Back in 2012, I thought I had finally conquered financial FOMO after walking away from my well-paying finance job. But after having children, I’ve noticed more and more relapses. That creeping desire to make more money and the struggle to feel…

In my post, “How You’ll Feel Achieving Various Millionaire Milestones,” a commenter named Joseph shared these thoughts: “I’m fascinated by someone worth $10M or $20M not feeling wealthy. Are they hanging out with nothing but billionaires? The only other explanation is a scarcity…

Since writing about FIRE in 2009, I’ve favored investing in growth stocks over value stocks. As someone who wanted to retire early from finance, my goal was to build as large a capital base as quickly as possible. Once I retired,…

This type of post only surfaces during a bull market, when greed tug at us the hardest, making satisfaction elusive. Ever since making my first public equity investment in 1996, I’ve been hooked, wrestling with the constant mental tug-of-war over how…

After a week of reviewing the tax-free exclusion rule for selling a rental property, I decided not to sell. I’d already used my $500,000 tax-free exclusion amount and would need to wait at least two more years before I could potentially…

On the latest episode of the Financial Samurai podcast, I sat down with Ben Miller, cofounder and CEO of Fundrise, for a deep dive into artificial intelligence, venture capital, and what it really takes to get into the best private company deals. Ben…

When I worked in Equities at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, we would occasionally bring a hot IPO deal to market. During the company roadshow, we’d take management around to meet one on one with our largest investors and clients. Sometimes…

In Spring 2025, I sold one of my properties and successfully excluded $500,000 in capital gains, tax-free, thanks to the IRS Section 121 Exclusion. For those unfamiliar, this powerful rule allows homeowners to exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains if…

Since starting Financial Samurai in 2009, I've encouraged folks to keep an open mind and embrace as many different perspectives as possible. So often, we get set in our ways and think our approach is the only right way to do…

As soon as both my children were born in 2017 and 2019, I superfunded their 529 plans equal to the five-year gift tax exemption. At the time, I was thrilled to do it given a parent's number one responsibility is to…

When I lived overseas, one of the most celebrated aspects of my international schools was cultural diversity. At the International School of Kuala Lumpur, Taipei American School, and Canadian Academy in Japan, I had classmates from all over the world. With…

After remodeling a fixer I bought in 2019 between 2019–2022, I swore I would never take on another remodeling project again. I hate remodeling with a passion, even though I'm always satisfied after the project is done. The delays, cost overruns,…

One of the main reasons I refused to spend a small fortune renting a vacation property in Honolulu was because I wanted to stay in my childhood home. The home was built in 1986, when I was nine years old, and…

How much money do you need to feel financially comfortable or wealthy? The answer depends on where you live, your household size, and your lifestyle desires, of course. However, according to the 2025 Charles Schwab Wealth Survey, Americans say it now takes…

I love index funds and ETFs for their low-cost nature and simplicity of ownership. However, if you want to build generational wealth before traditional retirement age, consider looking beyond just index funds and index ETFs. Since starting Financial Samurai in 2009,…

Imagine spending your life building wealth, investing in real estate, stocks, or your business, with the hope of leaving a legacy for your children. Then one day, you find yourself wondering: Will the government take a massive chunk of it anyway? If…

The value of owning a big, beautiful home is underappreciated. Somewhere along the way, society began favoring minimalism and smaller living spaces, often dismissing larger homes as “McMansions.” But after spending five weeks living in a much smaller space again, I’ve…

One of the things that gives me great comfort about the health of the U.S. economy is our historically low household leverage. According to the Federal Reserve Board, household leverage is now at an 80-year low—a remarkable sign of financial discipline. So let me…

A typical supercommuter spends 60–90 minutes or more one way commuting to work or school. As the cost of living continues to outpace wage growth, supercommuting is growing in popularity. According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report, an estimated 5 million people…

On July 3, the House narrowly passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) with a 218–214 vote. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill will add an estimated $3.3 trillion to the budget deficit over the next 10 years. Trump signed…

If you became a newly minted millionaire, where would you migrate to? Due to inertia, I bet most of you would stay right where you are. A lot of us are afraid of change, which is why we stay at jobs…

Ever since I left my day job in 2012, I’ve used a form of the dumbbell investing strategy to grow my wealth while protecting against large losses. It’s a framework that’s helped me stay invested during uncertain times—especially when I felt the…

We’re staying with our parents for five weeks in Honolulu, and I wanted to share a little revelation I’ve learned about making a home guest-ready. If you dream of owning a home where friends and family regularly visit—because you genuinely enjoy…

About a year ago, a relative asked me to help manage her money. She had been paying a ~1% asset management fee with Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), even though she wasn’t their typical high-net-worth client. The account had been set…

I’m convinced that if you wake up just one hour earlier every day for the next 10 years, you’ll not only accomplish far more, but also build significant wealth and unlock countless opportunities in life. Conquering the magic of the morning—while…

When the U.S. bombed three locations in Iran, my initial reaction was a mix of hope and sadness. Hope—because I wished it might lead to a reduction in weapons of mass destruction. Sadness—because of the likely loss of innocent civilian lives…

If you want to grow your wealth faster than the average person, I suggest trying to think in two timelines that move together in unison. The first timeline is analyzing what's going on right now. The second timeline is analyzing what…

When I first started Financial Samurai back in 2009, I had idyllic dreams of helping as many people as possible achieve financial freedom. My finances were crumbling during the global financial crisis, and I wanted to break free from the corporate…

One of the most overlooked risks in real estate investing isn’t rising interest rates, leverage, or even tenant issues—it’s execution fear. You run the numbers. The property checks all the boxes. It fits your timeline and lifestyle. You can even picture the…

When my son was born in 2017, I decided to focus on being a stay-at-home dad (SAHD). Every early childhood development book I read emphasized that the first five years are the most critical for a child’s growth. So I figured,…

In late 2022, my wife and I were finally able to lock in matching 20-year term life insurance policies at an affordable rate through Policygenius. For three years prior, I had been concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get approved…

I recently received a question that boils down to this: How do you know when you have enough money? And once you do, when is it time to shift from chasing excess returns to simply maintaining what you have? There are…

Feeling burned out and underappreciated? Tired of managing people and just want to focus on your craft? Thinking about going back to school to do something more meaningful? If any of this resonates, don’t quit your job. Instead, it might be…

I’ve been focused on building passive income since 1999, back when I had to be in the office by 5:30 a.m. and often worked past 7 p.m. every night. Weekends were another eight hours or so. I knew I couldn’t sustain…

Have you heard of the no-spend chalenge? It’s a popular concept among budget-minded and minimalist bloggers who encourage us to save more and declutter our lives. The idea is simple: stop spending on non-essentials for a set period and see how…

If you are a parent, your mission is clear: develop into a rich Bank of Mom & Dad to save your children. If you don’t have wealthy parents yourself, then unfortunately, life might stay on hard mode forever. It’s up to…

There is more wealth out there than you think. But the government and media sometimes likes to trick us into believing there is not. Government data says the median net worth in America is around $200,000. Meanwhile, the media keeps highlighting…

After publishing Why We Keep Spending Even Though We Know We Shouldn't, I realized something important: the real reason I wasn’t willing to spend on a vacation rental this summer is because we no longer have financial freedom. I didn't think about…

Spending money is an American pastime. With a national saving rate hovering around 5%, it's clear we collectively love to spend. And honestly, being able to enjoy our wealth is a beautiful thing. It’s something more personal finance enthusiasts like me—and…

When you decide to sell a house, you might encounter a preemptive offer—a bid that arrives before you list publicly on the open market or reach your set offer due date. This scenario often unfolds in a robust market or when…

About once a month, I get an email or comment from a reader criticizing adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) as a poor financial choice. Since I’ve been a proponent of ARMs since starting Financial Samurai in 2009, I understand the pushback. However, I…

Believing you deserve to be rich is one of the most powerful psychological tricks to boost your wealth. With trillions of dollars circulating in the world, you have to ask yourself: Why not me too? Think about the knuckleheads you grew…

I'm bullish on real estate. Yet I recently sold another rental property. This type of incongruence between thought and action can feel unsettling and even counterproductive to wealth creation. But it doesn’t have to be. Because while maximizing returns is a…

During the recent stock market correction, I decided to buy the dip. But this time, I didn’t just buy my usual dip-buying amount of $25,000 to $100,000. I went much bigger. All told, I spent over $1 million buying the S&P…

Before I retired from finance in 2012, I struggled with chronic back pain, sciatica, and TMJ. The stress was so overwhelming, I even paid a dentist $700 to drill divots into several teeth just so I could close my jaw more…

To celebrate the launch of Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps To Seven Figures, I want to share how you might feel and what you might do as you hit various levels of wealth. Perhaps by sharing, I'll motivate you to take greater action.…

After three years of writing, rewriting, and refining, I’m thrilled to officially celebrate the launch of Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps To Seven Figures! This book has been a true labor of love, not just for me, but for my family as…

There comes a moment when your child might look up and say, with wide-eyed innocence: “I want to go to the office and type on a laptop all day like Mommy.” “I want to travel abroad for work for two weeks…

If we're not already in a recession, we may soon enter one due to aggressive trade policies that are fueling tremendous uncertainty. As companies and consumers pull back on spending, millions of jobs could be lost, trillions in stock market wealth…

If you’re a personal finance enthusiast with kids, you’ve probably wondered: at what household income level will colleges stop offering scholarships and grants (i.e., free money) to help your child attend? What is that income cutoff? Given that the cost of…