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Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai is a website dedicated to helping people achieve financial independence and make informed financial decisions. The site features articles, resources, and a community forum covering a wide range of personal finance topics, such as investing, real estate, early retirement, and career development. Founded by Sam Dogen, a former Wall Street executive, Financial Samurai draws on his own experiences and insights to provide practical advice and strategies. The website emphasizes the importance of long-term financial planning, wealth building, and living a fulfilling life. Financial Samurai caters to a diverse audience, from young professionals to retirees, seeking to improve their financial literacy and secure their financial future. With a focus on data-driven analysis and actionable tips, the site aims to empower readers to take control of their finances and achieve their financial goals.
Financial Samurai financialsamurai.com
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RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Aug 19, 2024

Thread Of Notes

Stop Waiting For Permission To Build A Fortune

After graduating from Berkeley's MBA program in 2006, I wanted to start Financial Samurai. But even after taking entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance courses, everything I needed to launch a business, I didn't. My excuse was that my firm, Credit Suisse, had paid for 80% of my MBA education, and I felt obligated to repay them […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/stop-waiting-for-permission-to-build-a-fortune/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 17

How to Use Bad Housing Data to Negotiate a Lower Price

In real estate, money is made on the purchase, not the sale. That means every dollar you negotiate off the asking price is a dollar straight to your net worth. So you need every tool at your disposal: savvy representation, patience, a compelling offer, and yes, even publicly available data that happens to be wrong. […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-use-bad-housing-data-to-negotiate-a-lower-price/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Jun 5

Why Every Rich Person I Know Still Has Life Insurance

Here's something I've noticed: the loudest voices arguing against life insurance after financial independence almost always come from people who aren't financially independent yet. They're still grinding toward FIRE, optimizing every dollar, cutting costs to close the gap. Makes sense for them. But once you actually get there, the calculus changes. Every single person I […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/why-every-rich-person-i-know-still-has-life-insurance/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 27

Suffer Now, Thrive Later: Relish Working Brutal Hours Early in Life

Do you know who will most likely survive a zombie apocalypse? Green Berets and Navy SEALs who had to suffer to earn their place. If you have run six miles a day for years, jogging thirty minutes to evade the horde because there are no Ubers is nothing. If you have carried 125-pound sandbags up […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/suffer-now-thrive-later-relish-working-brutal-hours-early-in-life/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 25

Of Course $10 Million Is Enough To Retire Early, Don’t Be Crazy

At a poker game recently, I heard one of the saddest things I've encountered in a while: “$10 million is not enough to retire early.” Mind you, we were all sitting in San Francisco, an expensive city, but also one of the cheapest international cities in the world. So I get it, context matters. But […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/of-course-10-million-is-enough-to-retire-early-dont-be-crazy/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 22

Time Fixes Most Financial Mistakes Because You Grow Richer

One of the issues we frugal people despise is going through buyer’s remorse. We don't want to feel stupid or ripped off, so we tend to buy fewer things and experiences. Minimalism and early retirement go hand in hand. We're always looking for a deal, partly to minimize disappointment. And if we can get something […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/time-fixes-most-financial-mistakes-because-you-grow-richer/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 13

The Startup Grind Will Make You An AI Maximalist

I love startups and entrepreneurship. My obsession started when I was reselling Nerds candy in Taipei, purchased from the U.S. commissary store. To recognize and exploit a pricing arbitrage as a nine-year-old felt like winning the lottery every time a new batch arrived. In 1998, a year before graduating from William & Mary, I was […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/the-startup-grind-will-make-you-an-ai-maximalist/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 8

Top 1% Income vs. Top 1% Net Worth: Which Is Harder to Achieve?

Here is a question worth sitting with: which is actually harder to achieve, a top 1% income or a top 1% net worth? Most people assume income. The number sounds impossibly high, the competition sounds brutal, and the lifestyle of someone earning that kind of money seems reserved for a different species entirely. But after […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/earning-a-top-1-income-or-amassing-a-top-1-net-worth/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 6

Learning To Sell Is Just As Important As Learning To Invest

The decade-long advice to “learn to code” is losing its edge. With tools like Claude Code handling the heavy lifting, a basic three-month online course may be all anyone needs to build what they can imagine. The more important skill is investing. If you learn to invest, you can build lasting wealth and bypass the gatekeepers […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/learning-to-sell-is-just-as-important-as-learning-to-invest/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 4

Dads No Longer Need To Feel Guilty Neglecting Their Children For Money

Growing up, my dad would grab a quick breakfast with us before vanishing into the workforce. He'd resurface after 6pm, visibly depleted. The highlight reel of my childhood memories: throwing a ball around the backyard, some genuinely fantastic family dinners, and the times he watched me lose tennis matches and delivered his verdict — “you're just […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/dads-no-longer-need-to-feel-guilty-neglecting-their-children-for-money/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • May 2

Use Your Excess Stock Market Gains to Actually Change Your Life

The S&P 500 is up roughly 100% over the past three and a half years. At its historical average annual return of about 10%, you'd expect it to be up closer to 40–50% over that same stretch. That means there's an enormous amount of “free money” floating around, returns above and beyond what anyone had […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/use-your-excess-stock-market-gains-to-actually-change-your-life/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 30

Grading Meta’s Severance Package Offer: Strong On The Surface

If you're one of the 8,000 Meta employees getting laid off in May, the difference between a good and great outcome could be worth $50,000 or more. The main reason for the layoffs is to offset their massive AI CAPEX. I've spent 14 years helping people negotiate severance packages, including engineering my own layoff and […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/grading-metas-severance-package-offer-strong-on-the-surface/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 26

Be Safe and Live: Don’t Work in AI When the Revolution Comes

For those who work in AI, let me share a cautionary tale based on history. You may be getting incredibly rich right now, but there’s little point in being rich if your safety is constantly at risk. Back in 2008, I was working in finance at Credit Suisse Group in San Francisco. There were constant […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/be-safe-and-live-dont-work-in-ai-when-the-revolution-comes/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 20

How To Convince Yourself To Invest Aggressively For A Better Tomorrow

One of the key ways to FIRE is to save and invest aggressively. You've forecasted your misery, therefore, you know that by the time your misery becomes a reality, you'll have invested enough money to retire early and break free from the grind. Obviously, if you don't forecast when you'll be miserable, you're probably not […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-convince-yourself-to-invest-aggressively-for-a-better-tomorrow/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 17

Investing More Than The Gift Tax Exclusion Limit Shouldn’t Be A Problem

Every year or two, the market hands you a gift wrapped in anxiety. You watch your portfolio bleed, you refresh your brokerage app more than you should, and you feel helpless. But when you have children, that helplessness can flip into something more actionable. This past year, with the stock market getting crunched by geopolitical […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/investing-more-than-the-gift-tax-limit-shouldnt-be-a-problem/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 15

A Financial Dilemma: Save Your Parents, Your Children, or Yourself

After publishing my piece on the shocking cost of eldercare, a question kept nagging at me that I couldn't shake: when money is finite and the people you love are not, how do you decide who to help or save first? A $230,000-a-year group home in Hawaii for one person. Four parents to potentially care […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/a-financial-dilemma-save-your-parents-your-children-or-yourself/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 13

FIRE Psychology During a Stock Market and Economic Downturn

As someone who's been writing about FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) since 2009 and actually leaving full-time work for good in 2012, it's been quite an interesting ride. For the most part, I've been lucky because the stock market and real estate market have generally trended up, except for in 2018 and 2022. 12 good […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/fire-psychology-during-a-market-crash-and-economic-downturn/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Apr 6

How To Improve Your Home’s View With Foresight and Patience

In a previous post, I debated whether it’s better to buy a home with a bigger lot or an amazing view. One key point was that unlike increasing livable square footage, it’s nearly impossible to create or improve a view. Sure, you could add a level to peek over surrounding houses. But building a 1,000-square-foot new level […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-improve-your-homes-view-with-foresight-and-patience/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 30

How Panic Lost Me Money In A Non-Investment Way

We all know that panicking is one of the ways investors lose money. Panic selling during the 2008–2009 global financial crisis may have put some investors into the permanent underclass. Not only did they lose money, they weren't able to benefit from the incredible recovery since. Panicking during the March 2020 lockdowns caused many people […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-panic-lost-me-money-in-a-non-investment-way/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 27

It Is Easier To Make Millions On A Home Than In Stocks

Since I started Financial Samurai in 2009, I have been on a mission to help readers achieve financial freedom sooner rather than later. And one of the core strategies I keep coming back to is encouraging readers to get neutral on real estate by first buying a primary residence. Once you have secured your primary […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/it-is-easier-to-make-millions-on-a-home-than-in-stocks/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 25

I Fired Myself As Money Manager And It Feels Great

At the end of 2024, a relative asked me for financial help. She was planning to leave her expensive money management firm at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she was being charged close to 1.5% in fees and placed in a series of esoteric GS funds that charged another 1–2%. I’m not a fan of double-dipping, so I […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/i-fired-myself-as-money-manager-and-it-feels-great/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 18

A Crashing Stock Market Is Great For Our Children’s Future

One of the biggest conundrums parents face is managing their own emotions when a stock market, real estate market, or any other risk asset takes a dive. On one hand, it's painful to watch your portfolio shrink. Every dollar you lose represents time, the most valuable commodity of all. On the other hand, there's a […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/a-crashing-stock-market-is-great-for-our-childrens-future/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 16

Having Position Is Only Valuable If You Use It Wisely

In poker, having position means you act last. And acting last is one of the most powerful advantages in the game. You can raise with nothing to push opponents into folding, call with a weaker hand without fear of getting re-raised, or simply check and do nothing when your cards are mediocre. Every option costs […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/having-position-is-only-valuable-if-you-use-it-wisely/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 13

How to Survive Higher Oil Prices After The Bombing Of Iran

Due to the U.S. and Israel's bombing of Iran, oil prices temporarily shot up to $120 per barrel (WTI crude). If the Strait of Hormuz gets completely shut down, perhaps oil prices might go to $150+ a barrel. This would create a tremendous tax on consumers everywhere. With yet another increase in a core living expense, […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-i-plan-to-survive-higher-oil-prices-from-the-iran-war/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 11

How Robinhood’s Venture Fund Listing Could Impact Fundrise Venture

Robinhood is one of the most popular online brokerage firms today, especially among younger investors who actively trade. During COVID, Robinhood famously restricted trading in 13 stocks on January 28, 2021. As a result, thousands of investors were unable to buy or sell, and billions of dollars in value swung during the freeze. Robinhood does […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/robinhood-venture-fund-listings-impact-on-fundrise-venture-vcx/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 6

Treat Yourself To A Luxury Expense To Make Investing Worthwhile

If you never spend your investment gains, what exactly are you investing for? This question hit me hard after a year of nonstop financial management, market volatility, and real estate turnover in 2025. I had done everything “right” from an investing perspective, yet I felt deprived. So I made a new financial rule for myself: […]
https://www.financialsamurai.com/treat-yourself-to-a-luxury-expense-to-make-investing-worthwhile/ financialsamurai.com
RSS Hunter RSS Hunter • Mar 4