Taking Charge of Your Finances with Sam Dogen

28% of Americans don’t have any savings to cover bills in case of emergencies. And another 21% said they had some money saved up, but not enough to cover even three months of expenses if needed. Being a husband and father means that we are the providers for our families. My guest shares simple and effective strategies to lower our financial stress, save for emergencies and how to work together as a team with our wives to create a financial future that we can feel good about.

In 2009, Sam Dogen founded Financial Samurai, one of the top independently owned personal finance sites today with over 1 million organic visitors a month.

During the middle of the financial crisis in 2009, he began Financial Samurai to help make sense of the financial crisis. He had been working in finance for 10 years and thought he had been doing all the right things with my money – saving 50%+, diversifying into real estate, maxing out my 401(k), etc. Yet, he still lost about 35% of my net worth within a matter of six months. It was a humbling experience.

On the bright side, the financial crisis made him realize that he no longer wanted to work in the financial services industry. He lost the hunger to make lots of money and climb the corporate ladder after 13 years in the business. Instead, the downturn focused his attention on something he really enjoyed doing: writing and connecting with others online.

He found himself addicted to Financial Samurai before work, during his lunch break, and after work. He was having so much fun! Therefore, in the Fall of 2011, he came up with the idea of negotiating a severance to be free from work for good.

Sam has been married for 14 years and is the father of 2 kids.

What You’ll Learn

13:55 No Equality In Marriage

Sam Dogen gives advice on marriage, and says that he has learned that things are not 50-50 they are more like 100-100, i.e., you must find your strengths and your partner’s strengths and based on that make a separation of responsibilities and tasks, but you can’t expect to be equal or give a 50% in everything.

17:23 How to Negotiate a Severance Package

In order for Sam Dogen to have a great opportunity to start his own business, one of the smartest moves he made in his job at Golden Sacks was to negotiate a severance package in which he exposed the weaknesses of finding a replacement and training him without his help or having him do the work himself, thus saving the firm money and time.

22:32 Creating Financial Freedom

 For Sam Dogen, helping others achieve financial freedom comes from understanding his own mortality. It comes from wanting to be independent as soon as possible to enjoy life without having to worry about how fleeting it may be.

30:27 “Buy This, Not That” Book

Sam Dogen tells a little about his book “Buy this not that” which focuses on helping people achieve financial freedom based on a 70-30 decision making philosophy. Even near the end of the book he talks about issues such as whether you should be a young dad or not, whether you should marry for love or for money, among others.

36:31 The Happiness Equation

Sam Dogen talks about the happiness equation in his book, and for him it’s all about expectations. The more expectations you have about things or people the more destined you are to be frustrated or unhappy. If you have lower expectations you can live a happier life. He also mentions that happiness is not a goal to be reached, but something to be worked towards constantly.

Sam Dogen’s Links

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/financialsamurai/ 

Twitter-https://twitter.com/financialsamura 

Website-https://www.financialsamurai.com/

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