F.S. believes racism is why he is disliked by many in financial media

[DadJokes]

Financial Samurai has a new book out, so he is making the rounds on podcasts. In one podcast, he was asked about his thoughts on why there is so much controversy surrounding his blog, and his chief explanation seemed to be that people hate him because he's Asian.

Here is a link to the interview, starting at the portion where F.S. discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/L8QkdE2BHW4?t=1748

I get that the point of the interview isn't to grill guests, but I definitely wish the host had pushed back a little on that response. As far as I know, other Asian personal finance personalities don't get the hate that F.S. gets, so blaming the hate on racism seems like a copout.

[nereo]

Financial Samurai has a new book out, so he is making the rounds on podcasts. In one podcast, he was asked about his thoughts on why there is so much controversy surrounding his blog, and his chief explanation seemed to be that people hate him because he's Asian.

Here is a link to the interview, starting at the portion where F.S. discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/L8QkdE2BHW4?t=1748

I get that the point of the interview isn't to grill guests, but I definitely wish the host had pushed back a little on that response. As far as I know, other Asian personal finance personalities don't get the hate that F.S. gets, so blaming the hate on racism seems like a copout.

In the last few years F.S. Has maximized the clickbait headlines and outrageous (and often intentionally erroneous) statements to drive traffic towards his blog.  I see him playing the race card as just an extension of that. Frankly, I didn’t know until now that he’s Asian-American, only that he lives in teh SF Bay Area with a wife and kids.
The reason I personally dislike him is because he uses really dodgy numbers to make his outrageous points, and those seemingly detailed financials fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.

[Kris]

TIL Financial Samurai is Asian.

Meh. Like Nereo, I personally dislike him because he argues and postulates in bad faith and without backing himself up with good sources.

[GuitarStv]

Isn't Robert Kiyosaki one of the better selling financial writers out there . . . ?  Having a prominent asian last name didn't seem to negatively impact him.

[YttriumNitrate]

Yep ... when I think a racial group that has a reputation for being bad at math and financial accounting I immediately think of Asians.

[Adventine]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

[Kris]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

[jinga nation]

Samurai are supposed to stick to the bushido code which includes indifference to pain.

FS is adhering to the bullshitto code. He needs to stop being a knob gobbler and cultivate testicular fortitude. Until then, remain a ponce, he will.

[Adventine]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.


^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

[nereo]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.


^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

What’s the Samurai equivalent of “all hat, no cattle”?

[DadJokes]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.


^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

Well there goes my blog idea

[Kris]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.


^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

Well there goes my blog idea

To be fair, the domain name is available...

[Villanelle]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.


^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

What’s the Samurai equivalent of “all hat, no cattle”?

The tagline could be, "All cash, no cattle".

[Ladychips]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.


All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.


^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

What’s the Samurai equivalent of “all hat, no cattle”?

@nereo this made me truly lol.

All sword, no deaths?

[BC_Goldman]

All scabbard; no blade?

[Adventine]

All pose, no katana?

[ATtiny85]

All condom, no…never mind.

[GuitarStv]

All hara, no kiri.

[HPstache]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.  I get it that you're pretty certain he is not, but isn't that one of the tough parts about racism is that it can be difficult for the privileged to notice/relate to?  In fact, this thread does feel kind of racist... there's some stuff being posted that I wouldn't expect from the MMM forum.

[HPstache]

Just adding that if Financial Samurai would visit this thread (probably actually likely), I feel like it would be just further evidence that they are correct.

[ixtap]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.  I get it that you're pretty certain he is not, but isn't that one of the tough parts about racism is that it can be difficult for the privileged to notice/relate to?  In fact, this thread does feel kind of racist... there's some stuff being posted that I wouldn't expect from the MMM forum.

Oh, I have no doubt he is affected by racism in many ways. He likely even gets idiots using ad hominem attacks that drag his race into it.

Separately, his articles since his unretirement have been so over the top that he could not be taken seriously no matter his race.

Also, am I the only one that thought the samurai but was just a play on his first name?!

[DadJokes]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.  I get it that you're pretty certain he is not, but isn't that one of the tough parts about racism is that it can be difficult for the privileged to notice/relate to?  In fact, this thread does feel kind of racist... there's some stuff being posted that I wouldn't expect from the MMM forum.

I’m sure he probably does, just like every minority and woman on the internet, unfortunately.

However, there are plenty of others who don’t get anywhere close to the hate he gets. When Paula Pant or the Budgetnista post an article, people don’t routinely mock the articles everywhere. Him blaming the hate entirely on racism is ridiculous, especially when most of us had no idea that he wasn’t white.

[Villanelle]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.  I get it that you're pretty certain he is not, but isn't that one of the tough parts about racism is that it can be difficult for the privileged to notice/relate to?  In fact, this thread does feel kind of racist... there's some stuff being posted that I wouldn't expect from the MMM forum.

I don't think people are saying he's not affected by racism.  I think they are saying that there are many entirely non-racist reasons that people don't like him. He simply dismisses all dislike (or  controversy, or backlash, or negative responses, or whatever you want to call it) as being racist, which is a pretty quick way to shut down criticism. When in fact I'd wager that most (but certainly not every last little bit) of the controversy is because his opinions are very much controversial, not because he is Asian.  Rather than addressing the very valid, very supportable criticisms of his statements and opinions, he just dismisses it at racism. 

[nereo]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.

That’s not what I’ve been saying at all.

[Kris]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.

That’s not what I’ve been saying at all.

Exactly.

[ATtiny85]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.

That’s not what I’ve been saying at all.

Exactly.

Possibly

[Kris]

Seems weird for this group to be so sure that F.S. is not actually affected by racism.

That’s not what I’ve been saying at all.

Exactly.

Possibly

I mean, do I think he has been affected by racism in his daily life? Yes, almost definitely.

But, given that it’s likely almost no one who is into FIRE knows FS is Asian? Yeah, I don’t know that I think generally FIRE people are reacting to his race instead of his content.

[clarkfan1979]

Financial Samurai has a new book out, so he is making the rounds on podcasts. In one podcast, he was asked about his thoughts on why there is so much controversy surrounding his blog, and his chief explanation seemed to be that people hate him because he's Asian.

Here is a link to the interview, starting at the portion where F.S. discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/L8QkdE2BHW4?t=1748

I get that the point of the interview isn't to grill guests, but I definitely wish the host had pushed back a little on that response. As far as I know, other Asian personal finance personalities don't get the hate that F.S. gets, so blaming the hate on racism seems like a copout.

I liked his early stuff. Then he made a weird turn into massive bullshit headlines supported by shitty math. I'm kind of bummed that he has a following. I would consider him a bad actor within the FI space and not acting with good faith.

[Fomerly known as something]

Financial Samurai has a new book out, so he is making the rounds on podcasts. In one podcast, he was asked about his thoughts on why there is so much controversy surrounding his blog, and his chief explanation seemed to be that people hate him because he's Asian.

Here is a link to the interview, starting at the portion where F.S. discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/L8QkdE2BHW4?t=1748

I get that the point of the interview isn't to grill guests, but I definitely wish the host had pushed back a little on that response. As far as I know, other Asian personal finance personalities don't get the hate that F.S. gets, so blaming the hate on racism seems like a copout.

I liked his early stuff. Then he made a weird turn into massive bullshit headlines supported by shitty math. I'm kind of bummed that he has a following. I would consider him a bad actor within the FI space and not acting with good faith.

I think he lost touch with real life along the way.  He is Rich and writes to HENRY’s.  He doesn’t seem to understand why middle class folks get to FI with much lower expenses and it feels like he dismisses us as the ones with rose colored glasses.  And he doesn’t understand why we react to him badly.

[Metalcat]

Add me to the list of people who assumed he was white. "Financial Samurai" sounds like peak white guy cringe.

That doesn't mean the guy doesn't receive a lot of racist judgement. That can be true alongside the fact that he's become a professional troll.

[nereo]

I think he lost touch with real life along the way.  He is Rich and writes to HENRY’s.  He doesn’t seem to understand why middle class folks get to FI with much lower expenses and it feels like he dismisses us as the ones with rose colored glasses.  And he doesn’t understand why we react to him badly.

He successfully FIREd, but then in his words he got “bored.” He wrote about how he just couldn’t stomach how much money he was leaving on the table by not working during his highest earning years. His is a textbook case of someone who struggles with the concept of “enough” and of how retirement should not be the end-goal, but a means to an end.  IN other words, he saved enough to be FI and then retired with no real plan for post-FIRE life.

What bugs me is he doesn’t seem to recognize that pitfall.  His experience with ER was miserable even though his financials were solid. Ironically, since then he’s argued that the financials (e.g. the ‘4% WR’) are not to be relied upon, yet he hasn’t recognized that his ‘failure’ was due to having a solid financial plan but a very ambiguous life plan.

He could have just said “hey, I learned FIRE isn’t for everyone and I find great meaning in my work, and here’s my latest financial models” and he would have continued to resonate and be relevant (see Michael Kitces).  Instead he decided to shit all over the FIRE community because it wasn’t for him, and to write a long series of intentionally outrageous click-bait articles filled with massive errors all to drive traffic (and revenue) to his site. He likes money more than his integrity.

[Metalcat]

I think he lost touch with real life along the way.  He is Rich and writes to HENRY’s.  He doesn’t seem to understand why middle class folks get to FI with much lower expenses and it feels like he dismisses us as the ones with rose colored glasses.  And he doesn’t understand why we react to him badly.

He successfully FIREd, but then in his words he got “bored.” He wrote about how he just couldn’t stomach how much money he was leaving on the table by not working during his highest earning years. His is a textbook case of someone who struggles with the concept of “enough” and of how retirement should not be the end-goal, but a means to an end.  IN other words, he saved enough to be FI and then retired with no real plan for post-FIRE life.

What bugs me is he doesn’t seem to recognize that pitfall.  His experience with ER was miserable even though his financials were solid. Ironically, since then he’s argued that the financials (e.g. the ‘4% WR’) are not to be relied upon, yet he hasn’t recognized that his ‘failure’ was due to having a solid financial plan but a very ambiguous life plan.

He could have just said “hey, I learned FIRE isn’t for everyone and I find great meaning in my work, and here’s my latest financial models” and he would have continued to resonate and be relevant (see Michael Kitces).  Instead he decided to shit all over the FIRE community because it wasn’t for him, and to write a long series of intentionally outrageous click-bait articles filled with massive errors all to drive traffic (and revenue) to his site. He likes money more than his integrity.

Doom went back to work, explained his reasons, went on with his day.

FS seemed to be on a mission to shit on the whole concept and whine endlessly that a consumerist life is really expensive...as if that wasn't patently self-evident.

[ender]

His issue being taking seriously in the financial media is a massive empathy gap with anyone else, an overblown ego, a reliance on clickbait (or belief in clickbaity like topics? could be either), and in general coming across like a pompous ass.

I am not surprised he assumes the issue financial folks have with him is racism. He seems completely incapable of considering other viewpoints so there's no reason but something like racism for people to disagree so vehemently with his beliefs.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

All hara, no kiri.

Turtle of the wind.

風の亀

In Japanese, pronounced "kaze no kami", which is a play on the term 神風 "kamikaze" meaning "divine wind". the phrase follows the English expression structured "this, no that". In Japanese the phoneme "no" means "of". "Kame" ("turtle") and "Kami" ("wind") obviously aren't the same thing, but the sound is similar and the association between a slow turtle and rapid, mobile wind is pretty good.

In haiku form, it's fall in the USA so the usual association of Samurai with cherry blossoms is going to be a stretch because the season is wrong. I'll give it a go but I stopped studying Japanese when I realized I'd never get to see Hakuho compete live.

Leaves, like cherry blossoms,
Fall before a katana:
Turtle of the wind.

桜の葉は
刀で落ちる
風の亀

[GuitarStv]

All hara, no kiri.

Turtle of the wind.

風の亀

In Japanese, pronounced "kaze no kami", which is a play on the term 神風 "kamikaze" meaning "divine wind". the phrase follows the English expression structured "this, no that". In Japanese the phoneme "no" means "of". "Kame" ("turtle") and "Kami" ("wind") obviously aren't the same thing, but the sound is similar and the association between a slow turtle and rapid, mobile wind is pretty good.

In haiku form, it's fall in the USA so the usual association of Samurai with cherry blossoms is going to be a stretch because the season is wrong. I'll give it a go but I stopped studying Japanese when I realized I'd never get to see Hakuho compete live.

Leaves, like cherry blossoms,
Fall before a katana:
Turtle of the wind.

桜の葉は
刀で落ちる
風の亀

I was just racking my brains for two Japanese words that started with H and a hard K sound to match 'Hat' and 'Cattle'.  My Japanese just about covers how to count to ten and forty odd judo techniques.  Not quite on the level to appreciate puns.  :P

[clarkfan1979]

I think he lost touch with real life along the way.  He is Rich and writes to HENRY’s.  He doesn’t seem to understand why middle class folks get to FI with much lower expenses and it feels like he dismisses us as the ones with rose colored glasses.  And he doesn’t understand why we react to him badly.

He successfully FIREd, but then in his words he got “bored.” He wrote about how he just couldn’t stomach how much money he was leaving on the table by not working during his highest earning years. His is a textbook case of someone who struggles with the concept of “enough” and of how retirement should not be the end-goal, but a means to an end.  IN other words, he saved enough to be FI and then retired with no real plan for post-FIRE life.

What bugs me is he doesn’t seem to recognize that pitfall.  His experience with ER was miserable even though his financials were solid. Ironically, since then he’s argued that the financials (e.g. the ‘4% WR’) are not to be relied upon, yet he hasn’t recognized that his ‘failure’ was due to having a solid financial plan but a very ambiguous life plan.

He could have just said “hey, I learned FIRE isn’t for everyone and I find great meaning in my work, and here’s my latest financial models” and he would have continued to resonate and be relevant (see Michael Kitces).  Instead he decided to shit all over the FIRE community because it wasn’t for him, and to write a long series of intentionally outrageous click-bait articles filled with massive errors all to drive traffic (and revenue) to his site. He likes money more than his integrity.

Absolutely love Michael Kitces. His math, theory and application of the 4% rule with real clients is the best that I have ever seen.

FS is the complete opposite. At face value, I agree with the description of "low integrity". I want to say more, but I probably shouldn't. 

[Sandi_k]

All hara, no kiri.

LOL!

[YttriumNitrate]

While the Haiku's are fantastic, Sam Dogen isn't even Japanese. He claims to be Chinese American in this article.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/01/14/an-asian-perspective-on-the-racial-retirement-crisis/?sh=47d179197e18

[Sandi_k]

+ 1000, nereo - this explains it for me *exactly.*

And then add some contempt for his audience. He clearly thinks that we're too stupid to see that he wants our money and eyeballs, but he doesn't respect our thinking enough to engage in a useful dialogue.

I think he lost touch with real life along the way.  He is Rich and writes to HENRY’s.  He doesn’t seem to understand why middle class folks get to FI with much lower expenses and it feels like he dismisses us as the ones with rose colored glasses.  And he doesn’t understand why we react to him badly.

He successfully FIREd, but then in his words he got “bored.” He wrote about how he just couldn’t stomach how much money he was leaving on the table by not working during his highest earning years. His is a textbook case of someone who struggles with the concept of “enough” and of how retirement should not be the end-goal, but a means to an end.  IN other words, he saved enough to be FI and then retired with no real plan for post-FIRE life.

What bugs me is he doesn’t seem to recognize that pitfall.  His experience with ER was miserable even though his financials were solid. Ironically, since then he’s argued that the financials (e.g. the ‘4% WR’) are not to be relied upon, yet he hasn’t recognized that his ‘failure’ was due to having a solid financial plan but a very ambiguous life plan.

He could have just said “hey, I learned FIRE isn’t for everyone and I find great meaning in my work, and here’s my latest financial models” and he would have continued to resonate and be relevant (see Michael Kitces).  Instead he decided to shit all over the FIRE community because it wasn’t for him, and to write a long series of intentionally outrageous click-bait articles filled with massive errors all to drive traffic (and revenue) to his site. He likes money more than his integrity.

[PDXTabs]

Financial Samurai has a new book out, so he is making the rounds on podcasts. In one podcast, he was asked about his thoughts on why there is so much controversy surrounding his blog, and his chief explanation seemed to be that people hate him because he's Asian.

Here is a link to the interview, starting at the portion where F.S. discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/L8QkdE2BHW4?t=1748

I get that the point of the interview isn't to grill guests, but I definitely wish the host had pushed back a little on that response. As far as I know, other Asian personal finance personalities don't get the hate that F.S. gets, so blaming the hate on racism seems like a copout.

In the last few years F.S. Has maximized the clickbait headlines and outrageous (and often intentionally erroneous) statements to drive traffic towards his blog.  I see him playing the race card as just an extension of that. Frankly, I didn’t know until now that he’s Asian-American, only that he lives in teh SF Bay Area with a wife and kids.
The reason I personally dislike him is because he uses really dodgy numbers to make his outrageous points, and those seemingly detailed financials fall apart under the slightest scrutiny.

Racist.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

All hara, no kiri.

Turtle of the wind.

風の亀

In Japanese, pronounced "kaze no kami", which is a play on the term 神風 "kamikaze" meaning "divine wind". the phrase follows the English expression structured "this, no that". In Japanese the phoneme "no" means "of". "Kame" ("turtle") and "Kami" ("wind") obviously aren't the same thing, but the sound is similar and the association between a slow turtle and rapid, mobile wind is pretty good.

In haiku form, it's fall in the USA so the usual association of Samurai with cherry blossoms is going to be a stretch because the season is wrong. I'll give it a go but I stopped studying Japanese when I realized I'd never get to see Hakuho compete live.

Leaves, like cherry blossoms,
Fall before a katana:
Turtle of the wind.

桜の葉は
刀で落ちる
風の亀

I was just racking my brains for two Japanese words that started with H and a hard K sound to match 'Hat' and 'Cattle'.  My Japanese just about covers how to count to ten and forty odd judo techniques.  Not quite on the level to appreciate puns.  :P

Kuzushi, koto, kiai, gake, and for the "h" there's hantei (ref decision) and hentai (not usually a judo term, don't look it up at work).

[Hall11235]

All hara, no kiri.

Turtle of the wind.

風の亀

In Japanese, pronounced "kaze no kami", which is a play on the term 神風 "kamikaze" meaning "divine wind". the phrase follows the English expression structured "this, no that". In Japanese the phoneme "no" means "of". "Kame" ("turtle") and "Kami" ("wind") obviously aren't the same thing, but the sound is similar and the association between a slow turtle and rapid, mobile wind is pretty good.

In haiku form, it's fall in the USA so the usual association of Samurai with cherry blossoms is going to be a stretch because the season is wrong. I'll give it a go but I stopped studying Japanese when I realized I'd never get to see Hakuho compete live.

Leaves, like cherry blossoms,
Fall before a katana:
Turtle of the wind.

桜の葉は
刀で落ちる
風の亀

Every morning, before I journal, I write a Haiku (to get the creative juices moving). I wish any of mine were as elegant as the one you just wrote there.

[LennStar]

He's Asian? I never would have guessed.

All these years I assumed he was some other ethnicity, because I've always thought no self-respecting Asian would choose a name as cheesy as "Financial Samurai."

Exactly this. LOL. His self-chosen moniker basically cemented in my head that he was a white dude.

Yeah, where I'm from, samurai is done to death. Mostly by teenagers. It's like calling yourself Financial Cowboy.

^{Please don't let me see a blogger with that name, pleeeeease}

Yeah, I also thought from the name this guy is as white as a freshly laundered sheet lol. The blog equivalent of the mall ninja.

I faintly remember seeing several recommendations of him a few years back. I read a few of his articles and decided I don't want to read his stuff. It was too... pompous? Fabricated? Cherry-picked? It did not align with my concept of FIRE I was just polishing the corners at that time.

And sorry to say, but there is both a Finance cowboy and a financial cowboy podcast.

All hara, no kiri.

Good one, good one!

I was at "all nets, no fish", but this is way funnier!

[Albatross]

Lol I'm asian and I thought he was white.

[lhamo]

Half my family is Asian and I also thought he was white.

I dislike his stuff so much that I don't even click through anymore -- don't want to encourage him.  Agree with others that there are ways to put across an alternative message (FIRE was not for me, its ok to go back to work if you get pleasure/value out of that) without trashing the rest of the FIRE community and pumping clickbaity shit like "Nobody can live a decent life in the Bay Area on less than 500k/year"

[Metalcat]

Half my family is Asian and I also thought he was white.

I dislike his stuff so much that I don't even click through anymore -- don't want to encourage him.  Agree with others that there are ways to put across an alternative message (FIRE was not for me, its ok to go back to work if you get pleasure/value out of that) without trashing the rest of the FIRE community and pumping clickbaity shit like "Nobody can live a decent life in the Bay Area on less than 500k/year"

Yeah, I personally think there is so much value in the conversation about being high income earners and trying to balance the benefits of frugality and mustachian values, and also the ability to generate huge incomes, or the life circumstances that might attract someone back to their career, and the tension between those factors.

This black and white thinking is where it's useless and toxic.

I don't take issue with his content because he has changed his mind about his life goals, I take issue with his content because his messaging has become toxic and victim-y, which is just fucking weird and unhelpful.

[RetiredAt63]

Half my family is Asian and I also thought he was white.

I dislike his stuff so much that I don't even click through anymore -- don't want to encourage him.  Agree with others that there are ways to put across an alternative message (FIRE was not for me, its ok to go back to work if you get pleasure/value out of that) without trashing the rest of the FIRE community and pumping clickbaity shit like "Nobody can live a decent life in the Bay Area on less than 500k/year"

Here we acknowledge that the RE part is not for everyone, we have SWAMIs after all.

I never even thought about his ethnicity.  He is just an American.

[zolotiyeruki]

WRT the "retired, got bored," I have to insert a nugget of wisdom I picked up from my BIL:

In order to retire, you have to answer three questions:
1) Do I have enough? (money)
2) Have I had enough? (am I emotionally ready to leave paid work?)
3) Will I have enough to do? (what am I retiring to?)

It sounds like FS only got as far as the first question, and didn't think much about questions 2 and 3.

As for the racism part...this is the first time the idea of race has even crossed my mind WRT Financial Samurai.

[Villanelle]

WRT the "retired, got bored," I have to insert a nugget of wisdom I picked up from my BIL:

In order to retire, you have to answer three questions:
1) Do I have enough? (money)
2) Have I had enough? (am I emotionally ready to leave paid work?)
3) Will I have enough to do? (what am I retiring to?)

It sounds like FS only got as far as the first question, and didn't think much about questions 2 and 3.

As for the racism part...this is the first time the idea of race has even crossed my mind WRT Financial Samurai.

I haven't seen it stated like this.  Thanks.  With my DH, I do worry about the third, simply because his work has been his identity and his hobby and so much more than just work, for so long.  If he's not at work (60 hour weeks are almost unremarkable), he's at home doing work, and if he's not doing that, he's reading leadership or similar books that relate to work.  Thankfully, a couple years ago he started getting back into playing guitar and spends time on that, too, which will give him at least one thing to do during R.  I'm going to share this breakdown with him.  Thanks!

[Turtle]

While the Haiku's are fantastic, Sam Dogen isn't even Japanese. He claims to be Chinese American in this article.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/01/14/an-asian-perspective-on-the-racial-retirement-crisis/?sh=47d179197e18

Someone who has a Chinese background deliberately choosing a Japanese term as a large part of his online identity is interesting to say the least.  Not a student of history, apparently.