Stealth Wealth Discussions with Sam Dogen

In today’s episode, Mark Podolsky, the Land Geek, talks to Sam Dogen who has been writing on personal finance for 7 years. He has an MBA for UC Berkeley, rated a 5.0 as a tennis player, a 16 handicapper in gold, and speaks three languages pretty well. He has lived in different countries and visited roughly 40 countries as of March 2015. He has been seen in The Wall Street Journal, The L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, and now, is a guest on the Best Passive Income Model Podcast.

Sam worked in equities from 1999 to 2012, servicing institutional fund managers that they invest in. These were mostly mutual funds and some hedge funds. He also helped take private companies and placed institutional investors in public companies when they go IPO. The kind of stress Sam had to deal with working for the industry was getting to work at 5 AM in New York and 6 AM in San Francisco just to keep his finger on the pulse in relation to what was going on in the markets. There was never a dull moment. Working in the industry was fun for the first 9 years until 2008 to 2009 when it was no longer doing so well because of the housing market collapse. There was also a lack of correlation between performance and he had to subsidize the less well-performing peers. Then, the dot.com bubble burst in 2000. He particularly didn’t enjoy being considered Public Enemy No. 1 by people who didn’t pay their mortgages as was his experience working in the industry at that time.

He started financialsamurai.com in 2009 to help allay fears and worries of people who experienced the crunch. Eventually, he also wrote a book called, “How to Engineer Your Layoff: Negotiate Your Severance and Be Free.” The book advises people never to quit but get laid off. Getting laid off gets you a severance package and the mandatory Warn Act Pay, a requirement by states and by larger companies to provide one or three months worth of pay that allow people to transition during a mass lay off. It is different from a severance pay. Benefits to be derived from getting laid off is being able to get a better recommendation from your peers, unemployment benefits which is currently at 26 weeks maximum per state, COBRA, and other things that will help you transition into the next phase of your life.

Getting laid off if you are a star performer is a little different. You will need to build building blocks to get the severance negotiation by having a good relationship with your direct boss and the HR Manager at your office. Start the conversation, research online, and perhaps you can volunteer yourself to save someone else. This saves your manager from having to deal with laying other people off. Dealing with a bad manager is difficult as well.

Sam’s book, “How to Engineer Your Layoff: Negotiate Your Severance and Be Free” empowers the employee. We have way more power than we realize. However, he mentions that putting stuff out on the internet will not make you a desirable candidate to other companies who may want to hire you and it doesn’t help the company either. If you have someone who has been trained to replace you, you can have a seamless transition. It’s about communicating with the people around you. Sam speaks from experience. He was able to get a severance package that has allowed him to take care of his living expenses until 2017. Hearing from people who write Sam to tell him their lives are so much better now has been the best experience for him.

When asked about his definition of happiness, Sam equates this with progress. His philosophy is that when your relationships at home are progressing, you are happy. The difference between the rich and the poor, according to Sam, is not that great.

Another concept Sam has come up with is Stealth Wealth. It is a way you think about money and think about how you want to be perceived by society in general. Having lived in different countries where there’s so much poverty has helped give Sam a different perspective. While others brag about their material possessions, there are people who are suffering. Being stealthy about what you own is better because you need to focus on purpose rather than your material worth.

As a writer, Sam killed time and searched for stories by joining Über and becoming a driver. He met many random people and noticed the dichotomy between the wealthy and the others in San Francisco. Hearing their stories and reading their emails and comments on his LinkedIn account makes him happy.

Sam and Mark both agree that in this day and age, everybody should try to leverage the internet in some way and try to make a lifestyle they want. His comment on Mark’s Best Passive Income Model is that he has a great passive income model and the key is if it’s working for him, he should continue doing it. There’s a plethora of ways to make money online but he says that Mark’s business model sounds good to him.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

Sam: Save an amount that hurts you a little bit. If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not saving enough. Everything starts with a fundamental aggressive savings model for you to be free and build those passive income streams.

To better guide parents on how to raise financially savvy children, I advise against having them read my articles on “How To Convince Your Parents To Buy You Everything You Want,” and “No Wonder Why Millennials Don’t Give A Damn About Money.” Children should read “Spoiled or Clueless? Try to Work Minimum Wage Jobs.”

Mark: Go to financialsamurai.com and read the most commented posts on the sidebar, “How Much Money Do The Top Income Earners Make?” “Creating Powerful Friends,” “How Much Should People Have Saved in their 401ks at Different Ages?” and “The 1/10th Rule For Car Buying Everyone Must Follow.”

Also read , “Scraping By On $500,000 a Year: Why It’s So Hard For High Income Earners To Escape The Rat Race.”

Thank you for listening to the Best Passive Income Model podcast. Your support helps me to invite guests who share their knowledge that you can use to grow your business.