Tag: Dividends
Money & Marriage: How to Retire Early as a Couple
The road to financial independence is more a spiritual journey than a financial one. You must understand who you are precisely and your purpose on this Earth. As a couple, the path to living on passive income is even more arduous. Now, two people must share one vision. The journey is usually too challenging to…
Income for Retirement: Understanding Dividend ETFs
I love being a hands-on dividend investor and picking individual stocks along the way. Reading stock market news every night before bed gives me great pleasure. However, most people don’t want to spend this much time and effort to get great returns from the stock market. Everyone needs income for retirement, so what can more…
The Dividend Debit Card 3: Dividends in Daily Life
Every day with dividends is a gift, and it’s even better when they arrive directly in your checking account. I have been dividend investing for over four years; it becomes more interesting and fun each year. The key to successful dividend investing is enjoying the fruits of your labor. Dividends are best when you can…
Income for Retirement: Understanding Mortgage REITs
We all need some bonus income throughout our retirement. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra $200 to $400 arriving in our checking account every month? Mortgage Real Estate Investment Trusts (mREITs) make great sources of bonus income. Of all the types of income investing products, mREITs are the toughest to master. Welcome back…
Make Enough Passive Income to Cover Your Mortgage
Life is good when you live for free. Housing is the highest expense in most households, and rightfully so—we all need a clean place to stay. However, mortgages and rents have increased faster than wages, especially since the pandemic. If you don’t keep improving your income, paying your housing costs will be hard. The best…
Income for Retirement: Understanding Closed-End Funds
Throughout our working lives, we depend on income to sustain our lifestyles. Why should things be different during retirement? No matter our age, we must pay bills, purchase food, and allocate resources for travel; these things will never fade away. Therefore, we need to create a consistent paycheck to match or exceed our monthly expenses—enter…
Income for Retirement: Understanding Preferred Shares
Retirement comes for all of us; whether we prepare appropriately for it is a different story. But we all have time to ensure our income is sufficient to last our entire lives. The first step to living a great retirement is determining how much income you need. Then, you can choose the instruments that best…
How to Determine Your Bare Bones Budget: The First Step to Living on Passive Income
The single most essential part of retiring early comfortably is determining your Bare Bones Budget (BBB). Without a BBB, you’ll always feel you must work to pay all of your bills. What is a Bare Bones Budget? A Bear Bones Budget is the minimum amount of money your household needs to thrive every month. Notice…
Who is a Better Steward of Your Time? You are Your Boss?
When did we become a society of followers? I understand that every community needs leaders and followers, but each household in America has a certain level of freedom. I have been fully retired for a month, and people cannot understand how I spend my time. Even worse, they say they need their job to keep…
Your Wealth is Your Choice: You Have More Control Than You Think
We are moving towards scary times. Student loan payments are returning, rents are increasing, home insurance is sky-high, and food costs are outrageous. The world is applying pressure to the average American household, and things may look bleak. What’s the typical American supposed to do to beat the odds? When all else fails, return to…
To Change Your Life: You Must Change Your Life
“It’s about the journey, not the destination.” Have you ever heard that quote before? What does it mean to you?’ I only understood what it meant once I began my passive income adventure. My wife and I have come so far over the last 4.5 years. How did we start our journey? In January 2019,…
How to Make $100 a Month in Passive Income
Passive income is very elusive in that it does not start very passively. You must contribute a certain amount of work to build a passive income stream. However, once you get the hang of it, you can create as many income streams as you can maintain. Passive income is a mindset more than an amount…
Welcome to the Elite Savers of America: Save $10,000 in Your HYSA
Do you find saving money to be a difficult task? Do you need help keeping cash in your accounts? Well, it’s time to commit to saving money for your future. Welcome to the Elite Savers of America (ESA), where we value saving our money in a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA) to protect our futures from…
Dividend Investing vs. Options Trading: Let’s Start with $10,000
The world of high finance is a fantastic place to build wealth and live your dreams. However, without financial education, your dreams can become nightmares. If you can save $10,000, you can consider yourself an Elite Saver of America. But now it’s time to make your money generate more money. Dividend investing and options trading…
How to Become an Income Investor
Are you ready to make the leap into earning passive income? Do you want to live the life of your dreams without restraint? There are many ways to earn passive income; however, dividends require the least amount of physical work. On the flip side, dividends require the most cash to generate significant returns for you…
Life Begins at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone: Time to Take Control of Your Destiny
Every day in retirement is a gift—an amazing blessing from the heavens. However, these wonderful moments weren’t just given to my wife and I; we created them. You have to create the life of your dreams. At the intersection of knowledge and effort comes luck. To find your life, you must put yourself out there.…
My First Day of Retirement: It’s Time to Live
Can life truly be this good? I finally retired from the Marine Corps after 24 years, and yesterday was my first complete day away. It was a fantastic day. I accomplished so many things that I’ll just list them instead of discussing them. I did all this at my own pace without any rushing or…
Retirement & Dividends: Enjoy Your Time Off
Today was my first day of retirement, and it was incredible. There is something extraordinary about waking up and not having to go to work. I retired from the Marine Corps after 24 years. My wife and I chose Pensacola, Florida, to lay our heads. The weather in Pensacola is beautiful; however, it is definitely…
Financial Freedom Road Trip #2: Options Trading
This is my sixth time driving between San Diego, California, and Pensacola, Florida. And this will be my last time doing it as a US Marine. Arriving in Tucson, Arizona, is always a welcome feeling. Again, I love the desert more than any other environment, and Tucson has that old-school Western vibe. Welcome back to…
Financial Freedom Road Trip #1: Dividend Investing
After one year of living in San Diego, I am back on the road again. I came to San Diego to continue my Marine Corps career, dreaming of doing 30 years. But after three years away from my family (2 in Japan, 1 in SD), it was time to hang up my green uniform—24 years…
