​

Financial Samurai

Slicing Through Money's Mysteries

  • About
  • Invest In Real Estate
  • Top Financial Products
    • Free Wealth Management
    • Negotiate A Severance
  • Buy This, Not That (Bestseller)

The Samurai Fund Update & Highlights Posts

Updated: 12/03/2020 by Financial Samurai 24 Comments

The Samurai Fund was my fun way of getting Financial Samurai readers involved in investing. Since inception in 2010, The Samurai Fund has crushed the S&P 500 in returns.

The secret to investing is to come up with a dollar-cost averaging system and keep investing for the long run!

If you invested $100,000 back in 2010 when I wrote this post, you’d have more than $300,000 today.

The Samurai Fund Update

Dear Shareholders,

We’re pleased to report that the The Samurai Fund (TSF) is up 8.5% year to date!  Unfortunately, the S&P 500 is up 9.9% thereby underperforming the broader markets by 140 basis points.  On the positive side, there has been 0 turnover in the fund since inception on January 1, 2010 which means no trading fees.  Furthermore, we have not had to hire employees to run the fund meaning that we are saving millions more a year in salary costs.

Our outlook for the stock market is rosy, thanks to Ben “Making It Rain” Bernanke and his desire to inflate all asset classes with QE2.  We believe in the American consumer’s ability to consume with greed again, and we are strategically positioned with names such as Samuel Adams (SAM, +76% YTD), Monster Worldwide (MWW, +14%), and Lenar Corp (LEN, +24% YTD).  Creating bubbles is a good thing, so long as we recognize we are in a bubble.  We at TSF hear you loud and clear Mr. Bernanke and will ride your donkey into the sunset!

Thank you shareholders for investing in The Samurai Fund.  We will try and make up for our underperformance by continually doing absolutely nothing.  Please revisit our investment philosophy.

Regards,

The Samurai Fund Investment Team

HIGHLIGHT POSTS FROM AROUND THE SPHERE

*Everyday Tips & Thoughts asks “What Would You do With A Letter From The President.”  There’s no way I’d ever sell it the letter for money, but I think Mr. Obama would be happy if you could profit from a letter he wrote if it can help a family’s finances. Just make a copy!

* Thousandaire produces a hilarious ROTH IRA music video called, “When I Retire”.  All Kevin needs to do is change the lyric “when I get paid” to “when I get laid” in relation to “I’ll have millions when I take it out” for it to go viral at the end!  Unfortunately, as old readers might recall, I’m quite against the ROTH IRA.  That said, better to have a ROTH IRA than no IRA!

* Roshawn writes a post which needles those who make over $250,000 in his article, “Good Old Middle Class Or Wealthy”. In many parts of the country raising a family on $250,000-$350,000 is not exactly wealthy due to the high cost of living, and the necessity to send kids to private school since the public schools are so appalling.  Can we agree that making $250,000 a year in Iowa goes farther than San Fran, Chicago, and Manhattan?

* Daniel’s brother made $1,200 out of thin air thanks to the World Series Giants in his post, “Selling A Product That Doesn’t Exist.”  Seriously, with just a little bit of ingenuity, people can make a lot of money!

* Don highlights the “Pros and Cons of Blogging” which many bloggers can relate too.  I’ll be coming up with a different spin on this one in a future post, so stay tuned!

* The Saved Quarter has a gritty guest post called, “The Face Of The Homeless.”  It’s important to give thanks to life and appreciate what we have, while help others.

* Special shout-out to BuildASign.com who created some awesome bumper stickers for Financial Samurai and Yakezie.com.  We’ll be distributing these neat bumper stickers out to Yakezie Scholarship winners as an added bonus!

FINANCIAL SAMURAI AROUND THE WEB

* On AMEX’s new site called GetCurrency.com, I share with readers how “I Barely Survived My Mortgage Refi.” I tell ya, it was a butt kicking, and I can see why it’s going to take a while for monetary easing to take effect.  A friend of mine, who has more cash in the bank than the mortgage he is trying to refi got denied for example!

* I’ve always wanted to write for Cosmopolitan Magazine, so here’s my attempt to do so with the article “Online Dating & Income Infatuation.”

* In “The Clock Builder vs. The Time Teller”, I discuss the efforts of building a sustainable organization.  Besides describing the difference between the two, I’m trying to stay out of the way.

To read more of the best personal finance sites on the web, come visit the Yakezie Network!

Cheers,

Sam

Tweet
Share
Pin
Flip
Share
Buy this not that instant bestseller Wall Street journal banner

Filed Under: Investments

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.

Subscribe To Private Newsletter

Comments

  1. Monevator says

    November 13, 2010 at 1:14 am

    I noticed Monster’s pop in some US stats I was looking at the other day, and I remembered the FS fund and crossed my fingers it hadn’t been ejected. Hurrah!

    Taken longer to get going then I thought I must admit, but now the recovery should really start gaining traction and there’s a *lot* of positions to fill out there. :)

    Reply
  2. Investor Junkie says

    November 9, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    Man my stock (LL) brought down the index! I must suck as an investor. Sorry guys.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      November 9, 2010 at 3:08 pm

      Yes, you are a crappy investor. Thanks for nothing!!!

      Reply
  3. Sandy @yesiamcheap says

    November 9, 2010 at 8:27 am

    Sam,

    Not bad, not bad. You might want to consider fertilizer and natural textile companies. I’m have a 40% return this year on fertilizer (I can go into this further if you want) and I’m deeply eying some textiles for the upcoming months.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      November 9, 2010 at 8:55 am

      Thanks Sandy, however you do realize the Samurai Fund is an experiment based entirely off the permutations of participants names or blogs right?? If not, click the tab or link :)

      Reply
      • Sandy @yesiamcheap says

        November 10, 2010 at 12:07 pm

        Crap, you’re right. I wondered why Monsanto was mixed with Sam Adams and such.

        Reply
  4. Charlie says

    November 8, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    That’s awesome! Even though it’s lower than the S&P it’s higher than what I’ve earned in my PA this year! I’m so happy the dow is still over 11000. We’re not too far from 11500 so let’s go 12000!

    Reply
  5. Mike Hunt says

    November 8, 2010 at 8:56 pm

    The fund is up 8.5% year to date but the buying power of the dollar is down 18%. Thank goodness most Americans aren’t going abroad…

    Keep making it rain Ben- 18% loss in purchasing power for a 9% gain.

    Sounds like the Polish blanket principle, make it wider by cutting off the length and sewing it on the width, only you lose some material in the process.

    I guess it will take gas to go to $15 a gallon before people wake up.

    -Mike

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      November 8, 2010 at 9:04 pm

      The dollar could depreciate by 50%, it doesn’t matter since Americans are domesticated folks! We welcome foreign money to buy up our assets and drive prices up!

      Reply
      • Mike Hunt says

        November 9, 2010 at 2:45 am

        A weak currency is not a good thing when a country is a net importer!

        And the US imports a ton more than she exports…

        That’s why Obama’s plan to double exports in 5 years is a joke, I’m sure imports will be trebling over the same period.

        -Mike

        Reply
        • Financial Samurai says

          November 9, 2010 at 6:32 am

          Again, it doesn’t really matter. The imported goods we buy is only a small fraction of our budget.

          Reply
  6. The College Investor says

    November 8, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    I’m sorry to see your loss in MON! It has been a favorite of mine for years, but got out about 2 years ago when it was well over $120. I have since bought back in, but am holding on to some nice gains. Great company and should continue to do well over the long term!

    Reply
  7. Darwin's Money says

    November 8, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    Go Chipotle (CMG)! Apple (AAPL)! Silver (SLV)! and Baidu (BIDU)!

    Reply
    • Money Reasons says

      November 12, 2010 at 4:25 pm

      Bidu is my best stock! Netflix has kicked some butt too this year… Too bad I sold it a while ago…

      Reply
  8. Money Reasons says

    November 8, 2010 at 9:15 am

    Thanks for the link, I look forward to reading your version in the not too distance future!

    Bumper stickers are cool, but I want to buy a Financial Samurai shirt or baseball cap with a picture of that samurai head in your logo and the “FinancialSamurai.com” URL beneath it…, and then even lower a saying or slogan that says something like “Slicing Debt and Defending Riches” or “Fighting for your Finances”…

    I would buy one (if it’s less than $21 dollars). Perhaps a clever shirt maker will see the potential and offer to make the shirt for you, giving you a cut of the sales… (This might even be cool for the Yakezie group too). Even if it breaks even, it’s still good advertising, especially if the URL is on the shirt…

    But perhaps I’m too positively biased towards your site :)

    Reply
    • Roshawn @ Watson Inc says

      November 8, 2010 at 9:32 am

      No Money Reasons, I agree with you and think the t-shirts would make a big splash:)

      Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      November 9, 2010 at 6:54 am

      Got the prototype shirt we are gonna put up on Zazzle for Members to purchase! It’s coming!

      Reply
      • Money Reasons says

        November 12, 2010 at 4:23 pm

        Awesome! I would even make it available to the general public (especially with your URL listed). I bet you’d get more traffic that way (free advertising), plus it would be a great looking shirt!!!

        It’s funny, it seems I think of things but you already have it underway… lol :)

        Perhaps you could even put the Financial Samurai on one side and Yakezie site on the other side…

        Sounds great!

        Reply
  9. Investor Junkie says

    November 8, 2010 at 8:11 am

    I thought Ben “Making It Rain” Bernanke’s middle name was helicopter?

    Reply
  10. Daniel says

    November 8, 2010 at 6:01 am

    We should have sold BIG when it was up 30%! How could we not have seen this coming!

    I want a Yakezie bumper sticker. I don’t have a car..but they’re still awesome!

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      November 8, 2010 at 6:17 am

      Your fault for not selling! Just like Lenzo’s fault for not selling Lennar when it was up 65%! haha.

      Ehhh… when you buy a car, I’ll hook you up!

      Reply
  11. Credit Cards in Canada says

    November 8, 2010 at 5:48 am

    This is very impressive. Not only has the fund performed well, you have managed to keep the overheads down by not hiring.
    I am sure the bubble will last for a few more quarters and you will ride it into the sunset.

    Reply
  12. Roshawn @ Watson Inc says

    November 8, 2010 at 5:32 am

    Sam, thanks for the link. As a former Chicagoan, yes I can attest that the cost of living there is certainly is higher than Sumner, IL or Des Moines, IA. It’s would be disingenuous for me to criticize high income earners. I was only making the case that just like many of us want the gov’t to operate off of a budget (reduce expenses, stop raising taxes, eliminate the deficit), a) we shouldn’t “barely be making” if our income is 6-8 times the median household income in North America and b)a 3% tax increase (while not pleasant and many would argue unnecessary) shouldn’t push us over the edge financially. BTW, I never even said that I was in favor of the tax and got hammered by those who would like to tax high income earners in to oblivion (my words not theirs) too. I just can’t win :)

    I personally don’t believe that $200-350 makes you wealthy, but it doesn’t quite make you middle class either. Don (Money Reasons) said it best in his subsequent round up: it kind of makes you other :)

    BTW, your fund is performing well. Cheers!

    Reply
  13. Everyday Tips says

    November 8, 2010 at 5:01 am

    Hey Sam, your fund still did pretty darn well- and I love your commentary. (Is there any way you could have mentioned Timothy Geithner not paying his taxes somehow? I so like when you mention that.)

    Thanks for including my site!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


n
n

Top Product Reviews

  • Fundrise review (real estate investing)
  • Policygenius review (life insurance)
  • CIT Bank review (high interest savings and CDs)
  • NewRetirement review (retirement planning)
  • Personal Capital review (free financial tools and wealth manager)
  • How To Engineer Your Layoff (severance negotiation book)

Financial Samurai Featured In

Buy this not that Wall Street journal bestseller

Categories

  • Automobiles
  • Big Government
  • Budgeting & Savings
  • Career & Employment
  • Credit Cards
  • Credit Score
  • Debt
  • Education
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Family Finances
  • Gig Economy
  • Health & Fitness
  • Insurance
  • Investments
  • Mortgages
  • Most Popular
  • Motivation
  • Podcast
  • Product Reviews
  • Real Estate
  • Relationships
  • Retirement
  • San Francisco
  • Taxes
  • Travel
Buy this not that WSJ bestseller 728
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Copyright © 2009–2023 Financial Samurai · Read our disclosures

PRIVACY: We will never disclose or sell your email address or any of your data from this site. We do highly welcome posts and community interaction, and registering is simply part of the posting system.
DISCLAIMER: Financial Samurai exists to thought provoke and learn from the community. Your decisions are yours alone and we are in no way responsible for your actions. Stay on the righteous path and think long and hard before making any financial transaction! Disclosures