How are the Samjae years determined?

They follow the triad your birth sign belongs to. Snake, Rooster, and Ox enter in the Pig year and leave in the Ox year; Monkey, Rat, and Dragon enter in the Tiger year and leave in the Dragon year. Three years arrive every nine, so roughly one year in three of a life falls inside Samjae.

What should be watched during Samjae?

New ventures and large moves. Keeping and refining what you already run goes fine; it is rebuilding the board or shifting it a long way that carries less force behind it. That is why tradition postponed moving house, starting a business, and marrying until the stretch had passed.

Is Samjae really a bad three years?

It marks a stretch with less force behind you, not settled hardship. The entering year is the heaviest, the staying year follows, and by the leaving year it is already unwinding. With a sturdy chart the same Samjae is barely felt at all.