Career & Employment

If you want to optimize your life, it’s essential to understand the concept of Return on Effort (ROE). The higher your ROE, the more you get out of your efforts, making it an invaluable framework for decision-making. ROE can also help you better utilize your time by prioritizing tasks and opportunities that yield the greatest […]

For over 10 years, my father has been my primary editor on Financial Samurai. When my father isn’t available, my wife steps in. This system has allowed me to maintain a consistent publishing schedule of three quality posts a week. Typically, I spend 1.5–3 hours writing a post. Then, my father spends 1–1.5 hours editing

After 12 years of FIRE (financial independence retire early), I went back to work. Unfortunately, I only lasted four months. Here’s my story of what went wrong. I purposefully waited months to release this post to ensure I was thinking logically and not emotionally. From the end of November 2023 through March 2024, I re-entered

After taking my family on a nine-day vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii, my plan to relocate there is back in the cards! Since 2014, two years after retiring from my finance job, I’ve been contemplating moving back to Honolulu to spend more time with my parents. However, actually making the move has been much harder than

Income taxes can hinder wealth creation. Fortunately, for Americans seeking to save on taxes, there are nine states without income tax where we can choose to reside. These states are listed below in alphabetical order: Ideally, you’ll secure a fantastic job and find your soulmate in one of these nine income tax-free states. As your

Education is the key to freedom for all of us. Therefore, I’ve made the decision to pursue a doctorate degree instead of seeking a fancy tech job. Specifically, I plan to earn a Doctorate in Business Administration with a focus on real estate from UC Berkeley. Considering my MBA from UC Berkeley in 2006, my

I once encountered an actor in Paris who had secured minor roles in significant films, courtesy of his friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio. Despite having the opportunity to continue with these smaller roles due to his connections, his pride led him to pursue larger roles. Regrettably, 10 years later, I haven’t seen him in a single

A common suggestion people have made to help me regain my financial independence is to move to a cheaper area of the country or the world to save money. I’ve resisted relocating so far because I believe the excitement of living in a big city is worth the cost. I’ve lived in big cities all

In a compelling TikTok video, Brittany Pietsch chronicles her own experience of being laid off at Cloudflare, a publicly-traded tech company. The call involves an HR (Human Resources) representative named Rosie and another man, presumably also from HR. The man begins by asserting that Brittany did not meet Cloudflare’s performance expectations, but Brittany interrupts him,

Empower surveyed 2,304 U.S. adults about financial happiness. And one of the most fascinating data points from the survey was that Millennials need to earn $525,000 a year to feel happy! Although $525,000 isn’t a top 1% income ($650,000+ is in 2023), it’s a top 3% income. And if you need to earn more than

So you want to publish the next great book! To do so you first need a book proposal. Back in late 2011, I spent hours putting together a book proposal for my severance negotiation strategy book, How To Engineer Your Layoff. After engineering my own layoff three months earlier, I had hoped to get a

Now that the Supreme Court has outlawed affirmative action in college admissions, it’s time to look at the next layer of affirmative action: getting a job based on identity versus merit. This is the diversity hire dilemma some of you or your children might one day face. At the end of the day, the whole

The longer you are retired, the harder it may be to find a job if you want to go back. In this article, I’d like to share the difficulties I’ve faced finding employment in a new field. My situation should help folks think more carefully about early retirement and staying out of the workforce for

One of the best ways to increase your chances of making more money is to move to a city that has a high number of high-paying jobs. Ideally, you should secure a high-paying job offer first before moving to one of these cities. Otherwise, it may be tough going given the higher cost of living

If you or your spouse are rich, consider creating a trust fund job. This way, you’ll gain more status, stay relevant, and deflect suspicions that you may be an unproductive member of society. The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize there are plenty of people with trust fund jobs idly passing their time. Their