Finance Xpress

In July 2009, I started Financial Samurai to make sense of the financial destruction unfolding at the time. I had been toying with the idea since 2006, when I graduated part time from UC Berkeley’s business school, but kept kicking the can down the road. After losing around 40 percent of my net worth in […]

The post The Best Of Financial Samurai 2025: 100 Million Readers Served appeared first on Financial Samurai.

I’m back in Honolulu for the winter holidays, visiting my parents, and I’ve been looking forward to this trip for months. Especially after spending about $41,000 remodeling and furnishing a neglected two-bedroom in-law unit attached to their home. The goal was simple: test whether the in-law unit could comfortably house my wife, daughter, and son. […]

The post Almost Burned Down My Parent’s Home Twice In One Week appeared first on Financial Samurai.

As I watched my kids tear through their Christmas presents, I felt an unexpected twinge of melancholy. I knew the thrill over that one toy they had wanted for so long would be fleeting. Soon enough, it would be replaced by the next obsession. Having kids has a way of pulling you backward in time, […]

The post Eliminated a Regret and Fulfilled a Childhood Dream for Free appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Every year, as December rolls in and holiday lights start appearing on houses, a curious phenomenon shows up in the stock market: the Santa Claus rally. If you’re an investor, it’s the kind of quirky, seasonal pattern that’s worth understanding, both for context and for timing your year-end investment decisions. So what is it, exactly? The […]

The post Betting On The Santa Claus Rally To Finally Come Through appeared first on Financial Samurai.

One thing I have always tried to get better at is anticipating the future. I do this as an investor and try to see what the world might look like five, ten, even twenty years from now. The earlier you can see the curves ahead, the better you can adjust before you crash into a […]

The post Being Unable To Spend The 529 Plan Money When The Time Comes appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Beyond expensive valuations, with the S&P 500 trading at roughly 22 times estimated forward earnings, another concern for the stock market is quietly flashing red: U.S. households now have more net worth in stocks than in real estate. On the surface, this might not sound alarming. After all, the stock market has been ripping higher […]

The post Warning: Households Have More Wealth in Stocks Than Real Estate appeared first on Financial Samurai.

After two years of living in a larger house and cleaning it ourselves, we've finally come to a point where we'd like to consider hiring cleaners. As a frugal person, I feel bad hiring people to do things I can do myself, especially since I don't have a job. Therefore, I've always done my own […]

The post How Much To Spend On House Cleaning By Income and Net Worth appeared first on Financial Samurai.

As someone who has been writing about financial independence and escaping corporate America since 2009, I’ve developed several rules that serve as the backbone for achieving FIRE. They are simple, but not easy. Ignoring any one of them can set you back years. Below are the first two rules as a reminder, followed by the […]

The post The Third Rule Of Financial Independence Could Also Be Your Biggest Regret appeared first on Financial Samurai.

I’m in a cash crunch, and it doesn’t feel good. After buying my house in 2023 and living paycheck to paycheck for six months, I promised myself I would never return to this state. Yet here I am. Part of it is just bad luck, but part of it comes down to poor planning on […]

The post Investment Gains Shouldn’t Cancel Out Your Cash Flow Problems appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Recently, I’ve been experiencing a bout of financial hopelessness that’s been surprisingly hard to shake. Rationally, I know I’ll be OK, but mentally, I’m stuck in this negative loop. It started after I decided to save money by flying Basic Economy to surprise my father for his 80th birthday. Saving ~$180 off Economy and ~$1,300 […]

The post Overcoming Financial Hopelessness When Life Feels Impossible appeared first on Financial Samurai.

As savers, we are being rewarded with higher risk-free yields. Treasury bills (T-bills), Treasury bonds, and money market funds are still paying over 4% without taking equity or credit risk. Because Treasury interest is exempt from state income tax, these instruments are especially attractive for higher earners in high-tax states like California and New York. […]

The post Selling Treasury Bonds Is Easy, But Consider The Tax Implications appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Ideally, you want to find a home with both a big lot and amazing views. These are the two special features that most buyers covet the most, which create bidding wars and higher re-sale prices. However, they rarely coexist at an affordable price. Usually, when a home has amazing views, it’s perched on a hill […]

The post Big Lot vs Great Views: Deciding Which Home Offers More Value appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Conventional wisdom says we’re in a housing affordability crisis. With higher mortgage rates and higher home prices, buying a home has supposedly never been more expensive. But what if I told you this entire narrative might be wrong? In reality, housing affordability could actually be at or near an all-time high. Sound crazy? Maybe. But if […]

The post Why Housing Affordability Could Actually Be At An All-Time High appeared first on Financial Samurai.

Well folks, the time has finally come to buy a new car. After buying eight cars in my first ten years out of college thanks to my former car addition, I now dread the idea. All I want is to drive one car forever to save time, hassle, and money. However, my 2015 Range Rover […]

The post Time to Buy A New Car: Mine Is 10 Years Old & Causing Problems appeared first on Financial Samurai.