The Financial Samurai Podcast

For employees who plan to move on to a different job, try and negotiate a severance package so you can leave with money in your pocket. To learn how, check out my book, How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye. It's newly updated for 2023 and is now in its 6th edition with 50 more pages (250 pages total) of strategies. Use the code "saveten" to save $10.  Don't forget to join 60,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter so you never miss a thing.  Finally, if you enjoy this podcast, I'd appreciate a great review and a share with your friends! Episode Synopsis If you go to a top 0.5% school, you better get paid at least a top 1% income right? Wrong. Let's look at the median income earned by Ivy League graduates three years, 10 years, and 20 years out. We'll also look at what these Ivy League graduates end up doing for work.  Posts mentioned: Median Income For Ivy League Graduates: Unimpressive At First Find Your Ikigai: Your Reason For Being Regards, Sam  

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  Stay on top of your finances by signing up with Empower, the best free wealth management app today. Since 2012, I've been using Empowers free tools to manage my net worth an x-ray my portfolio for excess fees. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a positive 5-star review! Episode Synopsis Despite all the carnage in the banking sector, the Fed hiked rates again on May 3, 2023 to 5% - 5.25%. This is the highest Fed Funds rate since 2007, a year before the global financial crisis devastated millions of lives.  Let's look on the brightside if we go back into a deep recession. Posts mentioned: The Upside Once The Fed Destroys The Middle Class Personal Lessons Learned Since The 2008 Global Financial Crisis Support My Books To build generational wealth, pick up a copy of

Shop around online for a better mortgage rate with Credible. You can get multiple real quotes in one place so lenders can compete for your business. For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a positive 5-star review! Episode Synopsis Do you have a high credit score? Congrats! You now have to pay higher mortgage fees or a higher mortgage rate starting May 1, 2023. Conversely, if you have a low credit score, you now get to pay lower mortgage fees or a lower mortgage rate.   Let's explore why this is and how the new rule could be a net positive for society. Because the initial knee-jerk reaction is negative.   Posts mentioned:   Higher Credit Scores Now Mean Higher Mortgage Fees Or Rates   No Such Thing As A No-Cost Mortgage   The 30/30/3 Homebuying Rule To Follow

For employees who plan to move on to a different job, try and negotiate a severance package so you can leave with money in your pocket. To learn how, check out my book, How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye. It's newly updated for 2023 and is now in its 6th edition with 50 more pages (250 pages total) of strategies. Use the code "saveten" to save $10.  Posts mentioned: A Visit To Pity City Shows Your Boss Doesn't Care About You Who Makes A Million Dollars A Year? A Look At The Top 0.1% Earners

To invest in real estate. take a look at Fundrise, my favorite private real estate platform. Fundrise has funds that invest primarily in single-family and multi-family properties in the Sunbelt.  For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter. This way, you never miss a thing.  Episode Overview I think a window of opportunity to buy a house has opened in 2023. Let me discuss three reasons why it may be good to buy in 2023, and four risks to watch out for. Posts mentioned: Buying A House In 2023: A Window Of Opportunity Emerges Follow The 30/30/3 Home Buying Rule Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast! It helps keep us going.  To Your Financial Freedom, Sam

Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast! It helps keep us going. This podcast is ad-free and a labor of love.  To build generational wealth, pick up a copy of Buy This, Not That, my instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. The book helps you make more optimal investment decisions so you can live a better, more fulfilling life.  To invest in real estate. take a look at Fundrise, my favorite private real estate platform. With mortgage rates falling and the S&P 500 rebounding, we're entering a good time to start investing in real estate again.  For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter. This way, you never miss a thing.  Episode Overview If you're feeling anxious as a parent, even with a six-figure household income, I hear you. Due to tremendous competition, comparison, and uncertainty, parents are feeling more stressed than ever before. Let's discuss some solutions. Posts mentioned: Generational Wealth And The Angst Of Th

For 99.99% less than the cost of college, pick up a copy of Buy This, Not That, my instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. The book helps you make more optimal investment decisions so you can live a better, more fulfilling life.  For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter. This way, you never miss a thing.  Episode Synopsis We know about the different ways WE can pay for college. Now let's figure out how to get OTHERS to pay for our college! The more we can understand the ins and outs of the financial aid system, the more free money we can get.   Posts mentioned:   How To Game The College Financial Aid System   MyIntuition.Org College Financial Aid Calculator   Regards,   Sam

Join 60,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter. I dissect all the most important financial topics of the week so you don't miss a thing. You can also get my posts in your inbox immediately after they come out by signing up here.  For 99.99% less than the cost of college, pick up a copy of Buy This, Not That, my instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. The book helps you make more optimal investment decisions so you can live a better, more fulfilling life.  Episode Synopsis: The total all-in cost for four years at a state college is about $165,000 and the total all-in cost for four years at the most expensive private college is about $320,000. As a result, how the heck are most families going to pay for college? Let's explore the many different ways to pay for college to give our children more opportunities while not crushing our own finances in the process. Posts mentioned: The Different Ways To Pay For College And My Blind Spot Roth IRA Or 529 Plan To Pay For College? The Pros And Cons of Super

With mortgage rates dropping, the demand for real estate is picking up. Further, the desire to own real assets is also increasing with all this funny money. Take a look at Fundrise, a leading private real estate investment platform that primarily invest in the Sunbelt.  Join 55,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter. I dissect all the most important financial topics of the week so you don't miss a thing. You can also get my posts in your inbox immediately after they come out by signing up here.  Protect your wealth by picking up a copy of Buy This, Not That. It is your unfair competitive advantage to building greater wealth and making more optimal big life decisions.  Episode Synopsis Being a venture capitalist is one of the best jobs in the world. Let me share why. For those of you interested in investing in venture capital, you'll have to manage your cash flow to meet your capital calls. A general discussion on navigating private investing in this current environment. Mentioned posts: How To

With bank runs everywhere, I hope everybody is conducting an internal review of your existing banking relationships! I've done mine and I've decided three banking relationships is ideal for most people.   Posts mentioned:   The Ideal Number Of Banking Relationships   Recommendations Join 55,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter. I dissect all the most important financial topics of the week so you don't miss a thing. You can also get my posts in your inbox immediately after they come out by signing up here.  Protect your wealth by picking up a copy of Buy This, Not That. It is your unfair competitive advantage to building greater wealth and making more optimal big life decisions.  With mortgage rates dropping, the demand for real estate is picking up. Further, the desire to own real assets is also increasing with all this funny money. Take a look at Fundrise, a leading private real estate investment platform that primarily invest in the Sunbelt.  Please share this episode with a friend and ra

If you enjoy the Financial Samurai podcast and this episode, please leave a great 5-star review! It keeps me motivated to keep recording. Thank you.  Join 55,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter and get my posts delivered to your e-mail by subscribing here.  To gain more financial wisdom than 99% of the population, pick up a copy of Buy This, Not That. My instant WSJ bestseller will be the best personal finance book you'll ever read. Episode Summary: With the government taking over SVB and Singature Bank, Treasury bond yields are now collapsing. Expectations for the terminal Fed Funds rate is now down from about 5.25% to 4.8%. Post mentioned: The Best Way To Get Rich: Turn Funny Money Into Real Assets

Join 55,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter and get my posts delivered to your e-mail by subscribing here.  To gain more financial wisdom than 99% of the population, pick up a copy of Buy This, Not That. My instant WSJ bestseller will be the best personal finance book you'll ever read. Episode Summary: The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank in America was a shock to me and many. As investors, it's worth trying to understand why SVB would buy 10-year Treasury bonds in 2021, near the top of the market. Let's discuss and also talk about other key takeaways from SVB's collapse. Posts mentioned: How To Prepare For A Bank Run As Contagion Spreads Understand The Yield Curve: A Prescient Economic Indicator How To Pick A Stock Market Bottom Like Nostradamus

To explore whether to convert funds to a Roth IRA, check out NewRetirement. It's Roth Conversion Explorer tool enables you to test out your Roth IRA conversion plan under various tax and wealth scenarios. I recommend you check it out to help you minimize taxes for the future. Join 55,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter and get my posts delivered to your e-mail by subscribing here.  Thank you for your positive 5-star podcast reviews and for Buy This, Not That! Episode Summary: Are you thinking about contributing or converting tax-deferred funds into a Roth IRA? Let me share some math and some reasons why and why you shouldn't contribute.  Posts mentioned: Shifting Assets From Tax-Deferred To Tax-Now Retirement Vehicles Disadvantages Of A Roth IRA Why I Never Contributed To A Roth IRA But Why You Probably Should

Give yourself or others the gift of financial education by picking up a copy of Buy This, Not That. It is your unfair competitive advantage to building greater wealth. Join 55,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter and get my posts delivered to your e-mail by subscribing here.  Thank you for your positive 5-star reviews with commentary on my book and this podcast. It helps keep me motivated! Episode Summary: Everybody is up in arms about inflation. But is inflation really hurting us that bad? Does the Fed really have to crush the economy to reduce inflation? The solutions to lower our household expenses seems straightforward. But perhaps it's not easy due to human nature. Here's how to permanently defeat inflation so you can live a more comfortable and affordable life.   Posts mentioned:   Combatting Inflation Is Straightforward But Not Easy   Only The Rich Can Buy New Cars Today   Real Estate Is My Favorite Asset Class To Build Wealth   To Your Financial Freedom, Sam

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 55,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  Episode Overview With Treasury bonds yielding over 5%, the temptation to buy them is great! Let's discuss stocks versus Treasury bonds versus cash in 2023 and 2024.  Personally, I'm happy to invest new money in Treasury bonds as we wait for earnings to decline, the Fed to stop hiking, and a potential recession to play out.  Posts mentioned: Why You Won't Regret Buying Treasury Bonds Yielding 5%+ Net Worth Targets By Age Or Work Experience The Main Type Of Investment Risk Exposure To Be Aware Of Resources For Greater Wealth Check out Empower (previously Personal Capital), the best free tool to help you track your money. With Empower, you can track your investments, see your asset allocation, x-ray your portfolios for excessive fees, and more. Pick up a copy of Buy This,

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 55,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  As one of the pioneers of the modern-day FIRE movement, I’ve witnessed many changes since 2009. In the good old days, the goal was to simply generate enough passive income to cover your living expenses. You could then retire early because you were financially independent. Post-pandemic, however, I’ve come to realize early retirement / FIRE is now becoming obsolete. We no longer have to invent new definitions of financial independence. We no longer have to retire early either! Let me explain why. See post: Why FIRE Is Becoming Obsolete Resources For Greater Wealth Check out Personal Capital, the best free tool to help you track your money. With Personal Capital, you can track your investments, see your asset allocation, x-ray your portfolios for excessive fees, and more

Join 55,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  Check out Personal Capital and NewRetirement, the two best tools to help you build wealth and manage your wealth in retirement.  Click here to see the short-term and long-term capital gains tax rate charts for 2023. This episode discusses the ideal amount of passive income to make and the ideal invested capital to accumulate based on the current tax rates.  Mentioned posts: The Ideal Net Worth Amount Before Retiring The Difference Between Active Income And Passive Income

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 55,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  **** Click here for the happiness by age chart. I’ve finally discovered the best reason to retire early. A longer steady-state period of happiness. It has taken me 10 years of fake retirement to come up with this epiphany because I had to experience the process myself. In the past, I’ve written that early retirement isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I went through plenty of struggles trying to find meaning and purpose during my first two years post traditional work. Therefore, it wasn't clear that early retirement brought about more happiess. Resources For Greater Wealth Pick up a hardcopy of Buy This, Not That, my instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. The book helps you make more optimal investing decisions using a risk-appropriate framework by age and work experienc

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 55,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009.  If you don't have enough fear, you're going to remain set in your ways. You won't have the motivation to make more money, get in better shape, meet new people, and live a better life.  Posts mentioned: The One Ingredient For Achieving Financial Independence Conduct A Regret Minimization Exercise To Move Forward The Importance Of Feeling Consistently Uncomfortable For Personal Growth Resources For Greater Wealth If you want to invest in real estate more surgically, take a look at Fundrise. Demand for real estate is starting to rebound as mortgage rates and prices decline. With foreigners looking to buy U.S. real estate again, we could see a nice recovery.  Pick up a hardcopy of Buy This, Not That, my instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. The book helps you make more o

Perhaps working hard to make money and get ahead is overrated. With the decline in merit-based compensation and rewards, it may be strategically better to kick back and relax more. It's a risky proposition to do so, but it might work out for the best. In case you are a hardworker who is getting discriminated against based on your identity, here are 7 strategies to survive and thrive if merit no longer matters in the future. Mentioned posts: How To Survive The War On Merit Grades No Longer Matter, Hooray!  Don't Let Honor And Pride Leave You On Hard Mode Forever Recommendations If you'd like to support my ad-free podcast, pick up a hardcopy of Buy This, Not That, my instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. The book helps you make more optimal investing decisions to build more wealth and live better lives. BTNT is on sale at Amazon today!  For more nuanced personal finance content, join 55,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the larg