As I prepare to go into early retirement, I am slowly changing my asset allocation to produce a higher cash flow. There are multiple good ways to do this. The most popular method is to own rental properties. But my preferred method is to own Dividend Aristocrats.
Read MoreHave you ever been given the advice to contribute 15% of your income into retirement? Or that you should max out your 401K? Or that you should at least contribute up to your employer match? Don’t worry, those are not going to be my tips to maximizing your 401K. In this article, I’ll share the most common mistakes you should avoid to not only maximize the returns but also protect your 401K account.
Read MoreOne of Silicon Valley’s prominent venture capitalists, Marc Andreessen, once said, “software is eating the world.” Profit margins for software are high, and at the same time, distributing software is becoming cheaper and easier. As a result, engineers are handsomely compensated in today's labor market. This is especially true in tech hubs such as Silicon Valley, Seattle, and New York City. In this article, I'll step through a hypothetical, but realistic scenario of a software engineer starting their career in Silicon Valley in 2019 at a big tech company. We will see how long it takes to reach $4,000,000.
Read MoreChoosing a college is a big decision, especially for a 17-year-old. I remember feeling excited, grown-up, eager, and free. But I also remember feeling nervous, scared, uncertain, and bounded by my family's financial situation. It was not only a 4-year decision but also a $50k to $150k decision for me. In this article, I'll step through the thought process of my 17-year-old self. I'll then follow up at the end with my retrospective of the decision, after 15 years.
Read MoreGo to school, get a job, get married, and buy a house. This is what my parents have always told me to do. And I’m not alone. Owning a home is one of the major milestones in achieving the American dream. But what about owning a home in the Bay Area where a decent townhome can cost $1.4M and a decent single-family home will cost $1.8M? In this article, I'll break down how I ran the numbers and decided that it was not financially worth it to buy a house in the Bay Area, in 2019.
Read MoreRecently there was an article that Financial Samurai published which outlines why a $350k household income is barely middle class in big cities like San Francisco. This was a pretty controversial article that raised a lot of eyebrows. Both from big-city dwellers as well as middle America. I previously shared my budget for a family of three and it is nowhere near the budget that Financial Samurai laid out for a family of four. In this post, I'll convey my personal take on each line item in his budget.
Read MoreI had a great time in my 20s. I had built great friendships, found my own identity, found love, and got off to a strong start in my career. I had it all—except for a good financial education. Had I been more aware about personal finance, I’d be in a much better position than I am today. But I really can’t complain. I will share with you the 8 key lessons that I wish I knew straight out of college. I will split them into a 2-part blog series between “defense” and “offense”.
Read MoreA lot of people in the FIRE community put a heavy emphasis on having an aggressive savings rate of 50% or more. And one of the best ways to ensure that you are saving enough is through a budgeting program that holds you accountable. In this blog post, I will share how I budget, my actual budget, and the thought process behind those numbers.
Read MoreRetirement investment accounts are complex. Some are pre-tax, some are post-tax. Some have penalties if you withdraw early, some allow you to withdraw up to a certain amount without penalty. Some require you to withdraw a minimum amount after the age of 70.5, some don't. And many others. In short, there's a lot of choices—and a lot of tradeoffs.
Read MoreDid you know that 40% of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency? And that 60% of Americans cannot afford a $1000 emergency? We live in a society where people carry thousand dollar iPhones, drive brand new cars, are proud Netflix and cable TV subscribers, yet they are living paycheck to paycheck.
Read MoreIn the past several years, there's been a movement that's especially popular among millennials called FIRE. It stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. But other than agreeing on what the acronym stands for, there is very little that the FIRE community can completely agree on. And perhaps the most popular debate is what is a good FIRE number?
Read MoreHave you ever wondered if you’d be a millionaire? I certainly didn’t. But it happened—and much faster than I could have imagined. No, I didn’t strike it rich over night with the lottery, exit from a startup, inheritance, or bitcoin. I attribute it to several things: high savings rate, consistently investing, high income, luck, but mostly a shift in mindset—from linear savings to compounding returns, from only working for money to also making my money work for me.
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