Tag: Financial Independence
Financial Freedom: The True American Dream
Nobody wants to work—or, better stated, nobody wants to be forced to work. We would all love to be “work-optional.” To become work-optional, you must first become financially free. Becoming financially independent isn’t as tough as people think; however, the media does an excellent job of making it seem out of reach. Ultimately, your version…
Retiring on Dividends 104: Income Investing (Closed-End Funds)
Retirement planning is just like the years you spend at work—you require income to fund your lifestyle. There isn’t a magic formula that will allow you to retire. The simple truth is that you need more income than your expenses. Once you can achieve this without working, you’ll be financially free. Therefore, during retirement, you…
Options Trading in Your 50s: Generating Major Income
Welcome to your 50s. For many people, the 50s are their highest earning years. They will have climbed the corporate ladder, raised their kids, bought a house, and saved for retirement. However, the worst thing we can do before retirement is become complacent. We can’t let our money stay stagnant. Our 50s are a fantastic…
Retiring on Dividends 103: Dividend Growth Investing (High-Yield)
You need to earn 10% interest on your investments to beat inflation while paying taxes. However, there are many different ways to generate 10% annual returns. You can take the growth model, investing in index funds and growth stocks like Facebook (META) and Amazon (AMZN). My favorite way to invest is in high-yielding products that…
Options Trading in Your 40s: Taking on More Risk
Our 40s can be a fantastic time. We could be married, our kids could be older and more self-sufficient, we may have climbed the corporate ladder, or we may be in a two-income household. Most importantly, we may have some time to ourselves. We can use this time to build a decent-seized options trading portfolio.…
Bonding with Bonds: Why Do We Need Bonds in Our Portfolio?
Human nature makes us do funny things, especially when it comes to money. Every human exhibits a different behavior regarding money. Some people love to place spectacular bets at a casino, lottery, or sporting event. Others keep all of their money in a savings account, earning 0.1%. The key to winning with money is understanding…
Don’t Be ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, But Employed
We need jobs for one reason: to buy assets. Somewhere along the way, we started using jobs to pay bills. That’s how we got on the never-ending hamster wheel. They have a new term for this phenomenon—the working class. This means you will always work, grind, and still barely survive. I’m no longer part of…
The Four Principles of Income Investing
I’m a huge fan of the magic of dividend growth investing. DGI uses the power of compounding to create massive income and capital gains in the future. However, as much as I love DGI, I prefer the magic of income investing. Income investors seek current income that produces cash today—not tomorrow. When you purchase one…
5 Takeaways from “The Myth of Making It”
“The Myth of Making It” by Samthi Mukhopadhyay is a hands-on account of what it takes to make it in corporate America. I was drawn to the book because I spent 24 years in the Marine Corps trying to “make it.” Becoming successful in America is challenging for everyone, especially if you become a manager…
The Four Principles of Dividend Growth Investing
The best way to become a great investor is to have principles you stand by. Conversely, it is good to understand the principles of strategies you follow. Most people follow the 401 (k) investment philosophy. This philosophy states that you invest in low-cost mutual and index funds until retirement. Upon retirement, you sell shares to…
Retiring on Dividends 102: Dividend Growth Investing (High Growth)
There are many ways to retire on dividends, but you’ll have to pick the best path according to how you want your future life to look. Some people love to see their portfolio’s total value grow and compound, while others prefer to see their portfolio’s income grow and compound. Welcome back to the Retiring on…
Options Trading in Your 30s: Passive Income During Family Season
For most of us, our 30s are a time of personal growth and financial turmoil. So many things are going on at once that it can be overwhelming. In our 30s, we are getting married, having kids, building our careers, and buying homes. This season is already stressful enough; the last thing we want to…
Retiring on Dividends 101: Preparing for Passive Income
They taught us to work for money. Working is so ingrained in our nervous system that we get anxious when not working. When we aren’t working, we feel the world will collapse upon us. But the rich don’t work for money; they work for assets. Once they have enough assets, the assets work for them.…
Options Trading in Your 20s: Build Wealth at 30% Annual Returns
Most of us don’t have a lot of money in our 20s. In fact, we spend our 20s trying to have fun on a budget. If you can devote just a tiny portion of your 20s to income generation, you can exploit the power of compounding at an early age. But what is the best…
BCRE: Become Capitalist Retire Early
Do you really want to work until you are 65? At some point in my working life, I thought I would have a 30-year military career followed by 20 years in the civilian workforce. And then I changed my mind. In 2021, I wrote “No Freaking Way I Am Working Another 25 Years.” That was…
$5,000 Dividend Shopping Spree!
Isn’t it fun to go shopping with money someone else gives you? I remember my parents giving us $100 in 1991 to shop for the school year. We had to purchase our jeans (Wranglers), T-shirts, socks, and underwear (whitie-tighties). We had so much fun during those times. Those days were over once I turned 16…
Dividend Investing for Everyone! Change Your Life Today
Are you tired of being the low person on the totem pole? Do you hate not having money in your pocket when you want to purchase something? I hated working hard for money and not having enough money in the budget to take my family to the movies. But I changed my life. I now…
I Bought a Tiny Home: Are They the Solution to the Housing Crisis?
Millions of Americans are experiencing the housing crisis. Those who bought homes before 2020 should be sitting pretty. However, things look bleak if you are in the market after the pandemic. Personally, I believe the solution lies in having multiple families living together and saving money. Eventually, they will be able to afford a home…
The Sacrifice of Retirement: It Won’t Come Easily But Is Possible
When did we start believing that retirement would come easily? Why do we think someone would pay us for our most unproductive years? The concept of retiring is a reasonably new idea. People who owned farms and businesses usually worked until they died. When social security became an entitlement, the government believed people would only…
Floating Away: The Magic of Floating Rate Preferred Shares
Something strange happened to me the other day; I received more money from one of my preferred shares than anticipated. Rarely do things surprise me, but this was a great way to start the day. Nothing makes you feel more special than earning more money on your investments than you thought. But what happened? Why…
