Author: Financial Samurai

With stock market volatility back, lower expected returns are a good possibility. Since 2009, investors have been able to make lots of money relatively easily. However, to expect double or…

As stocks sell off in part due to higher interest rates, the question now turns to how higher mortgage rates will affect the housing market? You might automatically think higher…

If you invest in the stock market, you’ll eventually experience emotions of euphoria, greed, fear, uncertainty, and self-loathing. The more emotionally weak you are, the less likely you’ll enjoy investing…

With so many tax-advantaged and taxable investment accounts, it may be hard to figure out the right contribution order. Between our family of four, we’ve somehow managed to open up…

I’ve been waiting to publish my 2022 goals until now because there’s some whacky statistic out there that says most people give up on their goals by January 15. Therefore,…

Much has been written about the high cost of having kids. Spending $300,000 – $1,000,000 per kid through high school is a lot of money. However, less has been written…

One of my most reviled posts is called, Do People Really Only Work 40 Hours A Week Or Less And Complain Why They Can’t Get Ahead? The post paints me…

Looking ahead, the investing landscape seems more difficult, especially after three robust years of equity returns. More capital preservation strategies should be considered. At the same time, corporate earnings are…

After a raging bull market, capital preservation may be in order. After all, the last thing you want to do is give up all of your gains and then some.…

Are you interested in owning beachfront property? I was for many years, but no longer. Before you plunk a large chunk of change on a villa by the sea, it’s…

How big of an investment portfolio should I have to be financially free or start feeling free? This is one of the most common questions people starting on their financial…

Happy New Year everyone! After sharing my 2022 housing market forecast, it’s only right to share my 2022 stock market forecast. Creating forecasts helps me think things through given I’ve…

To come up with a proper 2022 housing market forecast, it’s important to first forecast where the 10-year bond yield is heading. The 10-year bond yield is the most important…

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! When I started Financial Samurai in 2009, my main goal was to make sense of the Global Financial Crisis. That was a scary time period…

You may not realize this, but a health savings account (HSA) can be used as a retirement vehicle. If you’ve maxed out your 401(k) and IRA contributions, maxing out an…

If you’re like most people, you want to get as much value out of any purchase as possible. Therefore, you’d probably never buy a first class or business class airline…

Fundrise is a leading real estate investing platform today with over 250,000 clients and $1+ billion in assets under management. The firm recently launched a new performance track record tool…

Some people think sugary processed foods are why we get soft. Other people argue transitioning from a labor-intensive to a capital-intense economy makes us less active. I’m going to argue…

As a homeowner with a mortgage, the holy grail is having a mortgage rate below the 10-year bond yield. When you have this situation, it’s like living for free and…

At last! After more than three years of deliberating what to do about life insurance, I finally got myself an affordable life insurance policy with no medical exam! If you’re…

Taxes are our largest ongoing liability. As a result, it behooves us to optimize our taxes as much as possible. This post will discuss all the smart money-saving tax moves to…

I’ve made the case the best time to work may be during a pandemic. With fewer things to do, you might as well spend more time making more money. Further,…

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced new 2022 conforming loan limits for conventional loans. The baseline conforming loan limit for 2022 will be $647,200, up $98,950 from 2021’s…

Between the ages of 18 – 32, I experienced chronic back pain, sciatica, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, and TMJ. It was only after reading Dr. Sarno’s book, Healing Back Pain,…

Now that we’ve had some fun figuring out the minimum income and net worth required to buy a $5 million home, I thought it’d be nice to be more inclusive.…

I’ve been using Personal Capital’s free financial tools to track my net worth, manage my cash flow, and optimize my investments for over eight years. Let me share with you…

A five million dollar house is big bucks in every single city in America. Once you cross the $5 million mark, it is classified in the luxury territory, even for…

Are you confusing your good fortune due to your own skill rather than due to luck? I’m here to argue that your outsized wealth is mostly due to luck. Therefore,…

The 2022 income tax brackets and standard deductions are out! Although the actual income tax brackets have not changed, the taxable income range per tax bracket has adjusted upward slightly…

I made a mistake with both my children’s 529 plans. Instead of investing in equity index ETFs, I invested in target date funds (TDF). Both target date funds have significantly…

Life has a way of throwing us curveballs and throwing us into emergency situations when we least expect them. You might get in an accident and slip into a coma.…

Although COVID has been bad for many of us in so many ways, the pandemic did one good thing. The pandemic helped protect American homebuyers from a resurgence in foreign…

In the good old days pre-pandemic, several friends and I liked having beers after each softball game. We got to discussing what is the one ingredient necessary for achieving financial independence…

Before I share the best asset class performers from 2001 – 2020, I want you to guess the following four things: 1) Of the following asset classes, the S&P 500,…

One of the goals of achieving financial independence is financial security. We want to feel secure financially so we ironically don’t have to think about money so much. As a…

In a stunning turnaround, Zillow recently announced it would be getting out of the iBuying business and will shut down its Zillow Offers division. Roughly 25% or 2,000 of its…

Given how hot the housing market currently is, let’s look ahead to see what bad things might occur to derail the trend. This post looks at the cities most at…

One of the reasons why I continue to save so much is that I’m a perpetual failure. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life that I need a financial…

Practicing Stealth Wealth is the act of keeping your overall wealth a secret. It helps with keeping haters at bay and your family safe. For your mental health and family’s…

It occurred to me while writing my book that a good percentage of you are HENRYs. A HENRY is a “high earner, not yet rich” consumer who is on the…

Making sure lifestyle inflation never gets ahead of our income and wealth inflation is a core fundamental in personal finance. Ideally, we want to widen that gap between income and…

When it comes to your health, be risk-averse. When it comes to your money, you can be more risk-loving. After all, if your investment returns take a hit, you can…

The maximum 401k contribution limit for 2021 is $19,500. The maximum 401k contribution limit goes up to a record $20,500 for 2022. In 2019, the maximum 401k contribution limit was…

To be savvy investors, we need to learn how to connect the dots. There are so many investment clues to discover all around us if we spend time observing. One…

If there’s one thing I love, it’s living in a nice house. Nowadays, I spend between 18 – 20 hours at home on average. Robbers beware! Therefore, it’s only logical…

For the longest time, I’ve wondered whether Social Security is a dependable source of income for traditional retirees. As someone still over 22 years away from being able to collect,…

With all the talk about rising rents and the overall strength of the U.S. housing market, I thought it would be good to see how Fundrise’s various real estate funds…

If the House Ways and Means Committee has its way, there’s a chance doing a Roth IRA conversion will be no more in 2022 and beyond. Frankly, I’m pretty agnostic…

SPAC is an acronym that stands for Special Purpose Acquisition Company. SPACs have been making headlines primarily for helping some notable private companies go public. As a curious investor, it’s…

One of my biggest fears for renters has come true. Rents are surging due to rising home prices, increasing household formation, and declining inventory. The main question now is: How…