Reading Time: 2 Minutes If you’re having a crappy, can’t-wait-for-it-to-end week like yours truly, then this post is for you. You see, some people believe that happiness comes from within. But lemme tell ya, there’s a bit of science to it as well! And surprise, surprise, there’s been an economic study done to highlight how happiness can be measured against quantitative factors. These being: Inflation, Bank lending rates, Employment levels Growth in GDP. Courtesy of our good friends at Visual Capitalist, the 2019 Misery Index ranked 95 countries based on the above 4 economic variables: 2019 Misery Index To calculate each Misery Index score, a simple formula is used: GDP…
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How Serious is the Coronavirus?
Reading Time: 2 Minutes Everyone’s heard about it, we’re all in fear of it, but what exactly is the Coronavirus? What is it? Coronaviruses are a family of viruses in the same category as SARS and MERS. They originate from animals and are caused by animal-to-human contact. They are feared because of their ability to cause more severe diseases such as pneumonia, which can cause death. Here’s the comparison between each one: This latest Coronavirus has been labelled 2019-nCoV, and originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, most likely from a seafood market selling live animals for consumption. So far, it has caused over 300 deaths and cases have popped…
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January Net Wealth Update
Reading Time: 2 Minutes Hello everyone! Welcome back for another episode of The Frugal Samurai. So I was thinking that it’s been a long time since I’ve shared with you all regarding my net wealth. Indeed, the last time was this post back in Sept 2017 (you can read it here My numbers revealed…) Incidentally, it also received one of the highest views on this blog (everyone loves a peek behind the curtains). I can understand why, naturally as a personal finance blog, it makes sense to be as transparent as possible with you guys, so apologies for not doing it earlier. Going forward, I’ll aim to make this a…
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3 Portfolios Anyone Can Start Today
Reading Time: 4 Minutes Happy Australia Day everyone! Hope we are all taking the time out to spend it with our loved ones. This weekend also coincided with the Chinese Lunar New Year so it was a doubly joyous occasion for The Frugal Samurai household. Happy New Year! Australia Day also marks the time when the year starts to kick off again in terms of activity and work. The Christmas and New Year slow-down period is firmly in the rear-view mirror, and it’s time to get back on the horse. It’s also the time when we reflect on our New Year resolutions and see how far (or not) we have…
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Is The 4% Withdrawal Rate Enough To FIRE?
Reading Time: 3 Minutes What’s going on peeps! Whilst on the bus earlier today, I was reading a FIRE blog which is a personal fave of mine, called Young Adult Money. I think the blog is predominantly about young adults and money. David does a fantastic job with his blog, and I thoroughly suggest you go through his other posts – they’re pretty awesome! Actually, I was reading up on their latest post on Basics of FIRE: Financial Independence Retire Early. For everyone who wants to know what FIRE is and what it’s about, this post provides a great starting point. The post also goes through the well-known concept of the…
