Building Wealth, Engineering a Layoff and Living Life on Your Own Terms with Sam Dogen

#75: Financial Samurai and bestselling author, Sam Dogen, joins Chris to discuss ways to maximize wealth-building and live life on your own terms. They cover Sam’s 70/30 rule for decision making, how Sam engineered his own layoff and the principles you can use to do it yourself, how real estate can be a significant source of passive income, and why we should all consider having our own online real estate, small business, or side hustle.

Sam Dogen (@financialsamura) engineered his own layoff after working for 13 years in corporate america and created Financial Samarai, one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites in the world. His Wall Street Journal bestselling book is Buy This, Not That: How to Spend Your Way to Wealth and Freedom.

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Selected Links From The Episode

Connect with Sam Dogen: Financial Samurai | Twitter

Sam Dogen’s Books:

• Buy This, Not That: How to Spend Your Way to Wealth and Freedom
• How To Engineer Your Layoff

Resources Mentioned: 

• Pacaso
• Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

Podcasts Mentioned:

• ATH Episode #19: Becoming a Better Investor with Andy Rachleff

Travel Recommendations:

• Malaysia
  • Kuala Lumpur
    • National Palace
    • Batu Caves
  • Pulaus
  • Penang
  • Redang Island
    • The Taaras Beach & Spa Resort
• Angkor Wat, Cambodia
• Southeast Asia
• Majorca, Spain
• Amsterdam

Full Show Notes

The point of financial optimizations: why money isn’t the end goal [1:43]

Engineering a layoff and choosing an alternate career path [3:30]

Negotiating severance pay and differentiating between the WARN Act and severance [5:53]

Sam shares the core principle he’s held since middle school [12:36]

Thinking in probabilities and not absolutes: Sam’s 70/30 rule [14:19]

How to earn passive income by having real estate as part of your portfolio [20:15]

Why it makes sense to choose an adjustable-rate mortgage [26:59]

Strategies for success when purchasing vacation properties and lessons learned about forecasting your income [33:04]

Online real estate: the importance of “planting your flag” on the internet [36:34]  

Venture Capital: what is VC and how does it work? [38:27]

Personal, financial, and tax benefits of running a business [45:12]

Choosing a retirement plan and health insurance as a business owner [48:24]

Thoughts about financial independence and advice about how to manage finances when bringing a partner or spouse into your business [52:21]

Reasons to live in an area with the country’s highest income taxes [54:33]

Sam's travel recommendations [57:58]

What to see and do in Malaysia [59:35]

Chris shares his experience trying to use an ATM in Malaysia during his 8-month backpacking trip [1:01:13]

Contributing to your child’s 529 college savings plan [1:02:48]

Deciding which educational route to take: public vs. private education [1:05:05]

Where to find Sam Dogen online [1:07:43]

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