A home inspection contingency is generally recommended for all homebuyers. With a home inspection contingency, you get to thoroughly examine what could be wrong with the home before closing escrow. Perhaps just as important, a home inspection contingency enables you to back out of a deal if you find something you don’t like. It’s like Read More... The post Home Inspection Contingency: Why...
Getting a great deal on a house has a lot to do with good negotiating. Unlike investing in stocks, where you have no ability to affect prices, a savvy real estate investor can make a difference. And one of the negotiating tactics to consider is writing a price concession letter. A price concession letter asks Read More... The post Write A Price Concession...
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 triple-digit annual returns going forward is not wise. In August 2020, when I came out with the Financial Samurai Safe Withdrawal Rate Formula = 80% Read More... The post 5 Things To Do...
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 mortgage rates are negative for the housing market. But let’s look at the other side. One of the reasons why I like investing in real Read More... The post Why Higher Mortgage Rates...
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 in stocks and holding on for the long term. Losing money stinks. Given I spent my career working in equities from 1999 – 2012, I Read More... The post How To Feel Better...
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 14 investment accounts over the years! Thankfully, technology has enabled us to keep track. If you’re on the path to financial freedom, it’s not good Read More... The post The Right Contribution Order...
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, by waiting until after January 15, I have circumvented this sad reality! Whoo hoo! 2022 is finally the year to live it up! After a Read More... The post FS Goals For 2022:...
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 about how having kids may make you richer and a better person. Let’s change the dialogue with this article now that I’ve been a father Read More... The post How Having Kids Can...
One of my most reviled posts is called, Do People Really Only Work 40 Hours A Week And Complain Why They Can’t Get Ahead? The post paints me as an unsympathetic person full of tough love. I wrote the post back in 2011 when I was burning out from working in finance. Every week was Read More... The post The Average Hours Worked...
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 independence journey ask. Sometimes telling them they should accumulate at least 25X their annual expenses or 20X their annual gross income may seem too daunting. Read More... The post The Minimum Investment Portfolio...
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 got real money at stake. Thanks to continued gains in the stock market, roughly 35% of my net worth is in equities. This is 5% Read More... The post 2022 Stock Market Forecast:...
