell me! You’re the analyst, and that’s why I’m paying you! lol. I will start the Samurai Hedge Fund as soon as everybody knows how to spell “Samurai”! :)
In fact, I may add a couple short positions from contributors, just so the fund morphs into a hedge fund, so we can collect the 2% asset management fee, or $34 million bucks! whee
TM finally gets some steam…. will it hold?
Rock On SamauraiFund…
So when are you launching the Samaurai Hedge Fund?
.-= LeanLifeCoach´s last blog ..Sometimes More Is Less =-.
@Credit Card Chaser
NP! Good work coming up with all these calculators.
@Kevin M
Thnx for clarifying. I thought so, but wanted to give credit where credit was do, just in case. Thanks for first bringing up the $18,000+ tax free credit for us during retirement. I’m pretty sure a majority of people, including myself weren’t aware. Sweet!
Actually Kevin M (me) is not related to the website you linked to.
Thanks for the mention!
.-= Credit Card Chaser´s last blog ..Are Credit Card Companies Evil if They Don’t Waive Fees on Haiti Donations? =-.
@Charlie
Eh? What’s amending their convertible senior notes indenture mean? lol. I guess it saves them money, so that sounds good to me! Good stock pick cHARlie! :)
Go Samurai fund!! In the news: HAR, Harman International, reached an agreement to amend their convertible senior notes indenture last week. The CEO said “This amendment will allow us to save millions of dollars in unnecessary interest expense while maintaining financial flexibility. We also view this as a vote of confidence by the Note holders in Harman’s improved balance sheet and financial performance.”
YTD returns look good so far, up 7.4% yihaw!
@Investor Junkie
You’re right, gotta think long term! Just keeping folks on their toes.
@admin
Hmm… No I can’t. Isn’t this supposed to be long term? a few weeks isn’t long term ;-)
.-= Investor Junkie´s last blog ..Weekend Reading for January 16, 2010 =-.
@Investor Junkie
No prob. That’s for highlighting what a MLP is. Unfortunately, Lumber Liquidators is the biggest dog in the fund, and is at risk of being booted, unless you think there’s a more compelling story.
@Money Funk
The thing with GOOG is, they are right next door to me, so it’s a little more painful than if one lived outside of SF!
@David @ MBA briefs
NP man. Maybe you will glean something fishy from their cash flow or balance sheet statements through your Stock Pro analyszer series!
.-= admin´s last blog ..An Ambulance Screams By, Do You Feel Happy Or Sad? =-.
Thanks for the mention!
.-= Investor Junkie´s last blog ..Weekend Reading for January 16, 2010 =-.
Thanks for the link love! I still can’t decide what to spend on, but I have an inkling I will figure it out soon. :)
BTW, I wish I told myself to join 5 yrs before it went public, too. LOL.
Thanks for mentioning my post on Aesop’s Fables, and sorry about ABM last week. I’ll let them know they need to shape up or else. Good thing we’re long.
.-= David @ MBA briefs´s last blog ..How to analyze stocks like a pro – part 5 =-.