I’m about three months away from hitting my third anniversary as a dividend investor. I have had many experiences in my life (especially as a US Marine for 23 years), but none are as transformative as dividend investing.
Today, I want to talk through some of my experiences with dividend investing, how it’s changed my life, and how you can get started. Let’s begin.
Pre-investing years. It’s hard to remember the days before I was a dividend investor. However, when I look back, I remember being lost. My wife and I married young (25 and 22), and we had kids early.
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We bought a house early (age 28) and lived the typical American lifestyle. However, you can’t build the American lifestyle by only being an employee. We didn’t know that yet.
In June 2019, we traveled to visit my wife’s family in the country of Turkey. It was here that I had an epiphany that if I wanted to retire overseas, I would need some way to fund that lifestyle.
There was no way I could go to Turkey, even with a military retirement, and afford to travel back and forth between America and Turkey. Also, working overseas wasn’t going to be a viable option either.
Something would have to give, so I started looking for ways to live off a pile of money. I was 20 years in the military and still had ten years to save before retiring.
My goal at that point was to have $100,000 in the bank by the time I retired in 10 years. Even that seemed ridiculously difficult. The first path I found was a high-yield savings account.
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The 2% interest offered in 2019 would not be nearly enough for me to live overseas. Then, I stumbled upon Treasury Bonds, which offered 3% interest at the time. This income wouldn’t suffice either.
Finally, I found the words passive income and dividend growth investing—and my life changed right then and there.
Early investing. Right there in Turkey, I opened my Wells Fargo brokerage account and bought a couple of shares of Papa John’s, Wendy’s, Intel, Abbvie, CVS, and McDonald’s. I still have these great stocks.
My first dividend came from Papa John’s in August 2019, and it was a whopping $0.23. However, it was the most amazing thing to me. I received a quarter from the sky. It just appeared in my account.
In October 2019, I received my first dividend over one dollar—it was a massive $2.52 dividend from Altria. Altria is one of my favorite high-yield blue-chip stocks.
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Over the last 2.5 years, the numbers have just grown out of control. We are now receiving close to $1,000/mo in dividends. It may not seem like a lot, but damn, if it isn’t a ton of money.
How dividends changed my life. When I reflect on my life before dividends, I can’t understand my purpose. I know God put me on Earth to be a provider, that’s for sure. However, working a job keeps me from my true mission.
Once I found passive income and dividends, I understood my true life’s work—to free my wife and kids from the bondage of the workforce. Everything we do today will affect my children and grandchildren.
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If I want to give my kids the option to be musicians, artists, YouTube stars, writers, or photographers, I need to understand money. No matter what we do in life, we need to have money coming in while we sleep.
Today, when I receive a paycheck, I first buy more dividend stocks, ETFs, and closed-end funds. Each month, our passive income from dividends continues to grow. Dividends serve as our lighthouse in the darkness and a safety net moving into the future.
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It’s tough to describe how it feels to have an entirely different layer of security outside of social security, pensions, and employment. We’re building an income stream we can use overseas, in a small city, or on a homestead.
Dividends also afford you the freedom to pursue things you love. Imagine having $1,000/mo flowing into your account while exploring Europe or Asia. What if you need to change careers or take off work to have a baby.
We don’t truly understand how jobs and debt control our lives until we start to buy our freedom. Debt is the new form of indentured servitude, so we need to know how we spend our money.
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We slowly free ourselves from the ” man ” by investing in index funds, dividend growth stocks, and high-income securities (compare them). It’s a great life, and you’ll look forward to receiving your dividends more than your work paychecks.
Dividends represent real discretionary income and guilt-free spending. When you receive dividends, you can buy whatever you want because you know they’ll be back in your account next month. Can you imagine someone refilling your checking account every month?
How can you get started? If you are interested in dividends, I recommend starting small. You can start with $100 and see them in action for yourself. Collecting dividends is one of the most addictive things you can do in life.
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I started by reading articles on SeekingAlpha, but you’ll need to pick up some books as well. Here are some of the books I have read regarding dividends and investing.
- “The Intelligent Investor”
- “How to Retire on Dividends”
- “Infinity Investing”
- “Dividend Growth Investing”
If you want to read more from me, start with “How We Plan to Retire on Dividends (Book)” and “How We Plan to Retire on Dividends 2 (Free PDF).”
Conclusion. I can’t guarantee that dividend investing will change your life, but there is a high possibility that it will. Dividend investing represents you taking control of your livelihood.
No longer will you be dependent 100% on your job for financial security. You can aim for true financial freedom and the American dream with dividend investing.
Yes, you’ll have to overcome your initial fears about the stock market, but you can start small. Continue to read, and you will ensure you are comfortable in the markets. With inflation rising every day, it’s time to make a change. Let the money rain on your parade!
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing
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