The Top Financial Samurai Posts Of 2017

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!

The best thing about hard work is when it’s over. Once finished, you can basically sit back and enjoy all of the rewards if you wish. And if you hustle long enough, you might positively change your life forever.

In 2017 I wrote 175 posts, averaging 3.3 posts a week. In addition I also published 173 pages, consisting of product reviews, random thoughts, and different spins on existing topics. Pages are public, they just don’t hit the homepage or got out in my feeds. Finally, I’ve got 36 pending posts in the queue waiting to be unleashed. All in, I averaged 7.3 posts a week.

My goal was to do as much as possible before our baby was born to buy time in the future to take care of him. It’s like saving all your tax cut money to inevitably pay for a tax hike later. Even though I don’t have a day job, writing a comprehensive article is easier said than done. Further, the average stay at home parent spends 97 hours a week taking care of their little one.

Here are the most popular posts written in 2017 by traffic and some of the the most popular posts by traffic regardless of when they were written. My #1 goal is to help readers reach financial independence sooner, rather than later. Every single post was written based on first-hand experience because money is too important to be left up to pontification.

Overall, Financial Samurai received about 12.1 million unique visitors in 2017, which is better than a poke in the eye. 25 more years of this and I should be able to reach the entire population of America!

Most Popular Posts Written In 2017

Investing

The FS Investment Tracker Spreadsheet – A downloadable spreadsheet to help you track all your investments each quarter. You’ll be surprised by how much more you’ll end up putting to work once you’re focused on investing.

Just Say No To Angel Investing – All the reasons why you shouldn’t throw money away on long shots. After 10 years of investing in a gin company that got sold to Campari, my investment returned way less than expected.

The Main Types Of Investment Risk Exposure To Be Aware Of – Introducing synthetic maximum exposure, where you’ve got maximum exposure to risk assets, but also are protected with a cash buffer.

It Feels A Lot Like 2007 Again: Reflecting On The Previous Peak – When things are crazy, like they are now, it’s good to reflect and see if we can learn from the past. This is my time machine for all you young guns out there.

Real Estate

Focus On Trends: Why I’m Investing In The Heartland of America – Now that the tax plan has passed, investing in non-coastal city real estate makes more sense than ever before.

The Real Estate Investing Rule To Follow: BURL – This is a logical, and unique take on how you can maximize your returns and your lifestyle as a real estate investor.

Why Is US Property So Cheap Compared To The Rest Of The World? – For all of you who are whining that US property is so expensive, you can stop now once your realize how good we’ve got it.

Being A Landlord Tests My Faith In Humanity – Shared terrible landlord experience with five guys that pushed me over the edge to sell a rental home I’ve had since 2005.

Retirement

Retirement Savings By Age Show Why We’re So Screwed – The statistics about how little Americans save are shocking. I’m not sure why there’s not a larger sense of urgency.

Reflections Of Early Retirement Life Five Years Later – Please don’t waste time. Here are some thoughts about being jobless since early 2012.

How To Calculate The Value Of Your Pension – If you’ve got a pension, you’ve got yourself a lottery ticket. You’re richer than you think!

How To Achieve The Two Spouse Early Retirement Dream – Having one spouse work while you can kick back is nice. But really, having both spouses not have to work is better.

Financial Independence

Your Chance Of Becoming A Millionaire By Age, Race, Or Education – Learn your odds, now do your best to beat them. I firmly believe your odds of being a millionaire is at least 3X better if you read Financial Samurai long term.

The One Ingredient Necessary For Achieving Financial Independence – You need this ingredient, otherwise, you’ll never push yourself to reach FIRE.

Financial DEpendence Is The Worst: Why Each Spouse Needs Their Own Bank Account – A look inside who some spouses who don’t work or don’t have their own bank account are miserable. This post was a Yahoo homepage highlight.

Debt Optimization Framework For Financial Independence – A logical framework to follow for those of you who want to boost your net worth using other people’s money, and finish up debt-free.

Housing Expense Guideline For Financial Independence – If you’re wondering how much money to spend on property in your lifetime, while achieving FIRE early, this post is for you.

Entrepreneurship

How Much Can You Actually Make Blogging – You can make more than you can imagine. You just need to build your brand and consistently publish for at least three years.

The 10 Best Reasons To Start An Online Business – An online business is the best type of business in the world because it’s low cost, scalable, and can be done from anywhere in the world.

How To Create Next Level Wealth: When A Million Won’t Cut It – You don’t get rich earning a salary. You get rich by earning equity in a business whose valuation expands.

Career Grind

Abolish Welfare Mentality: A Janitor Makes Over $250,000 A Year – Not only do janitors make more than $250,000, elevator technicians have total compensation packages over $280,000. Believe you deserve to earn big bucks as well.

A $500,000 Redo: How One Couple Got Their Mojo Back – After the original post on earning $500,000 and scraping by received millions of views, I incorporated some of the internet’s feedback to improve their budget.

What If You Go To Harvard And End Up A Nobody? – A deep look at what real people who went to Harvard and other elite schools do with their lives now. Sadly, it’s not much different than the rest of us.

A Severance Negotiation Success Story: The Inside Scoop On How One Man Negotiated His Freedom – A non-believer shares his story on how he was able to escape the rat race with money in his pocket.

Lifestyle 

When It’s OK To Forsake Stealth Wealth And Spend Up – There’s no point making money if you don’t spend it. Here are some goals that once achieved, gives you the green light to live a little.

For A Better Life, Be The 1% In Something, Anything – As soon as you become excellent in something, your world will improve. Money is just one of many things to work on as a multi-dimensional person.

The Safest Cars To Survive A Crash – At some point, you’ll focus more on safety than anything else when buying a car. Learn what makes a car safe and the safest cars to protect you and your loved ones.

What’s The Best Age To Have A Baby? A Biological And Economical Analysis – We all know that younger is better, but let’s take economical considerations into account.

Don’t Let Frugality Lead To Lifestyle Deflation – Here are five ways to halt your overly frugal self from hurting the quality of your life.

Most Popular Posts In 2017 Written At Any Time

Scraping By On $500,000 A Year: Why It’s So Hard To Escape The Rat Race – The post that went nuts all over the internet because people can’t fathom how life can be so hard making so much.

How Much Savings Should I Have Accumulated By Age? – A detailed savings guideline by age so you don’t end up depending on others once you no longer want to work.

How Much Should I Have In My 401k By Age? – You’ll be amazed at how much your 401k will grow after 10 years of maximum contribution. Add on after-tax investments and Social Security and you’re golden.

The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Person – Everybody wants to be better than average, but not everybody can. Here’s a realistic net worth guideline to follow that will lead to a comfortable retirement.

How Much Income Do You Consider To Be Rich? – The definition of rich just keeps growing thanks to inflation. I’ve updated the definition for 2018 with the new tax rules.

A Slingshot Into The Future

I’m proud of the quantity, quality, and variety of posts published in 2017. My goal as always is to keep things fresh and interesting. I would die of boredom if I had to focus only on one subject. Life is full of different challenges, and my goal was to address as many of them as possible.

Who knows how long my creativity will last. I’m well aware that like the body, the mind will slow down. But in the meantime, I will continue writing about meaningful topics that affect all our lives. Feel free to mention any particular topics you’d like me to address in the future and any particular posts that stood out.

Thanks for reading and sharing my work. Besides bookmarking FinancialSamurai.com, you can keep in touch by subscribing to my posts via e-mail, my private newsletter, and my iTunes channel.