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.