Business

Trying Your Best When There’s Little To No Chance Of Succeeding

If you knew that no matter how hard you tried, success was impossible or practically impossible, would you still push yourself to the limit? Or would you rationally pivot to another endeavor with a real chance of success? Personally, if the odds were overwhelmingly against me, I’m not sure I’d bother trying so hard.

Since my kids were born, I’ve noticed a growing trend: highly academic Asian American students with stellar GPAs and top SAT scores getting rejected from most of their top-choice colleges. This is common for many students, especially as admissions rates plummet due in part to the ease of applying through the Common App. However, the challenge seems even more pronounced for Asian applicants.

Although Asian Americans make up only about 7% of the U.S. population, they aren’t considered a minority group eligible for preferential treatment in college admissions, jobs, or promotions. Instead, based on average SAT and ACT scores by race, it appears they must score higher than other groups just to have an equal chance of acceptance. The Supreme Court acknowledged this disparity when it ruled against affirmative action on June 29, 2023.

When diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) became a dominant movement after George Floyd’s killing in 2020, Asian Americans were largely left out of the racial justice conversation—even though they, too, have faced discrimination and hate. I get it—Asians have the highest median income among all racial groups, so why prioritize a group that’s perceived as doing well?

But what if you’re a poor Asian from a broken family? In that case, you might just be out of luck. Your only solution is to just try harder.

Students Could Have Enjoyed Life More

During the pandemic, I had an epiphany: What’s the point of my kids studying so hard if their chances of getting into a top college—and landing a promising job afterward—are slim to none?

Instead of stressing over straight As, top SAT scores, varsity sports, club leadership, and curing cancer, why not let them fully enjoy their youth? All this intense stress to get into a top college doesn’t seem healthy.

The rise in depression and anxiety among high school students is alarming, with many feeling relentless pressure to excel. Some even take their own lives because they don’t feel good enough academically. We cannot let that happen. I refuse to let my daughter and son suffer under the weight of status and money at the expense of their well-being.

Youth mental health and the rise of major depressing among teens and emergency room visits for self-harm - Trying Your Best When You Have No Shot Of Succeeding

A Better, Happier Childhood When You Have No Chance

Imagine waking up excited to go to school—not for grades, but for the sake of learning. You’d focus on subjects you care about and do just enough to pass the ones you don’t like the quiet quitters today. Since the odds of getting into a top 25 university are so low, you’d be content with a B-average and a sub 1,200 SAT score. With lower expectations, you’d feel grateful for whatever college you do get into.

What a fantastic K-12 experience! I was all in on this idea—no Tiger Dad pressure, no pushing my kids to grind for a top-tier university just to buy an expensive house close to work to become bankers working under fluorescent lights for 60 hours a week. I’ve been there, and it’s not fun, even if the money was good.

Instead, they could go to community college, save a fortune, and pursue careers they actually enjoy. And with the $700,000+ each that would have otherwise gone to private university tuition, I’d find a way to gift them financial security early.

Then things changed in 2025. Intense merit-based rewards came back into focus under the new administration.

SAT scores by race from 1941-2020 - Trying Your Best When You Have No Shot Of Succeeding

The Analogy Of Lower Taxes Hurting Your Lifestyle

To help explain the negative of merit-based reward, let’s look at tax policy as an example.

When taxes are cut, people work harder because they get to keep more of their earnings. In theory, this is great—especially if the government has been wasting taxpayer dollars.

But the problem with working harder and longer is that money is addictive. Many people don’t know when to stop, even after they have enough. Fast-forward 40 years, and the rich banker or techie might wonder why they spent so much time chasing money when they could have been doing something more fulfilling.

I see this addiction to wealth every day through Financial Samurai. People worth millions of dollars struggling to be happy. It’s extremely hard to quit making money, even if you hate your job. That’s why I started writing about FIRE in 2009—to give people the courage and financial framework to walk away from work they despise and do something they love.

Yes, making a lot of money and investing wisely is great. But if you keep sacrificing time for more money when you already have enough or are on track to die with plenty, it’s a damn shame.

I left work in 2012, partly because I didn’t want to pay ~40% of my income to the government for the privilege of working 60 hours a week and feeling constantly stressed. So in a way, I’m thankful for President Obama for raising my federal marginal income tax rate to 39.6% and giving me the incentive to break free. Paying another 12.3% tax to California plus another 7.2% in FICA tax was simply not worth it anymore.

Screen time's affect on U.S. teenagers on anxiety and depression - Trying Your Best When You Have No Shot Of Succeeding — The less screen time for our children, the better

Merit-Based Reward Can Also Hurt Your Lifestyle

On the surface, rewarding people based solely on merit sounds fair. But it could also be a trap for the most ambitious among us.

When people realize they can get ahead by outworking their peers, they’ll do just that. A 60-hour workweek turns into 70 hours. Then 80. Then 90. The arms race for more never ends until we make it stop.

Just like money addiction is hard to quit, merit-based competition is, too. When you know effort directly correlates with reward, it’s tough to hold back. If I was paid based on performance at my old job at Credit Suisse, I would have for sure lasted for at least another 5-10 years.

Today, if I knew I could outpace AI from stealing my content just by writing more, I’d keep going indefinitely. But I recognize my window of opportunity may be closing fast. That’s why I’ve invested in the very companies working to make me obsolete. If they’re going to take away my retirement dream, at least I plan to profit in the process!

MCAT and GPA scores by race = Trying Your Best When You Have No Shot Of Succeeding

Rejected Asian American Goes Straight To A Dream Job

Take Stanley Zhong. He had a 3.97 unweighted GPA, a 4.42 weighted GPA, and a near-perfect 1590 SAT score at Gunn High School. He even founded his own document-signing startup and tutored underserved kids in coding.

Yet, he was rejected by 16 colleges, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UC Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cornell University, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, Caltech, University of Washington and University of Wisconsin.

UC Davis has a 42% acceptance rate for goodness sake! Did Stanley write something offensive in all his essays? That would be hard to believe given he has such a thoughtful father and helpful school counselors.

When I first heard the news in 2023, I was stunned. Stanley could have been my son. And if he wasn’t good enough, what chance did my kids have? Less than 1% of students can achieve the academic scores Stanley achieved. For a moment, I felt defeated. Why bother trying? Top universities will simply use subjective reasons such as personality scores to explain why a student was rejected.

But then something remarkable happened.

Instead of going to college, Stanley landed a PhD-level engineering role at Google—a job most computer science grads from the very schools that rejected him would kill for. Making $200,000+ right out of high school is a dream come true.

Stanley proved his naysayers wrong. Although, his dad also works at Google, so maybe dad was able to help out in some way.

Building Skills Becomes En Vogue Again

His story made me reconsider. Merit won out in the end—not in college admissions, but in the job market, the ultimate end goal. Businesses, unlike universities, need the best workers to create the best products and maximize profits.

If the most elite employers with the largest balance sheets like Google and Meta can no longer afford to ignore merit, the same will happen across smaller companies. Merit is even more important if you are an entrepreneur. There is nowhere to hide if you’re the one doing most of the work.

Then, in February 2025, Stanley and his father sued the University of California for racial discrimination. Despite all the hate they received, they pressed forward for future Asian American students who might face the same bias. Personally, I don’t think they will win since Asians make up around 36% of the student population at the UC system, yet account for 19% of California high school graduates who met UC admission requirements.

Stanley Zhong, a school grad rejected from 16 top schools, landed a job at Google right after high school. Now he and his father are filing a lawsuit against University of California and five campuses, alleging that there is racial discrimination in its admissions process. pic.twitter.com/DMsp2Of2qc

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) February 21, 2025

But if they win, it could mean more qualified Asian Americans will get into public universities that receive government funding. Can you imagine paying property taxes for 18 years only for your straight-A kids to get rejected? Ultimately, a lawsuit victory should benefit the best students of all races as they wouldn’t have to be worried as much about subjective factors dying them anymore.

So, that crazy dream I had—of Asian American kids enjoying a low-stress, joyful childhood—might have to wait. For now, merit is back in focus, which means long hours of studying, intense competition in extracurriculars, and enormous pressure. If we decide to go this route, parents must always be encouraging and supportive.

Treat Your Parents Well

Regardless of what happens, one truth remains: be good to your parents.

Colleges and employers may reject you, but your parents likely never will. They’ll do whatever it takes to give you opportunities and, ultimately, ensure that you’re happy.

And if they’ve been smart with their money—investing through a mostly bull market—they might have more wealth than you realize. When the time comes for college, a car, or even a house, they might just cover everything for you.

As a parent myself, I constantly battle the urge to give my kids everything. But I know that if I do, I risk making them entitled and soft.

Still, if my son and daughter grow into responsible, kind adults who choose careers that genuinely help others, it’ll be tough not to give them financial support when they need it.

When Your Best Is Not Good Enough: Keep On Going

So no matter your race, your best bet is to keep striving even if you have little-to-no chance of succeeding. Your pride is at stake. Even if you face rejection after rejection, remember—rejection is just the price of success.

Keep pushing. Keep grinding. This is a million-dollar mindset worth adopting. Recognize the world will never be fair. Accept it! Even when the odds are stacked against you, your hard work will eventually pay off in ways that are hard to forecast.

Readers, how do you feel about trying your best despite the long odds of success? Are you disappointed about the hyper focus on merit, or do you welcome the increased incentive to work hard? Why do you think students like Stanley Zhong, with near-perfect academic records, get rejected by so many top colleges? Does this prove the importance of writing good essays?

To build more wealth than 90% of the population, order a copy of Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps to Seven Figures. I’ve distilled 30+ years of financial wisdom into one book to help you achieve financial freedom sooner. But success requires action—don’t wait! In 10 years, you will wish you had taken the appropriate financial steps today.

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Business

Save More Than 80% on This Adobe Acrobat + Microsoft Office Pro 2021 Bundle

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Running a business means working with documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and contracts daily. Having the right tools in place can make or break efficiency, and that’s exactly what this offer delivers.

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Why business leaders should pay attention

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Adobe Acrobat Classic + Microsoft Office Professional License Bundle

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Why business leaders should pay attention

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Business

The Most Common Tax Planning Mistakes For High Earners

If my posts on the mistake of chasing value stocks or the need to invest big money to make life-changing money don’t resonate, consider hiring a financial professional to manage your portfolio. You may not be obsessed enough to consistently invest the amount needed to retire comfortably. Offloading the burden of investing frees up your time and energy to focus on work, family, and hobbies.

At this moment, I’m preparing to do my taxes again. Every year I file an extension (Oct 15 deadline) because of delayed K-1s from private fund investments. So when Empower reached out about highlighting tax planning mistakes for high earners, I agreed. It’s a topic I know all too well.

What I didn’t realize is that Empower offers tax planning as part of its standard client service. No extra invoices, no $300/hour CPA bills. Just integrated advice, included in the management fee. Considering that taxes are often the single largest expense for high-income earners, having proactive strategy baked in is a big deal.

The Importance Of Tax Planning For High Income Earners

When you’re a high earner—think $250,000+ income or the potential to get there—you’ve probably got a lot on your plate: investments, real estate, maybe a business or two. What you might not be paying enough attention to? Tax planning.

It’s not sexy like a moonshot AI stock, but the compounding effect of smart, consistent tax moves can rival investment returns over time. As Empower Personal Wealth specialist Scott Hipp, CPA, CFP® explains, for high-income, high-net-worth clients, tax planning isn’t about chasing one-off loopholes, it’s about proactive, coordinated, year-round strategy.

Let’s dive into four key questions Scott answered that reveal just how much value smart tax planning can deliver. If you’re searching for a financial professional to manage your wealth, choosing one that integrates tax planning into their service is essential, not an add-on.

Empower has been a long-time affiliate partner of Financial Samurai, and I personally consulted for Personal Capital (later acquired by Empower) from 2013 to 2015. I’ve seen firsthand how incorporating tax strategy into wealth management can meaningfully boost long-term returns.

1. Why is tax planning critical for high earners?

When you’re in the top federal tax brackets—32%, 35%, or 37%—every strategic move counts more. Saving 1% on taxes for someone making $100K is nice. Saving 1% for someone making $800,000? That’s four first-class tickets to Hawaii with a couple thousand left over.

Scott says most people think of tax planning as a once-a-year scramble or a hunt for magical loopholes (“I heard Uncle Bob pays zero taxes because he made his dogs employees…”). The truth: the biggest gains come from small, consistent, legal moves year after year.

It’s like The Shawshank Redemption: pressure and time. Maxing out a health savings account, backdoor Roth contributions, charitable “bunching,” and tax-loss harvesting may seem minor in isolation, but over 20 years, they can carve a serious tunnel toward financial freedom.

Here’s the danger: by the time you file in April, most opportunities are gone. If you’re filing 2025’s taxes in April 2026, your deadline for most strategies was December 31, 2025. That’s why Empower’s team works year-round—advisors and tax specialists meet regularly to tweak and optimize before the clock runs out.

2. What’s the deal with the SALT deduction changes?

The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap got a temporary boost after the passage of The One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025. It’s $40,000 in 2025 (up from $10,000), rising slightly each year until 2029, before reverting in 2030.

Who benefits? Mostly taxpayers with AGI under $500K in high-tax states. Hit $600K AGI, and the expanded cap phases out completely.

But even high earners over $600K aren’t out of luck—if you own a pass-through business (S-corp, partnership, LLC taxed as such), you might use the Pass-Through Entity Tax (PTET) workaround. Here, the business pays state taxes, making them fully deductible federally, and you get a state tax credit. As of 2025, 35+ states have a PTET option.

For the right clients, SALT changes + PTET can unlock deductions worth tens of thousands—money that stays in your portfolio instead of the IRS’s coffers.

3. How does Empower approach complex high-earner situations?

Let’s say you’re a business owner with significant investment income, passive rental income, and real estate holdings.

With Empower, you basically have a “tax specialist on demand” baked into your fee – no surprise bills. The process starts with:

Reviewing the past three years of returns for missed opportunities. (You’ve got three years to amend and claim a refund.) Empower can spot thousands in overlooked deductions.
Holistic planning based on your goals. Tax strategy isn’t in a vacuum—it’s tied to your investment plan, estate goals, and cash flow needs.

Common missed opportunities for self-employed clients:

Not deducting health insurance premiums.
Missing the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction.
Ignoring home office deductions.

More common errors Empower can help catch:

Capital loss carryforwards lost when switching preparers/software
Incorrect Backdoor Roth processing
Missed Foreign Tax Credit
Wrong cost basis for stock sales (ESPP, options)
HSA distributions taxed in error

From there, Empower looks forward—maybe setting up a solo 401(k), timing income, or planning capital gains. The idea is to create an ongoing tax playbook, not just fix past mistakes.

4. What real-world tax savings have clients seen?

Missed health insurance deductions are surprisingly common—and costly.

S-Corp owner: CPA added health insurance premiums to W-2 wages (correctly) but never told the client they could deduct those premiums above the line. Amending three years’ returns saved ~$6,000 in federal taxes.
Sole proprietor: Deducted health insurance as a Schedule A itemized deduction, but couldn’t benefit due to medical expense thresholds and not itemizing at all. Amending saved ~$7,500.
Medicare premiums: Many don’t know they qualify as self-employed health insurance deductions. Catching this can save $1,000+ per year.

These aren’t flashy hedge-fund-like wins—but they’re guaranteed returns via tax savings, often compounding over years.

Key Strategies Empower Uses for High Earners

Scott shared a few proactive moves that come up again and again:

Bunching Charitable Contributions

Standard deduction in 2025: $15,750 (single) / $31,500 (married). By combining two or more years of donations into one tax year, you can exceed the standard deduction, itemize that year, and take the standard deduction the next—resulting in a bigger total deduction over time.

Bonus: Donate appreciated assets or use a Donor-Advised Fund for even more efficiency.

Tax Loss Harvesting

Selling investments at a loss to offset gains elsewhere—then reinvesting in similar (but not “substantially identical”) assets—can lower your current-year tax bill while keeping your portfolio allocated. All Empower Personal Strategy clients ($100K+) minimize your tax burden with proactive application of tax-loss harvesting and tax location.

Roth Conversions

Moving funds from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA lets you lock in today’s tax rate if you expect to be in a higher bracket later. Future withdrawals? Tax-free. This is especially powerful in lower-income years before RMDs kick in.

Saving Money On A Good CPA

A good CPA might charge $150–$400/hour just for tax consultations. Meanwhile, many don’t offer proactive planning at all, focusing instead on compliance and filing.

Empower builds tax planning into its overall wealth management service for clients with $100K+ in investable assets. That means:

One fee, one integrated plan.
Advisors and tax specialists in the same room (or Zoom) all year.
Proactive calls before the deadlines—not “we’ll see you next April.”

The Bottom Line

Big investment wins get the headlines, but year after year, quiet, boring, proactive tax moves can be worth just as much, sometimes more. For high earners, ignoring tax planning is like leaving compounding on the table.

If you’ve got $100K+ in investable assets, Empower is offering Financial Samurai readers a free consultation. Even if you’re confident in your current plan, a second opinion could uncover thousands in missed opportunities.

For a limited time only, book your free, no obligation session here. An Empower professional will review your investments and net worth, and offer some suggestions on where you can optimize, all for free.

Empower’s Tax Optimization Services

Tax optimized investing (tax loss harvesting, tax location, tax efficiency): available to clients investing $100K+.

Tax planning guidance (analysis and recommendations – identify gaps and opportunities in your tax strategy before you file with your advisor and tax specialist): available to $250K+.

At $1M+, clients receive the above, in addition to access to a CPA, at no additional cost.

Disclosure: This statement is provided by Kansei Incorporated (“Promoter”), which has a referral agreement with Empower Advisory Group, LLC (“EAG”). Learn more here.

To expedite your journey to financial freedom, join over 60,000 others and subscribe to the free Financial Samurai newsletter. Financial Samurai is the leading independently-owned personal finance site today, established in 2009.

Business

How To Eliminate That Intense Financial FOMO You’re Feeling

Back in 2012, I thought I had finally conquered financial FOMO after walking away from a well-paying finance job. But after having children, I’ve noticed more and more relapses. If you’ve found yourself battling the desire for more money than you truly need, this post is for you.

Ever since returning to San Francisco from our 36-day trip to Honolulu, I’ve been feeling a greater sense of FOMO. The first week back hit especially hard when Figma IPOed and surged 333% on its first day. Suddenly, we were right back to frenzied markets, with retail investors piling in at sky-high prices.

In Honolulu, my focus was on mainly three things: 1) family, 2) exercise, and 3) remodeling my parents’ in-law unit. Those three priorities consumed all my bandwidth. Between supercommuting and construction, I was spent most days, with little time left to think about chasing investments.

Pickleball and then the beach were my escape. While waiting for the next game, conversations revolved around recapping rallies, kids, or which store sold the best Pirie mangoes. Careers and investments never came up, except when I asked a couple players about Honolulu’s cost of living. The vibe was refreshingly present, grounded, and calm.

The Return Back Was Somewhat Jolting

I had never taken my family on such a long trip before, so the contrast with life back home was especially clear.

With just the four of us at home, family logistics became simpler, familiar camps smoothed out childcare every other week, and the remodeling burden was finally lifted. With all that mental headspace freed up, my mind inevitably drifted back to the markets and to the unsettling realization that the AI boom was racing ahead without me.

On the pickleball courts here, the chatter couldn’t have been more different. Nearly everyone was talking about tech stocks, the bull market, and the next big AI play. Why? Because nearly everyone either works in tech or invests heavily in it. There was no escaping the mania. I found myself longing for the calmer rhythm of Honolulu again.

The Moment That Reduced My FOMO Tremendously

Then something unexpected happened that broke my financial FOMO fever. The first weekend back home, I went to a neighborhood gathering at a local park. Familiar faces were everywhere, including one dad I occasionally hang out with. He works in venture, so I asked whether he ever felt the same financial FOMO I’d been struggling with since returning.

He shrugged. “Kinda, but not really.” Why would he? He spends his days looking for the next big winner, so opportunities are always flowing across his desk. Though he did mention once passing on a company that went on to be a huge success.

That surprised me. If anyone should feel FOMO, it’s investors who had the chance and said no, far worse than never getting a look at all, which is the reality for most of us. If I never had the opportunity, then there was no missing out in the first place. But it also made sense he didn’t feel much financial FOMO since he was already immersed in the hunt for more.

We kept chatting. He asked how my summer had been, so I shared some stories from our time away. Naturally, I asked about his summer too, expecting to hear about some big trip since his family had traveled a lot before. But instead, he told me they hadn’t gone anywhere. He’d been too busy working. Two months into summer, and he was still grinding away.

That was my “ah hah” moment. Suddenly, my financial FOMO evaporated. Here was someone, at least twice as wealthy as me, stuck at home because of work. It reminded me of my banking days, when I had to ask for permission to take vacation—like a kid asking his parents for pocket money. What a crock!

I’m sure his hard work this summer will make him millions more. But he’s already rich. At our age, I don’t want to sacrifice too much time with my kids for incremental wealth that won’t materially change our lifestyle. 18 summers isn’t a lot. I’ve got enough passive income to cover our family’s basic needs. That freedom, I was reminded, is worth more than chasing the next big score.

The Six Steps To Reducing Your Intense FOMO

Financial FOMO comes from comparison, insecurity about our own progress, and the fear of missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It tends to peak during bull markets, when it feels like everyone else is getting rich except you.

I’m not sure anybody is truly immune to financial FOMO. You can be wealthy, financially independent, retired, or even work in venture capital, and still feel it. But FOMO left unchecked can push you into bad investment decisions, such as buying at peaks, overextending on margin, or constantly second-guessing yourself.

Here are six tactical yet practical steps that may help you manage FOMO better:

1) Build a Core Portfolio You Rarely Touch

One of the best ways to combat FOMO is to remind yourself that you already own a piece of the future. If you’re invested in equities, real estate, Bitcoin, or venture, you’re covered. Even holding something as simple as the S&P 500 means you’re participating in the ongoing growth of our economy. The exact mix of your asset allocation is up to you. What matters most is having a stake in assets that can carry you forward, so you don’t feel pressured to chase every hot new opportunity.

I keep the bulk of my public equity investments in broad index funds. Meanwhile, about 40% of my net worth in real estate, and 15% in private companies.With a solid core, it becomes much easier to tune out the noise and ignore the hype cycles.

For example, if AI truly sparks a wave of IPOs, new startups, and thousands of newly minted millionaires, at least my San Francisco real estate should benefit. I recently experienced a rental bidding war for one of my properties and that’s before the AI IPO wave has even arrived. Investing in the picks and shovels helps ensure you will financially benefit, no matter what.

2) Allocate a “FOMO Fund”

Instead of trying to suppress the urge to participate, give yourself permission, but with guardrails. Roughly 40% of my public equities are in individual growth names, mostly tech. This way, when I see headlines about breakthroughs, like quantum computing, I feel like I’m part of the story rather than left on the sidelines. Of course, during the next correction, I will also lose more than the average index fund investor too.

I’ve also carved out a dedicated “FOMO Fund”—about 5% of my overall portfolio—for speculative money. That’s where I can dabble in individual private companies, new venture funds, or even short-term trends. If it pays off, great. If not, it won’t derail my financial plan. By containing the risk, you scratch the itch while protecting your long-term wealth.

3) Systematize Your Investing With Automation

One reason FOMO hits so hard is because investing often feels optional and emotional. A simple antidote: automation. Dollar-cost averaging into index funds, ETFs, individual stocks, or funds removes the decision-making stress. When money flows into the market on a schedule, you don’t sit around debating whether to chase the next hot stock. Instead, you’re already steadily invested, no matter what the headlines say.

For example, after opening a new personal Innovation Fund account earmarked for my kids with $26,000 ($500 bonus if you invest over $25,000), I enrolled in auto-invest at $2,500 a month. It’s enough out of my cash flow to feel involved without feeling strain. One year later, that’s $30,000 invested; after 10 years, $300,000.

Without automation, it’s easy to fall off track because life gets busy. I have over 30 investment accounts to manage between the four of us. Inevitably, I’m going to miss something, which is why automation is so important to free up mental bandwidth.

I’m concerned my kids may have little chance of becoming financially independent on their own in an AI-driven, hyper-competitive world. Therefore, every dollar I automate for them helps reduce that concern, while ensuring their money is working even if I get distracted.

Make investment contributions automatic through monthly auto-investing to help you reduce financial FOMO

4) Use Opportunity Cost as a Filter

Before jumping on the next hot idea, I try to ask: What am I giving up if I do this? Am I sacrificing cash flow, peace of mind, or time with family? Am I risking capital I’ll need in five years for housing, education, or flexibility? During bear markets, I certainly get a little more moody. By forcing yourself to weigh trade-offs, you realize some FOMO-driven decisions don’t actually pass the test. I

As someone who enjoys investing more than spending, this opportunity cost exercise often flips for me. I tend to think instead: What is the opportunity cost of spending money on something I don’t really need versus the potential returns if I invested it? Buying this unnecessary $120,000 Range Rover could turn into $300,000 in five years if invested well!

Still, the reality is that not all investments work out, especially the most speculative ones. Corrections and bear markets are a natural part of investing. Which is why it’s worth asking a different version of the question too: What are the joys I’m giving up today in exchange for an investment that may never pan out? That balance helps keep you grounded, whether you lean toward spending or investing.

Losing Money Quickly

Just look at the Figma IPO. I suspect FOMO drove many investors to pile in on day one, paying $100–$133 a share. Fast forward just a few weeks, and the stock is already down about 40% from its peak. I would much rather have spent $25,000 on a memorable family vacation than invested it in Figma and watched $10,000 vanish in two weeks. YOLO!

Chasing hot IPOs at extraordinary valuations is dangerous, so please be careful. Instead, consider investing in these companies before they go IPO so you can sell to investors who experience maximum FOMO.

Always remind yourself that you can and will lose money when it comes to investing in risk assets. Sometimes, this fact is easy to forget during a bull market.

How to reduce financial FOMO and not chase hot IPO stocks like Figma

5) Define “Enough” Clearly

FOMO often creeps in when you don’t have a clear baseline for what success actually means to you. If your target is always a vague “more,” then no matter how much progress you make, someone else will always appear to be ahead – whether it’s their bigger house, higher net worth, or latest hot investment. That mindset makes contentment impossible.

What helps is defining enough. For me, that’s when passive income reliably covers our family’s basic living expenses. Once that box is checked, every dollar beyond is truly optional. I can put it toward growth investments, donate it, or try to spend it guilt-free on experiences.

After I hit a passive income target, I try and shift my mindset back toward an early retirement lifestyle. This means less striving, more enjoying. Anchoring to “enough” quiets the noise, and reminds me that I’ve already got enough.

Once you know your number and can sustain your lifestyle, you realize chasing endlessly isn’t freedom, it’s another form of bondage.

6) Change Your Environment

Finally, FOMO isn’t just about the markets, it’s about the people around you. Living in go-getter cities like San Francisco or New York means you’re constantly surrounded by the most ambitious and competitive people. Many of whom are making big money in tech, finance, or startups. The conversations, the headlines, even the birthday gatherings, it all feeds into a sense that you’re in this constant battle where you’re often falling behind.

One way to dial that back is to physically change your environment. Moving to, or even spending extended time in, a slower-paced city or town gives you space to breathe. Suddenly, not everyone is talking about the latest IPO or AI fundraise. Conversations shift to family, community, or quality of life.

It doesn’t mean giving up ambition or opportunity, you can still build wealth anywhere. But by lowering the ambient noise of competition, you reduce the constant comparison game that fuels financial FOMO.

Final Thoughts On Getting Rid Of FOMO

Markets will always swing from euphoria to despair, and there will always be someone making more money than you. But with a sound core portfolio, a small space to take punts, and a clear definition of enough, you can stay disciplined while still scratching the investing itch.

FOMO doesn’t disappear, but with the right systems, it can be managed so it doesn’t manage you.

Readers, do you experience financial FOMO? If not, how do you manage it so you don’t feel like you’re constantly missing out on financial gains? Interestingly, the vast majority of people I speak with in real life say they don’t really struggle with financial FOMO. That makes me curious — what strategies do you use to tame this beast?

Invest in AI So You Don’t Get Left Behind

AI is set to disrupt the labor market in a massive way, for you and for your kids. One way to hedge against that disruption is to invest in AI itself.

With Fundrise’s venture capital product, you can gain exposure to leading private AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, Anduril, and more. The minimum investment is just $10, and new accounts currently get a $100–$200 bonus.

I recently opened a new account for my children with $26,000 and will auto-invest $2,500 a month for the foreseeable future. My hope is that by riding the AI wave, they’ll benefit from the very disruption that might otherwise work against them.

Fundrise is a long-time sponsor of Financial Samurai, and Financial Samurai is an investor in Fundrise products. Our investment philosophies are aligned. Overall, I’ve invested more than $350,000 in Fundrise Venture.

Fundrise Innovation Fund Financial Samurai investment amount and dashboard - Overcoming FOMO in AI by investing in AI — My current Fundrise Venture investment dashboard, excluding the $26,000 I recently invested for my children

Pick up a copy of my USA TODAY national bestseller, Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps to Seven Figures. I’ve distilled over 30 years of financial experience to help you build more wealth than 94% of the population and break free sooner. When you’re ahead, that FOMO starts to disappear.

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