In my Money Managers interview series, I interview notable members of the personal finance community. Generally, my interviewees are bloggers or professionals working in finance. In this article I interviewed Sam, an author and creator of the Financial Samurai blog. I personally enjoy his candor and advice that comes from a wealth of knowledge and experience. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview!
For my readers who may not be familiar with you, would you please introduce yourself? Who are you? What do you do?
My name is Sam and I helped kickstart the modern-day FIRE movement in 2009. I used to work in investment banking for 13 years and decided to negotiate a severance in 2012 at the age of 34 to be free. I haven’t been back to work since.
Today, I am a stay at home dad of two children. I’m also an author of a new book with Penguin Random House entitled, Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom. Not only is it a book about helping you build more wealth sooner, it also is a book about helping you make more optimal decisions.
After spending 30 years working in finance, learning about finance, and writing about personal finance, I thought it would a good idea to put all that knowledge down on paper. For some reason, there still aren’t many bloggers with finance backgrounds, so I thought I’d fill that hole.
Let’s go back to day one. What made you dust yourself off after the ‘08 financial crisis and dive into building a personal finance blog?
I had thought about starting Financial Samurai in 2006, but I had just graduated from business school and wanted to focus on my career. It was exhausting going to b-school part-time for three years while working 50-60 hours a week.
At the bottom of the financial crisis in July 2009, I started Financial Samurai because I no longer had any excuses. I wanted to have a creative outlet to address my fears, frustrations, and more. My career was stalling out and I wanted to do something new.
I’ve always enjoyed writing and sharing stories. Writing to me is very soothing and cathartic. Therefore, I’ve continued to publish 3X a week, every week since I started.
Looking back, would you have gone about starting your blog differently?
I would have started in 2006, instead of waiting for 10 years after college to start. I felt like I needed to have a lot of expertise if I was going to write about finance. But it was a mistake to wait for three more years. So many people just start without expertise and have done very well.
Other than starting earlier, I wouldn’t have done things differently. It’s been a great journey and the website has provided me with so many opportunities. My goal is to keep on going for the next 20 years until my children become adults. I really believe the key to blogging success is to stay consistent.
People tend to struggle with finding a good work-life balance, especially these days. How do you manage? In other words, what does an average weekday look like for you?
My goal is to work 20 to 25 hours a week. I discovered that is my happy amount where I feel useful and productive, but not bitter about work. When I used to work 50 to 60 hours a week regularly, I found that I was really only productive for about 20 hours a week. I didn’t enjoy my work after about 30-35 hours. Therefore, 20 to 25 hours a week is my optimal goal.
I also try to work many of my hours when my wife and children are still sleeping, so I can spend as much time with them during the day as possible. This means often waking up by 5 AM to write and respond to inquiries and then do some work after 9 PM. But it’s doable because the hours are not a lot.
My focus is on being the best father possible. The time is going by quickly and I don’t want to look back with regret, having not tried my best.
More and more people are trying to leave their career through side hustles like blogging or consulting. There is a lot of advice floating around about that, both good and bad. If people were to focus on just one piece of advice, what do you think it should be?
Build a brand and be yourself. Don’t wait until the perfect moment to start. You should also try to have expertise in what you are writing about. Otherwise, eventually, readers can tell and move on to someone who does.
You could hire a bunch of freelance writers to try to game the system with SEO. But it’s a soul-sucking endeavor if you don’t really enjoy what you’re doing. You need to like what you do.
I understand you’re a fan of real estate. For people who have no experience with it, how would you recommend they break into that type of investment in a safe(ish) way?
Try to buy your primary residence by age 30. This means having a goal of saving up for your 20% down payment fund and getting your career right by 30 so you know what you wanna do and where you want to live for at least 5 to 10 years.
Life is short. Don’t mess around too much while young. Your window of opportunity may close quickly as others move on with their lives.
As you are building up your 20% down payment fund, you can invest in public REITs to gain real estate exposure. Or, you can invest in a diversified private real estate fund. I like investing in private real estate funds that invest in the Sunbelt region where valuations are cheaper and cap rates are higher.
For those interested in getting a better handle on their finances, what are some of your top recommendations?
Go through every line item of your budget using a spreadsheet. Then analyze your net worth asset allocation by hand or through a free financial app. I’ve used Personal Capital since 2012 and consulted with them in person from 2012-2015.
Once you’ve analyze your net worth, read as much as you can on a weekly basis about everything about personal finance to keep you focused and motivated. Feel free to join 50,000+ others and sign up for my free weekly newsletter if you wish.
If you had to give advice to someone who has just joined the job market and started their personal finance journey, what would it be?
Learn how to forecast your misery. Eventually, you’ll no longer want to do your job. When that time comes, you just need your finances in place so you have options to do something else. Otherwise, you will become miserable.
As a result, you must focus on maxing out your 401(k) AND building as much passive income as possible through your taxable accounts. Start small and work your way up. Over a 10-20 year period, you should be able to build enough passive income to cover your basic living expenses. Here are the best passive income investments ranked.
What’s the best piece of advice you received growing up? How did it shape you into the person you are today?
This old Chinese proverb, “If the direction is correct, sooner or later you will get there.” This attitude has encouraged me to keep on going no matter what.
My other piece of advice I gave all my readers is this: Never fail due to a lack of effort, because effort requires no skill. Effort is something you can control. So control what you can control.
These days what do you find yourself most interested in – outside of blogging or personal finance?
I play a lot of tennis and Softball to stay physically active. It’s good camaraderie.
I might go on a book tour to meet some readers as well. We shall see! I’ll probably just focus on San Francisco, Honolulu, and New York City so I can visit my family. But in the meantime, I’m focused on being the best father I can be.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about Sam and his views on personal finance as much as I did! If you liked what he had to say and want to see more, be sure to check out his blog or sign up for his free newsletter. As always, if you have any thoughts you’d like to contribute, add a comment!
