The Golden Age Of Financial Independence

goldensunsetI’m probably one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the idea of retiring early, or becoming financially independent early enough in life to spend your time however you want. Whether you call it early retirement or financial independence matters not; it’s really all about ownership of your time and your life. I certainly don’t want to be beholden to an employer until I’m in the twilight of my life and I’m willing to bet you don’t either.

As such, I’ve done almost everything within my power to aggressively pursue that freedom since early 2010. I ate ramen noodles for a year straight. Wore holes through the soles of my shoes. Dealt with laughter after showing up to work at a car dealership by bus (the irony!). Spent countless hours of my time researching companies and investing, building my portfolio, and writing about my experiences. It wasn’t always easy, but I also know that it could have been a lot more difficult.

One thing I’ve realized as I’ve spent the last 4½ years of my life saving and investing my way toward financial independence is that we are currently living in what I believe to be the Golden Age.

And I’ll tell you why.

Community

I’ve been blogging since early 2011. When I first started, there were only a handful of blogs that discussed dividend investing at all. And I don’t know of any that discussed dividend growth investing within the framework of trying to achieve financial independence relatively early in life. But in the last few years, there’s been this huge community built by like-minded individuals out there that see the value in owning time over stuff, and see dividend growth investing as a viable, realistic, and robust strategy to claim financial independence in fairly short order.

But imagine if you had this epiphany 20 or 30 years ago, and wanted to invest in high-quality companies that pay and grow dividends, to then use those growing dividends to fund your day-to-day lifestyle. Look around. Who are you going to share your ideas with? There was basically no such community back then which offered mutual inspiration, education through the free exchange of ideas, and support. We all know how difficult it is to share some of these ideas with people in our lives, which is why I think a lot of us find so much value in the online community that we’ve all built over the last few years.

While this community offers so many wonderful benefits, I also wonder if we sometimes take this for granted. But imagine for a second what our lives would look like if there were no blogs, websites, or forums. No support. No sharing of ideas. No inspiration from those that are also on this arduous journey. Just you alone in your own head.

The internet has allowed all of us to connect with like-minded people from all over the world, which has in turn made it easy to develop this ecosystem of sorts. You can read free stock analyses, who’s buying what stocks when and why, real-life journeys and their respective success thus far, how much others are spending and how they might be saving money, and how dividend income can actually provide the means to live life without regard to a day job. We know this strategy works because there are people all over the world implementing it and sharing the results.

This is truly a wonderful aspect of trying to achieve financial independence these days, regardless of your strategy. For every strategy, there’s a community of people all generally working toward a common end. And that creates a ton of value, as you’re combining the cumulative knowledge of an entire community, which can be used to help everyone within that community. It’s a type of infrastructure that strengthens everyone that uses it. I certainly wouldn’t have liked to do this 25 years ago, where I would have found myself walking down the path to financial independence completely alone. I consider myself incredibly lucky for being a member of this great community today, and I’m very grateful for it.

The Ease Of Investing

Think about being a dividend growth investor, or any type of investor, 25 years ago. You couldn’t just log onto your brokerage’s website and put in an order with ease, only to see it executed within a second. And all of that for a few dollars or so.

No, you had to look up stock quotes in the newspaper. Then you had to call your broker over the telephone and pay a good chunk of change for a stock order to be executed on your behalf. And this was only after having a few annual reports mailed to you so you could do the necessary due diligence. Time is money, but both were being sucked up a few decades ago.

Life for an investor these days is quite easy. I pay $7 to buy as much stock in a company as my bank account will allow. I can log onto a company’s website and access their financial reports, investor relations documents, annual reports, and presentations in mere minutes. And it’s possible to access professional stock analyses and valuation opinions with a click of my mouse.

Investing is easy in 2014. The costs are at a historic low. Information is more accessible than ever. Stocks can be tracked to the second during the course of day in the market. It’s almost silly that more people aren’t investing, as the barriers to entry have been almost completely removed.

Add in favorable dividend taxation and it’s easy to see why dividend growth investing isn’t just extremely robust, but even more robust than it used to be. Just as recently as 2002, dividends were fully taxed at an individual’s income tax rate. Now you can make over $40,000 in qualified dividend income as a single filer and pay $0 in federal income tax!

Living Frugally Has Never Been Easier

I spent almost my entire professional career working at car dealerships. Some people call them stealerships, but they’re only stealing what people give them. Either way, they’re basically a license to print money.

25 years ago, if you wanted to buy a car you had to march down to the local car dealership and pay a huge markup – on new or used vehicles. Used cars are especially profitable, though, as they can typically be purchased at a huge discount to what they can be sold for on the open market. Sure, you had your local newspaper to scan, or maybe a neighbor knew a friend of a friend selling a car, but otherwise you were beholden to the dealership. (New cars still require a dealership, but why in the world would you be buying a new car?)

Not any more. You can check out any number of auto websites or craigslist to snag a great deal on a local car from someone looking to unload what they have. For instance, I bought my Frugalmobile back in the day for just over two grand after finding it on craigslist. I then later luckily happened upon my 2006 Toyota Corolla with a bit over 20,000 miles for just $5,400 by way of word of mouth, but the key is to really avoid places that will attempt to charge you more than necessary for something that can be purchased elsewhere much cheaper. The point being “elsewhere” has never been more commonplace or easy to reach.

And this same phenomenon can be repeated for almost anything we buy these days, thanks in large part to the advent of the internet. Need something? Odds are good you can find it fairly cheaply online, new or used. Sometimes you can even find what you need for free! Just perusing the Sarasota craigslist free listings reveals sofas, firewood, a grill that simply needs cleaning, and a TV stand. Then there’s freecycle, which attempts to spread the joy of reuse. There’s so much abundance in our civilization that you could probably furnish almost an entire apartment for free if you gave it some time and lowered your standards a bit. You could likely also land a free bicycle and fulfill your transportation needs right there.

Of course, there’s also the rise of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and discount shopping for everything else. Huge stores like WMT dominate retailing and have been able to lower prices on any number of goods for shoppers which allows consumers to not only buy goods on the cheap, but also get just about anything they need in one spot. I say that not just as a shareholder, but as a grateful customer. I’m certainly glad I wasn’t forced to go from store to store in the ’70s or ’80s and then also pay whatever was being asked without having a clear sense of value. Now it’s easy to grab what you need, scan for the same stuff online, and get a price match right inside of a Walmart.

Almost everything in our lives can be had extremely cheap nowadays. I spend $25 on my mobile phone. That was practically impossible just 10 years ago. Want to live in a mansion? That’ll cost you. But if you want to reach financial independence at a young age, housing can also be had for fairly cheap. Again, scanning my local craigslist pulls up a $495 one-bedroom duplex apartment a bit south of where I currently live. And this is in a veritable paradise where it’s routinely in the 70s in the wintertime and there’s no state income taxes! Furthermore, that’s if you have to live by yourself. If you’re willing to take on roommates, housing can be had for practically free.

It goes on and on, but it’s not difficult to live extremely cheaply if you really want to. And it appears to me that it’s never been easier to do so, no matter what the media will try to convince you of. Housing, transportation, and food can all be had for very little money. And these are typically the three categories that most people spend most of their money on.

Conclusion

We’re in the Golden Age, folks. The community has never been bigger, brighter, or more supportive. There’s like-minded individuals that can be connected with in a real and meaningful way, even if those in our personal life don’t completely “get” what we’re talking about or trying to achieve. That kind of support is invaluable, and it would be a lot more difficult to attain financial independence without it.

And while it might not feel great to cough up a few bucks to buy a couple thousand dollars worth of common stock in a high-quality company, imagine spending five or six times that amount. $7 might be a frozen pizza or so, but $40 or $50 (25 years ago!) is a healthy chunk of change that’s being sucked out of your wallet. It’s never been easier or cheaper to invest, which makes it all the more unbelievable that more people aren’t saving and investing.

Lastly, if you’re looking to live below your means, you couldn’t have picked a better time to be alive. The personal savings rate is a bit above 5% right now, which is just embarrassing when almost everything you need in life can be procured for very little money. The problem is that wants are insatiable, and people have a hard time deciphering between wants and needs. The trick is to remember that we actually need very little. The list fits on the back of a business card. Meanwhile, a billboard isn’t a large enough canvas to list all of our wants.

Take advantage of this opportunity we have. It’s never been easier to attain financial independence than it is right now. All the information you could possibly want is right in front of you. And the costs along the way have never been less. Even better, you don’t have to walk the path alone. I’m right there with you!

Full Disclosure: Long WMT.

What do you think? Are we indeed living in the Golden Age? 

Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: Sura Nualpradid/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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163 Comments

  1. I would echo many of your comments. I started blogging, in part, because I knew that I would receive help if I asked for it. I also just enjoy the outlet of writing about finance, budgeting, travel, and especially early retirement.

    Your blog has been a gold standard for me in terms of seeing how someone can constantly move towards financial independence. The fact that you are very transparent with your numbers really helps everyone see how the journey is possible.

  2. Since I’ve started following you and created my own blog to share my experiences, there has been a bit of an increase in my social following. Friends I’ve grown up with, met in high school, friends of friends etc. And it’s amazing to see how much of them aren’t thinking of the future, instead they would rather think of the right now. Now a few of them have started taking notice and have thought to themselves “Where will I be 20-30 years from now?”.

    Thanks for your opinion on that, dividend investing is still a bit new to me, and coming straight from a options day trader standpoint, it’s like going full speed on the Autobahn to slamming on the brakes and driving through a 25 mph street. I think that budgets are very important and have said in a past blog with a handy little spreadsheet that people would be amazed at how much they blow through in a month, and then when you do a yearly summary the numbers are unbelievable. When I had that moment, I told my wife that from now on $250 would be going towards investments.

  3. When I first started investing I would whip out the newspaper and then call my broker and fees were $60 a trade so back then U didnt trade much because of it. With the dot com boom people were hot on startups getting into the information age and dividend payers were snubbed as boring stocks. These so called boring stocks have been the true champions as they provide reliable gains year after year. Hot high flying stocks are gambling and not investing as were dividend stocks are long term investments.

    Slow and steady win the race.

  4. Great write up. I think every era in its respective way is a golden era. We as humans get better & efficient every year. It’s up to that person to make the best of it. Cheers!

  5. Mantra,
    We have connected on Seeking Alpha too.
    Since you were in the car business, you are about to explode when I tell you this.
    Some background
    My 02 sebring is aging,181000 miles
    Im about to turn 59
    Retired early
    Bought myself a 426 horsepower sports car.
    While I shopped for several months,i still paid a years pay for it.
    Yes,I know I am a bad boy,when it comes to living frugal,but i still have my 04 civic to carry the daily load.
    Now to your question about living frugal
    I agree with you 100% but my reasoning may shock you !
    We now live in a time where the middle class continues to become a shrunken head.
    The good ole USA continues to steam roll towards a two tier economy.
    This will create more and more lower end rentals,smaller homes,cheaper living in some areas of the country.
    Face it,people just dont have the disposable income they once had.
    Yes we will buy more used furniture,clothes,cars,and homes in the future.
    There will always be high end for the 1%,but the remaining 99% will learn to live on less

    Bill in San Diego

  6. The internet is maturing and it enable people to their tribe. We live in an amazing time. It made me appreciate how difficult it must have been for people who paved the ways like Ernie Zelinsky. Back then, it would have been practically impossible to connect with liked minded folks. You have to go through traditional media – writing a book, interviews, etc…
    Life is good.

  7. I’ve been telling people this for a little while now. For all the talk of how my generation will never retire because Social Security and pensions are going to become a thing of the past, EARLY retirement is practically being handed over on a silver platter. I can literally move money from my bank account to my brokerage account and then own shares of one of the “evil greedy corporations that are destroying this nation” within minutes.

    For those looking to build their emergency funds, online banks like Ally and CIT Bank (not Citibank) are also good ways to build money. The interest rates are still low, but 1% on a savings account rather than .01% makes it an ideal place to stash your emergency fund cash. The concept of “online banks” would not have been possible years ago. This is fantastic!

    Also, first comment again!

  8. Jason,

    great article! We really do live in an age of opportunity for the individual. Knowledge is easy and cheap to come by. The internet is making information and investing child’s play. Becoming financially independent is a real thing, for anybody as committed as you.
    I guess, the technological changes work against us, too. Wasting time and money on (almost) useless stuff has never been easier. It takes a lot of discipline to shut down the noise and focus on what’s important. Being part of this wonderful blogging community helps a lot. You have inspired many people to live more consciously, including myself.
    I am deeply thankful for your work, Jason.
    Keep it up!

  9. DM,
    If you watch the news, you’d think no one will retire until their 70’s. But the golden age of FI coincides with the Information Age, which delivers to people the knowledge of how to proceed to FI if they are willing to find it, read it and act.

    I paid a $50 broker fee once back in the early nineties. Hard to believe that’s the way it was!
    -RBD

  10. I agree that were are in the golden age of becoming financial independent. The age of the internet has allowed the average investor to control and invest with relative ease. Most brokerage firms charge low fees to buy stocks. Back in the day you needed to contact a broker on the phone to make a trade and they charged a heavy commission. More people are taking control of their finances and realize that working is over rated. Who wants to work for the rest of your life. I sure don’t.

  11. Great post Jason!

    I love how you summed up so much in this article.

    For me, the best thing is the community of like-minded people.

    Here in Finland, most people are pretty hostile to people seeking FI.
    I’ve gotta keep it rather hush hush, since people are often mightily jealous (for real).

    They do not see the other side of the coin: the high savings rate (’bout 65% this year), the work I put into researching companies or the patience that seeking FI requires.

    I really haven’t told more than two people what my goals are back home. And none of my friends have the slightest interest in investing or FI.

    Keep up the good work! Plenty of inspiration for us all. The path seems far, far less desolate with your writings.

    Br

    Jarmo

  12. Great stuff once again DM,

    However, we have to remember that if all would do like you and (most of you readers do at least partially? ), no company would be able to be DG. We, DG investors, need those who are ready to spend all their money (and even more) to buy everything like phone, car, house, coffee, hamburger, coke, erc. right away. Luckily for us, we are going to be minority for a long time… So let’s keep this as our “secret” (this one with sarcasm warning)

  13. A-G,

    Thanks for sharing that. Those fees had to sting a bit, but there really wasn’t much you could do about it. I don’t think fees that high would impede my progress significantly, but it would certainly alter how I do what I do. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry!

    “Slow and steady win the race.”

    Couldn’t agree more! If it’s between the tortoise and the hare, I’ll pick the tortoise every time. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  14. YOLO,

    Good point there. It was much better to save and invest in the ’80s then it probably was in the ’60s. So on and so forth. Every generation brings improvement to the table, although I think the internet has sped things up substantially. But it’s ultimately up to the individual to reap the rewards. 🙂

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Cheers.

  15. Yet another great post DM well done

    Have you thaught about what happens if the government / taxman / irs wants to “join” the party , assuming that this dividend investing movement goes very popular… and why shouldn’t it 🙂 and the government wants its “fair” share from it. Here in europe we pay around 25% taxes on capital gains and dividends, some countries like netherlands and belgium have low tax rates but the majority of countries tax it 25-33%, there are already left wing parties who promote the idea that the tax rate should be the same as the income tax level, or taking away 10% of you deposits or put an additional mortgage on people who have real estate .

    Regards

  16. Vawt,

    Blogging offers an excellent outlet, which is why I think a lot of people choose to share their journeys. But it’s in that sharing that a community is built, and that foundation is strengthened by everyone within it. So it’s really a win-win. 🙂

    Appreciate the very kind words there. I started this blog to not only keep myself accountable, but to inspire through action. But the rewards I’ve received in return, especially in the form of support, have been far greater than anything I’ve given. But I’m lucky that I have this opportunity. It would have been nearly impossible to do this a couple of decades ago, and so I consider myself lucky to be doing this at the right time.

    Best regards!

  17. Hi Jason

    Nice article and I do agree with you about the communities that are available to support people now. However I think the community has always been there, it was just more difficult to access it (you had to read textbooks written by a small number of people, but when you look at what some people have done starting well before the internet era (and I don’t just mean people like Warren Buffet, but some of the secret millionaires you can read about) you can see it was possible.

    What has happened now, is that it is easier to access a far larger pool of information which is great for people like yourself who have the mental strength to be different from the majority. However, I think like most swords it has two edges, one which benefits a lot of the bloggers on Financial Independence, but the other is the one that puts more pressure on people to follow the herd and buy the latest gadget and gizmo when there is, functionally, nothing wrong with the one they already have (mobile phones, computers, flat screen TV’s, home cinema etc, etc, etc)

    As you frequently point out, no one forces people to spend all their money on things they don’t need, I think the problem that is coming is that a lot of these people want to blame someone for their own mistakes, and we have started to see some of this in some of the legal claims against banks for “selling” products that people later decide they didn’t need and therefore want compensation. Personal Protection Insurance or PPI is one example. If you took out a credit card the companies automatically added the PPI to the value owed, but all you had to do was ring them to get it removed (I know, I got mine removed on at least two cards, and it took me all of two minutes each time), but the “Muppets” who didn’t bother checking their statements or couldn’t be bothered querying it have been paid compensation in spades (I know someone who received £6,000, and of course didn’t save any of it but went right out and bought a newer car!).

    So, on balance I agree with you about the benefits, but some people will always manage to spoil a good thing!

    Best Wishes
    FI UK

  18. Joe,

    I agree with you. I can imagine it was much more difficult to traverse this path a couple of decades ago. Sharing it with others would have been difficult, and so you only had a couple of trailblazers there willing to put in the hard work necessary to do so. Nowadays, becoming a source of media is much easier, thus allowing us to bypass traditional media and create our own platforms. That’s essential to creating new communities and connecting with like-minded people in real and meaningful ways. It’s wonderful to be doing this in 2014. 🙂

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Best wishes.

  19. Joey,

    No problem there. Every comment is equal. 🙂

    Yeah, the media will hammer with you with all the negativity and problems in the world. I like to think of this blog as a bastion of optimism, because this stuff is way easier than others would have you believe. And I’m out to prove it!

    Good points there about online banking. Just one other possible advantage that individuals didn’t have many years ago. Of course, interest rates across the board were much higher back then as well.

    Take care!

  20. Stef,

    Thank you so much. Appreciate the support and kind words!

    I’m doing all I can to spread the word because I think financial freedom is indeed possible for almost anyone who wants to really achieve it. And the benefits of owning all of your time are obvious. I believe the real reason more people aren’t walking this path is because there isn’t belief; people don’t believe that it’s possible. So I aim to change that every single day.

    That’s a good point about a possible drawback to the information/internet age we find ourselves in now. There is information overload there, which can not only drain you of your money, but also your time and attention. What I do is limit my intake. I almost never watch or read the news, and I’m on social media platforms very rarely. I’ve heard of people spending 4-5 hours on Facebook every single day. That’s insane! Just imagine what a fraction of that time could afford you if you were to spend it in endeavors related to what we discuss here.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best regards.

  21. I agree with you. the internet as Revolution the world. i can tell one more thing is that this days i can buy a lot of goods (car parts, shoes..) by ordering them on line from all around the world.
    by doing that i buy goods for Much more cheaper the i buy in my own country for exempel i can buy nike brand shoes (nike pegasus) 50$ less, by ordering them+shipment from the u.s seller.

    sagiv, Israel

  22. Steve,

    “…it’s like going full speed on the Autobahn to slamming on the brakes and driving through a 25 mph street.”

    That’s funny! But I imagine there’s a lot of truth there. Doing 120 mph is a lot of fun, until you crash and burn. Taking the same course at 25 mph might not be as fun or fast, but it’s more likely you’ll get to your destination in one piece. Plus, you can enjoy the scenery along the way. Life isn’t a race, right?

    I wish you luck with the budgeting. I think that tracking every single penny in and out is a fundamental must for the path to FI. It’s the foundation. You can’t know how much passive income you need, how much you can invest, or what steps to take if you don’t know exactly how much you earn and spend. And people are likely to be surprised when they actually see where their money is going. Once I started budgeting every cent, I knew where I needed to make cuts and how to go about getting that done.

    Cheers!

  23. RBD,

    Right. The media wants to sell you the news, and who wants to read about rainbows and unicorns? I guess reading about other people suffering in poverty makes you feel good about your own situation. But I’m doing all I can to show that it doesn’t have to be that way. 🙂

    $50 broker fees would sure sting. I’d be investing less often and making sure transactions were even larger. It could still be done, but it wouldn’t be as easy.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best wishes.

  24. FF,

    I’m with you. I certainly don’t want to have to work a 9-5 for the rest of my life. Our time is our most precious commodity, and it’s finite as well as non-renewable. Yet people trade it away so cheaply.

    The good news is that it’s never been easier to take control of that commodity and put yourself in a position to where you can claim ownership over your time. 🙂

    Take care!

  25. Jarmo,

    Thank you so much. I’m glad the path is less desolate. I’m walking it with you, that’s for sure. 🙂

    I know what you mean about keeping things quiet around others. I certainly faced my own criticism when being a bit more open and outspoken about the benefits of this lifestyle with certain members of my own family. I liken it to Plato’s cave. Some people just prefer the ease of watching the shadows on the wall. However, I could never be in those chains again, not after seeing the light.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best wishes.

  26. I remember back in the 90’s as a kid, looking up quotes in the paper… fun times indeed.

    I think you’ve really hit the nail on the head with a lot of things, which allows motivated folks to take advantage of available information to accelerate their savings. What the information age and this age of opportunity have really provided is a means for some people to almost “arbitrage life” to get ahead, while most still sit around with their heads in the sand. Happy to be walking tall, seeing the beautiful sights, and enjoying this version of life with you and everyone else in the community.

  27. Petteri,

    Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the post. 🙂

    Yeah, I’ve read different authors take on that scenario – what would happen if we all tried to retire early. I personally think things would be fine, just different. Sure, there likely wouldn’t be this arbitrage going on, where you live off of the passive income companies send you via rising dividend income payments because they’re able to claim higher and higher profitability due to the rest of society buying their products and/or services. However, a good portion of the companies we all invest in would still be viable, regardless. It’s not like people are going to stop eating food, drinking beverages, or brushing their teeth, regardless of their desires.

    See here:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2013/10/investing-in-companies-that-sell_13/

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2013/10/investing-in-companies-that-sell/

    What we would likely see is just plain fewer companies, and they would probably be less profitable. But there would be less demand on almost anything driven by consumerism. Which means the prices would come down. Thus, the amount of money people would have to make would be less, bringing us to some type of society that is perhaps more aligned with Keynesian’s call for a 15-hour workweek.

    Just my thoughts on it, but it’s never going to happen anyway.

    Cheers!

  28. zoltan,

    The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 ensured that the dividend taxation as it stands here in the US is a permanent part of tax code, so it’s not just a temporary bill. However, I’m not hinging my dreams of financial independence on it. Even if it changed and dividends were taxed as ordinary income, those living on very little income will ultimately still pay very little in taxes anyhow. That’s part of the robustness of this strategy. 🙂

    Cheers!

  29. This is the proper perspective, Jason. We ought to be grateful for the community and opportunities we all have right now, especially regarding financial independence. It’s almost comical how easy it is to get ahead financially these days. Information abounds, stuff is cheap, and we have so many guides on how to do it.

  30. FI UK,

    Yeah, I disagree with some of that. It’s like blaming the companies for manufacturing products that people buy, or blaming credit cards for personal debt. Or blaming a spirits company for the alcoholic who routinely drinks and drives. There is a personal responsibility there. I lived around that with my own mother. Drug dealers didn’t force her to buy drugs and lose her children. She did that on her own. I had an opportunity to join her, but chose another path.

    But there’s nobody spoiling a good thing. The only thing anyone is spoiling by living above their means is their respective freedom. Causes me no harm, other than perhaps more waste in our environment. However, I think that there are some people out there that are living that type of life, but actually want out. And so I try to inspire that subset. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve witnessed other people firsthand (in my own family) that simply prefer to live the typical American consumerist lifestyle. More power to them, but it’s not for me. I don’t think it’s right or wrong either way, but the key is to be honest with yourself and happy with your choices.

    Cheers!

  31. It sure is a golden time to live! Being able to (as a student) get 9000 Swedish krona($1250) a month and still being able to save around $250 is what I think very good. Still if I would stop with the alcohol I could save a few more bucks I think :P. It’s now or never if you want to be financially independent in the future! All in I say! 😀

  32. Bill,

    Nothing wrong with buying a sports car, or anything else for that matter. You simply want to be aware of your choice and make sure the value is there. If you find a lot of value in that purchase, can easily afford it, and you’re happy with your decision, then more power to you. I don’t think frugality is for everyone, nor should it be. Same goes for financial independence. I happen to think happiness is not derived from the stuff we buy (research agrees with this), but others might still disagree. I once had a beautiful Corvette, nearly new. Not only did it bring me no happiness beyond the initial euphoria of driving it for the first week or two, but it became a hassle to park it far from everyone, fill it up with premium gas, pay the big insurance bill, and worry about it all the time. I now have a Corolla that’s hassle-free, and allows me to save a lot more money to buy my freedom. To each their own. 🙂

    Best regards.

  33. sagiv,

    Thanks for sharing. The internet is an amazing invention. It has literally changed our lives, mostly for the better. What I’m doing wouldn’t have been nearly as easy before the advent of it, so I’m certainly grateful for doing this in the here and now. 🙂

    Appreciate the readership from Israel!

    Take care.

  34. I agree with everything you said. I think that people will continue reading blogs like this and might even invest themselves, and their families, out of poverty.

    Before the internet, it was hard to understand investing or even how to invest. This information only existed within the wealthy. It was like a huge secret that was passed down from generation to generation and kept a secret.

    Meanwhile, on the other hand, with the not so wealthy crowd- They’ve been on a different cycle- Find a job, work countless hours, spend all your check, work more hours, spend all your check, etc. People didn’t realize that you could make money in other ways, other than stashing your cash in a bank savings account which pays very little interest. At .01% annual interest, every 1000 in the bank, gives you 10cents per year(and this is before having to pay taxes on that).So what was the incentive with that? Why stash it in any bank, when it can be used to finance a brand new 40k car for 7years right?

    Now, anyone can do a quick online search to learn about investing.

  35. W2R,

    I remember doing the same thing! I actually had a class in high school where we looked up stock quotes in the newspaper and had to pick our favorites. The good old days, right? 🙂

    I’m completely with you. Others might still be stuck in the cave, chained to the floor. But I’d rather be outside, soaking up the sunshine and creating my own destiny.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best wishes.

  36. DB40,

    Agreed. It’s almost silly/unbelievable that more people aren’t taking advantage of these opportunities to claim their own freedom. Some people just don’t want it, which is fine by me. But I think there’s a group of people that do want it, but are unsure of how to go about it. Luckily, we live in an age where the information is readily available for very little or no money. Even better, you can connect with like-minded people to form meaningful and lasting relationships. Just wasn’t really possible 20 or 30 years ago.

    Cheers!

  37. Martin,

    The wonderful thing is that you’re cognizant of your situation, and you’re still just a student. I didn’t “wake up” until my 20s were almost over. You’ll get there! 🙂

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Take care.

  38. Joel,

    Absolutely. The information was there a few decades ago, but there was less of it and it was hard to access. You had to REALLY want to know how to become financially independent. Now, it’s as simple as an online search. Life’s a lot easier.

    Factor in cheaper goods and the ease of investing these days and anyone trying to reach financial independence has a huge advantage over what those aiming for it 20 or 30 years ago faced.

    The mountain isn’t as tall as it once was, but it’s still a steep climb. Luckily, we have each other for guidance and support. 🙂

    Take care!

  39. Hi DM,

    I agree with you 100%. We live in a prosperous time and life is very easy right now. That can be said for pretty much everything. I find a lot of value from stepping back and assessing our current situation from time to time. For example, I had an operation back on the 6th November, and I’m just starting to walk again. I forgot how much I appreciated walking, squatting or cycling to work. Never mind weight training and running!

    I’ve been physically humbled, and I’m glad I experienced it.

    It’s hugely beneficial to have the support and knowledge of people like yourself to help guide new DGI starters like me. You’re able to map out clear tracks of success for us to follow, and we in turn can help others.

    It’s pretty damn cool when you think about it. Imagine what it’s going to be like in the next 20-30 years. What will investing look like then? I have no doubt it will be even easier, with more information at your finger tips than you have now. Although we have instant access to all sorts of information, I believe there will be more summaries of that information. More interpretation for us.

    Here’s to the next 20-30 years!

    Cheers
    Huw

  40. Yes, we are in the “golden age” for investors. However on the cynical side, the American middle class has never had it tougher with stagnant wages, lack of job security, expensive college costs, and expensive healthcare costs. This country will always make laws and create an economic environment that favors the rich, which is why every middle class American should learn how to invest effectively! If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! That is just the reality.

    I just started dividend investing about 4 years ago and am up to almost $5,500 a year in dividend income. I don’t expect to fully retire off my dividend income, but I know that I will never be broke and will never have to count on my employer for all of my income. It is, without a doubt, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I find it extremely empowering, and it is something that everyone can do on some scale. My net worth has also exploded over these past 4 years of record stock market returns.

    If I didn’t have a wife and son, I’d probably be doing exactly what Jason is doing in terms of living as cheaply as possible. I do try to be as frugal as possible given my family’s needs.

  41. I think you are on to something with the media there. If they were constantly reporting on how easy it is to build wealth with even a low-end middle class income, their viewers/readers would turn off.

    Some people would rather have their own failure to plan for the future validated by hearing how difficult it is, rather than actually make changes to their way of life.

  42. Huw,

    Perspective, my friend. It’s invaluable. So is optimism!

    Terribly sorry to hear about the operation and the subsequent health issue there. That sounds like an awful time. At least you found a new appreciation for basic motor skills, which is something that’s easy to take for granted.

    I’m also extremely excited to see what the next 20-30 years brings us. Should be a lot of fun. I can imagine that life will only get easier for a boatload of people. 🙂

    Thanks for dropping by and sharing your experience. I hope your health is on the mend!

    Best regards.

  43. You’re so right about the value of being able to share ideas in a community like this, and more importantly the encouragement and motivation that everyone brings. It’s hard to talk about these things with family and friends, who can be slightly less enthusiastic about it all. And sooo many options for living the life you want – spendy or frugal and anywhere in between.

    It’s just awesome – thanks for reminding us DM!

    Cheers,

    Jason

  44. DM,

    Couldn’t agree with you more. I remember my father telling me that even as recently as the 90s the full service brokerage he used charged $100+ per stock trade! He ended up switching everything over to the upstart, Schwab, to save money by doing the trades himself.

    There is a downside to the availability of information and ease of initiating trades, though. It is easier to get away from the buy-and-hold mentality when it has gotten so easy to trade in and out of stocks. More self-restraint is now required since the system pretty much allows you to do whatever you want.

    Scott
    http://www.twoinvesting.com

  45. EWB,

    “the American middle class has never had it tougher with stagnant wages, lack of job security, expensive college costs, and expensive healthcare costs.”

    Ehh, not so sure about that. I grew up in the middle class (and am still in that class by income) and I don’t agree with most of that. Again, some of that comes down to personal responsibility. Job security is partly a function of how hard you work, yet I’ve witnessed very few hard workers during my entire career. Most people seem to expect a paycheck just for showing up.

    Real college costs haven’t gone up as much as the mainstream media would want you to believe either, as the sticker price and real cost often vary substantially:

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/06/25/325497878/the-real-price-of-college

    And while real income has been stagnant over the last couple of decades, the actual time needed to work to afford basic goods has declined over long periods of time:

    http://www.dallasfed.org/assets/documents/fed/annual/1999/ar97.pdf

    It’s easy to complain. And I think that’s why most people do it.

    But congrats on the success thus far with your investing. $5,500 in dividend income is fantastic. Well on your way!

    Cheers.

  46. Steven,

    “Some people would rather have their own failure to plan for the future validated by hearing how difficult it is, rather than actually make changes to their way of life.”

    Absolutely. Misery loves company. And ignorance is bliss.

    Like I was just mentioning in another comment, it’s easy to complain. It’s much, much more difficult to work hard and dig yourself out of a hole. Goes back to Plato’s cave. It’s easy to be complacent and sit there, watching the shadows on the wall. A lot harder to break free and wander into the unknown.

    Best regards!

  47. Jason,

    I agree. This community is awesome, mainly because we’re all part of it. We all strengthen each other through sharing, inspiration, education, and support. It’s an invaluable resource.

    Appreciate you being a member! 🙂

    Take care.

  48. Interesting and well thought out post. It has never been easier and more cheaper to invest in stocks here in Sweden. In a matter of seconds I can buy companies from all over the world and create a truly diversified stock portfolio.
    Furthermore I don’t need to declare my individual transaktions and keep track of splits or mergers anymore. So in general it, as you pointed out, it has gotten allot easier to invest in stocks.

    The one drawback that I can see off hand is that it’s’ become more difficult hold a stock over a long period of time with out getting distracted due to the amount of information we get bombarded with daly. In other words buying a stock and putting it in a desk drawer and forget about it.

    Today all accurate and sometimes inaccurate information about companies/stocks increases the risk that we act in a way that isn’t inline with our investment strategy, especially during times of market turmoil. Back in the day you would have to make a appointment with you broker at the bank if you felt the urge to sell a stock, and on the way to the bank you had time to think things over. Today that decision is one click away for better or worse.

    /Best Regards

  49. Scott,

    “There is a downside to the availability of information and ease of initiating trades, though. It is easier to get away from the buy-and-hold mentality when it has gotten so easy to trade in and out of stocks. More self-restraint is now required since the system pretty much allows you to do whatever you want.”

    Agreed. That’s a potential downside, depending on your personality. The higher costs made it cost-prohibitive to trade in and out at a whim, and going back even further in time meant you were dealing with actual stock certificates. That made it even more difficult to move fast. But I think the pros far outweigh the cons, all considered. I think, to a degree, you are who you are, though. I’ve never had an urge to trade in and out, regardless of the cots/ease. Others can’t help themselves.

    One other benefit I didn’t even mention was not having to worry about dividend checks. Having the cash flow in automatically/electronically certainly eases life for an investor.

    Cheers!

  50. LTI,

    I can see that as a potential drawback, as Scott was just mentioning. However, like with everything else in life, you have to take responsibility for yourself and your actions. I’ve had many opportunities to trade in and out of stocks easily/cheaply/quickly over the years. Yet, I haven’t. You could lower my costs to $0 and my actions would probably not change much. So I wonder if that’s just a personality thing, much like the broader population still not saving and investing enough, even with more opportunity than ever to do so. People are sometimes their own worst enemies, unfortunately.

    Sounds like you’ve risen above all the noise, though. Keep it up!

    Take care.

  51. Of course I remember those days when you had to look up stock quote in a newspaper or walk over to your local brokerage branch and sit and watch the ticker roll by. Commission was high and as you mentioned you basically were on your own to research and find investment opportunities. No easy way to bounce ideas off others back then. I will say this about investing today… it can be very overwhelming for newbies to filter out all the crap that’s online and seek out only what’s truly beneficial. There is a definite information overload, especially with the Internet, and seeking out the correct information or investment ideas can become difficult.

  52. Not trying to complain, but cheap goods are the result of low wages. There is a ying and yang to everything.

    Anyway, personal finance education and dividend growth investing are great ways for the middle class to build wealth and security. I love your blog and commend you for your openness. I have a 5 month old son at home and want him to understand personal finance and investing at a young age.

  53. The internet has certainly helped to connect like-minded people. It’s great to know there are other people like me aiming for early retirement/financial independence. There are people like us 20-30 years ago but they couldn’t get their voices out as easily. I know a few people that retired early 20-30 years ago and they basically do the same thing as many of us bloggers. I have to agree though, technology has made financial independence easier to achieve.

  54. I don’t know how I recently found your website. I was searching for an investment advice or something, since I’m consolidating all my old 401 K retirements into one company- Vanguard. Since discovering your website, I feel so encouraged to save all my money! I don’t want to work forever, either- office politics etc. is not fun! Your story is so simply amazing and motivates all of us to start acting and saving now. I’m ready to start building my portfolio full of dividend stocks ( all my money for now in Vanguard are invested in index stock admiral shares). I was thinking to start purchasing the most common, large company stocks like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Clorox etc.; however, the stock share prices are high right now. I wonder if I should have wait a little bit – I keep good cash amount in my savings. What advice would you have for me, is it worth to wait few weeks/months and hope, that prices of the shares will go down, or start investing immediately?

  55. I don’t know where I’d be on my journey to FI if I didn’t stumble across blogs like yours. Most likely, I’d have never heard about DGI and would probably continue sticking to things like CDs and savings accounts with measly interest rates. Thank goodness for the internet!

    And paying $40 per trade?! Yikes! Now I feel better about the $7 Scottrade charges.

  56. I couldn’t agree with you more. As a dividend investor, every time I receive my monthly dividend on time and then accurately added to my account, I still express my amusement. Pretty soon, 3D printer will cook my pasta. We are living in a very fascinating time. I am dying to see that how this world evolves further in 10 to 30 years. This is the reason, I want to live as long as I can—I am very curious and fascinated by advances in technology.

  57. Enjoyed the post Jason.
    You are right on the Golden Age of Investing . I also enjoy reading the many blogs on the Web. They help to keep me motivated Im still just starting but I should break the 50,000 milestone by the end of this year. Hoping to get that snowball a rolling!
    As a side note, I missed your weekend reading suggestions. I guess you had some good weather in Florida.

  58. DivHut,

    I’d rather have too much information rather than too little. But it’s probably difficult for someone just starting out to filter out the crap from the good stuff. That being said, a quick Google search (after clearing out my cache and cookies) on “retire early” pulls up three results for Mr. Money Mustache right on the first page. And this blog comes up right away under “dividend investing”.

    I still remember starting out back in early 2010. I think most of the information I came upon was actually rather solid back then, but there was a lot less information specifically on dividend growth investing. Of course, you have a lot of different strategies to filter through, and a lot of opinions on what’s best. But even though I was completely new to investing, it didn’t take me long to figure out what’s solid and what’s not. The cream usually rises to the top. 🙂

    Either way, I’m doing my best to put out quality content that will remain beneficial to those just starting out.

    Cheers!

  59. Tawcan,

    Mountains were climbed hundreds years ago, but I’m sure it’s an easier task with modern equipment. 🙂

    I have a lot of respect for those that sought out and achieved early retirement 20 or 30 years ago, before the advantages of today were more commonplace. I think it just goes to show those that truly want financial independence will go out and get it, regardless of their circumstances. Conversely, those that don’t want it or don’t want to put in the necessary work will never achieve it, no matter how many advantages they may have.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Best wishes.

  60. Jollie,

    Glad you stumbled upon my humble little spot on the internet! I hope you find some value here. 🙂

    I hear you on office politics. That was brutal for me back when I was still working the auto industry. Not fun!

    It sounds like you’re off to a great start there with some Vanguard index stock Admiral Shares. Super low-cost. Very nice.

    As far as when to invest, my answer will always be “Yesterday!” Holding on to your cash while awaiting a cheaper market is really nothing short of market timing, and that just doesn’t work out for most people. I wrote an article very recently discussing how those who waited for such a pullback over the last few years have not been served well:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/11/cash-flow-is-cash-but-better/

    I don’t disagree with you that some stocks (specifically CLX and PEP, since you listed them) are expensive, relative to their intrinsic value. However, not all stocks are. And what’s great about being a dividend growth investor is that you can pick and choose your opportunities. The stock market can be thought of like a store, full of merchandise. Some of that merchandise is expensive, near the front window. Some is in the back, on the clearance rack. So I would become comfortable/familiar with how to value stocks and go from there:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/01/how-i-analyze-and-value-stocks/

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/09/price-and-value/

    I wish you luck!!

    Take care.

  61. Kevin,

    Early congrats to you! Breaking the $50k milestone is fantastic. You’re on your way to seeing that snowball roll all by itself. 🙂

    Yeah, I try to put together one or two weekend reading posts every month. Just really depends on what kind of content I’ve run across, and whether it might be worth sharing. But the weather this past weekend was amazing. We spent Saturday at the local renaissance festival, which was a ton of fun. Life is good!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Best wishes.

  62. Thank you so much for such a quick reply and all the attached links! I’m learning more and more every day- I went to the library and got some books about dividend investing.
    This is so super exciting- the idea of escaping the rat race in a near future and watching my portfolio growing. I had no idea that people like you- who build dividend portfolios- exist. Internet is truly amazing. I come from a former East European country, where we lived so simply. Here, in the United States, people have no idea, how good they have, they have tons of gadgets but they always want more. They truly don’t know wants from needs anymore. I always liked to save money, and so I put quite a bit into my employer 401 K. But I never really knew much about investing, and then, when the stock crash in 2008 came- everybody said that it was crazy to invest in any stocks.
    Will definitely follow your blog.

  63. I think you may be onto something here. Like you said you can now pay $25 a month for a cell phone plan, even cheaper if you don’t want to use data! That was unheard of a few years ago. Online trading has revolutionized the way we invest and no longer do you have to use a broker and pay those fees.

    I think the most important part is just the sheer amount of information and knowledge that is now being shared. Especially since most people are not willing to talk about finances, being able to research any stock and find a million other opinions on it instantly is a powerful thing!

  64. I try to plan for 20-30 years into the future but I also realize that a lot can happen in that period. I believe DGI stocks will probably be a lot better than cash on the bank as these stocks are real assets in companies that produce income but I also see a lot of potential “black swans” that could severely disrupt Western lifestyle. Not just the level of debt in first-world countries but also the looming problems with fundamental building blocks like energy and basic materials (aka peak everything).

  65. I was born at the wrong time for almost everything, but I’ve been successful so far in the savings and job market. Time to keep on trucking.

  66. Jason,
    Amen and amen! Funny how easy it is these days to determine a fair price for anything from tooth paste to automobiles. Pre-internet, it was difficult if not impossible for most things.

    Commissions were for my 401k were high when I first started investing. First, I could invest in the company that I worked for 15 cents per share. Doesn’t sound bad until you figure that’s $15 for 100 shares, which wouldn’t be competitive at all today. For other companies, I believe that it was $40 PLUS 10 cents per share. That made buying the cheap stocks a difficult proposition because the commission could become a huge percentage of the total price. Say I wanted to buy 1000 shares of a $2 stock, the commission would be $140, or 7% of the price of the stock. Try trading stocks with 7% commissions on both ends. Buy and sell didn’t just make sense for long term investors, it was basically mandatory.

    Anyway, enjoyed the article. Hope you are enjoying the weather. It’s in the 20s here, snowing and getting even colder tonight. Hey, at least it’s 70 degrees inside the house.
    Be blessed,
    KeithX

  67. Seraph,

    I know how you feel. The community is invaluable. The support, knowledge, sharing, education, and inspiration is incredibly helpful on the way to financial independence. It’s almost like we’re all one big family. 🙂

    I hear you there on those fees. I don’t like paying a dime more than I have to, but it’s certainly a lot better than what investors of yesteryear were paying.

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Cheers!

  68. Young,

    I know. It’s amazing. It’s incredibly easy these days. No fumbling around with dividend checks. The dividends come in electronically, correct to the penny. And my brokerage tracks everything for me. Tough to really criticize the process these days.

    That’s funny that you mention your curiosity. I’m the same way. Sometimes I wish for immortality, and not out of fear of death. Rather, I just want to see what the world looks like in 100 years. I’m sure it’s going to be amazing. Some people are doom and gloom, but I think life only gets better due to technology. I think future generations will have to be mindful of population control, but it should be a great world to live in. It’s too bad I won’t be alive to see it, but I’ll make the most of this one life I’ve got. 🙂

    Thanks for sharing.

    Best wishes.

  69. In the days before the internet, there used to be ‘investment clubs’. Many were informal and consisted of a group of friends or like-minded people who wanted to invest but not all of them knew who/what to invest in and broker services were expensive. Such clubs would even meet up at a local pub (my friend worked in a pub and had such a group meet up there regularly!) and had people pooling their money together, agreeing on what shares to buy and shared profits/losses. At least one person probably had some ‘financial’ knowledge but I recall reading about both successful clubs and also clubs that lost loads due to either dishonesty, luck or the usual market upheavals. It was difficult for your average person to just dabble with shares/investments without easy information and an economical means to do so.

    The internet provides us with a huge wealth of knowledge and as you say, a great community. It’s often not easy to talk about money, even to close friends or family, so this community is a much needed part of any FI enthusiast’s life!

    I do however wonder what will replace the internet in 20 years time and how people will be investing then? Do you think Generation Z will say ‘OMG, I remember when the only information you could out find about finances was from BLOGS, how old fashioned?” 🙂

  70. Debt Hater,

    It’s truly an amazing time. Most of the stuff we really need has become incredibly cheap, even while the media will show you sob stories about how middle-class consumers can’t afford expensive sports cars unless they stop making payments on their too-large house.

    I think the internet is one those things that’s worth far more than we’re charged. I remember Buffett’s quote about the internet:

    “I would gladly pay half my net worth just to have that kind of information available to me. They haven’t figured out how to charge me what it’s worth. That’s one of the problems they’ve got.”

    Take care!

  71. ThomasDV,

    Yeah, those are interesting concepts there. I think there’s probably a peak for just about everything, but I also doubt we’ll see any of it in our lifetime. And I think technology will probably work out some of the issues that future generations will see with supply issues in energy, food, materials, etc. I wish I could extend my life by a couple of hundred years just to see how it all turns out, but I’m optimistic. 🙂

    Cheers!

  72. KeithX,

    Ouch! Those commission fees just make me squirm. I guess you had no choice but to be a buy-and-hold investor back then. Sheesh!

    Appreciate you sharing that. I realized early on that I was living in a great age when I started to find out how accessible stocks were.

    The weather down here has been amazing, though today is cold and rainy. Looks like we’ll back into the 70s and 80s by Thursday. Ocala is calling your name. 🙂

    Cheers!

  73. We are def living in the golden age, especially when it comes to being frugal. Most everything in the world, including investing has been mapped out on the internet. Second opinions, advice, how-to’s and testimonials are a very big part of almost every decision I make concerning my $$$. I think bouncing back from a “recession” also plays a big part. 10 years ago people looked at me like I was crazy for buying a used pick up with 150k miles on it, but now I’m still driving the same thing with 300k miles and people seem to understand. All my clothes, except for funerals and weddings, comes from ebay second hand, and I make sure all my hobbies and pass times have a cash value (coins, FRN notes, antiques). Football tickets or expensive clothes don’t have any intrinsic value, so I try to stay away from them. Now when I tell people all that I get a lot less wierd looks then I used to. I think slowly but surely saving money is becoming the “cool” thing to do.

    I really enjoyed this post, a very nice job of summing up why and how alot of people are taking control of their finances and looking to the future.
    Have you ever thought of making a video or doing anything in YouTube? I could use some back up convincing my girlfriend to increase her savings lol !

    Thanks for letting me contribute
    Keep up the good work

  74. Mantra,

    This has to be one of your best posts yet, no joke. It’s amazing. Three big points: Easier now to access information. Easier to make a decision & build wealth at a low cost. Easier to live frugally. It’s incredible that we all take these situations for granted essentially, not all and not everything, but some take some things that you’ve said for granted, that’s for sure.

    It’s amazing the way that you put that you can order stock for $7 at a click of a mouse, while also living in Florida paying rent at $495 a month for 1 or if you had 2 other roommates, could be paying $167 a piece, because you can research online, find new roommates that way, advertise for free and make it happen via an e-mail or text from a phone that you can also pay very little for on a monthly basis. And further – use your savings to continue the cycle to own dividend paying stocks that you can pay essentially $0 in taxes if that’s the bracket you are in.

    Pure Insanity, but Pure “right”. Thanks DM, I know my response is probably intense, but I think this is one of your best posts and I will be surprised that this article alone doesn’t spread faster than the walking dead virus. Great, great work. Hope you’re having a good week as us Diplomats are freezing our assess off in Cleveland!

    -Lanny

  75. Patmurray,

    That’s an interesting point there, but I definitely agree. I think frugality, like anything else, comes into fashion and then goes. It’s a bit “vogue” right now because we had this massive recession hit, and people’s eyes were opened up a bit. Add in a big group of Millenials that are perhaps more frugal by nature after seeing their parents struggle with money for their whole lives, and that’s what you get. I guess it’s nice to be cool, even if it’s fleeting. 🙂

    I’d love to do some video stuff. But I’d have to get the right equipment and learn how to edit everything out. I just don’t really have the time for it, but maybe things will change at some point. I’m really enjoying all the writing right now, though.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best wishes.

  76. Lanny,

    Thanks, bud. Really appreciate the kind words. Glad you found it one of the better posts. 🙂

    It’s just amazing how much easier it is today versus just a couple of decades ago. And I look at that and think about how I’d be a fool to not take advantage of all of these opportunities. Life can still be hard from time to time, but it’s not as hard as it used to be in a lot of instances. And as the snowball starts to roll itself, it gets easier and easier.

    Appreciate you sharing your thoughts, as always!

    Best regards.

  77. Great article Jason…but shhhh, don’t mention these things to our government. They are creating incentive programs and hoping that we all work until at least 59 1/2! Our 401Ks, 457K, and Roths…all have a minimum withdrawal age of 59 1/2. When I realized this a few years back, that was when I decided to change up my strategy for retirement savings. Rather than have my money tied up in these work until your 59 1/2 programs, I decided to put my money into something that I could access or rely on much earlier. Now over 60% of our savings and investments sit outside these government retirement programs!

    Thanks for sharing, cheers to early retirement and doing whatever it takes to get there! AFFJ

  78. Not only were commission fees large, but you almost always had to buy a round lot of 100 shares… I am very grateful for all of the DGI blogs out there. I discovered the FIRE community through reddit, but that particular subreddit seems quite hostile to anything that isn’t the Bogglehead view of the world; and it’s a little off putting at times.

    As someone who helped build parts of the internet, most of this information was barely available 20 years ago; hard to believe that was the year I created my first website…

    We will retire in less than 7 years, and to be honest if it weren’t for your blog and others, this probably wouldn’t be happening. I look forward to retirement and know that things will be ok based on the knowledge I’ve gained from the DGI community. I have a domain, just trying to find time to get started with the first post and to join the community in a capacity more than just as a commenter 🙂

  79. AFFJ,

    I hear you all the way. All of my stocks are in a taxable account, as I previously discussed. Sure, you can access some of that money early by jumping through some hoops, but I don’t see a need to bother when it’s completely unnecessary. Favorable dividend taxation has made that idea possible, which is just one more advantage of doing what we’re doing in this day and age. 🙂

    Appreciate you stopping by. Sounds like you’re taking control of your family’s financial future over there. Keep it up!

    Take care.

  80. Jason,

    This post blew me away and made me so proud of you for helping shape this community! I’ll forever be thankful to you and think of you as my greatest mentor and inspiration. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be one of those guys that would look at the stock quotes in the papers and understand what they meant and how to mass large sums of money. I made low income for so long and I never thought It’d be worth it or even possible to consider so that dream faded away. I was pretty stupid with money until only recently and struggling paycheck to paycheck. I often find myself sad when dwelling on those past practices, but then I remember that I found your website and what a pleasure it was to absorb all of your writing and teachings and then I went out and soaked up everything else I could about investing and I’m finally on the right track. Your endless kindness and support is seriously changing lives, and mine is definitely one of them. Thank you for helping me understand who I wanted to be and I’m so happy to be alive in and well in this golden age!

    Best Wishes,
    Ryan

  81. DH,

    Congrats on your progress thus far! Seven years away must feel pretty amazing. I’m in a similar position myself, and it’s just fantastic. It’s like standing at the shore, literally watching your ship (of freedom) come in. 🙂

    Appreciate the support. I agree that this community and the knowledge therein is invaluable. I’m confident I wouldn’t be where I’m now at without this community.

    Keep on harvesting over there!

    Cheers.

  82. Hi, Dividend Mantra.
    Thanks for offering up another solid post. While we’ve come a long way since the depths of the recession, the anemic top line growth and global softness continue to concern me. The United States can only be the cleanest dirty shirt for so long before we get pulled down with the rest of the world. I continue to be optimistic that better times are forthcoming, but remain cautious in the current environment.

    Secondarily, technology is both a blessing and a curse. It has certainly helped drive down the cost of doing business, but it appears that it may also be causing the continued widening of the gap between the upper class and the middle / lower class. Sorry for the pessimistic comment, but that’s my two cents. Take care.

    Goosemann Jones
    Flight to Dividends Blog

  83. FTD,

    Thanks for dropping by!

    I wouldn’t characterize the US as a clean dirty shirt. I believe Buffett is correct in that we have a system that just plain works, and that creates massive opportunities for those that want to seize them. And this post is pointing out that those opportunities have only improved over time. Sure, our system has problems like any other, but it’s pretty solid.

    “Secondarily, technology is both a blessing and a curse. It has certainly helped drive down the cost of doing business, but it appears that it may also be causing the continued widening of the gap between the upper class and the middle / lower class.”

    I see technology as actually doing the opposite, as pointed out in the article. It was a lot harder to invest 20 or 30 years ago than it is today, which creates opportunities for those (like me) to rise up.

    Care to expound on that a bit? Do you have examples as to how technology is widening the gap between the rich and the poor?

    Cheers!

  84. Ryan,

    You’re too kind. Thank you very much! 🙂

    I’m glad you’ve found so much value in the blog. I started this over the course of a weekend back in March 2011 because I couldn’t find anything quite like it on the internet, so I figured I would start something myself. I didn’t know anything about a website, but I figured I could figure it out as I went. Obviously, I’m proud of not only the site and my progress, but the community’s growth as well. To know that I had some part of that means a lot to me. And I’ve been fortunate to not only inspire others through my actions, but to have others, like yourself, continue to inspire me to keep going. It’s mutual inspiration toward common aspirations. So I thank you as well.

    You’re doing great over there. I’m proud of you, bud. You’re off to a great start for your first year in, and I’m confident you’ll be completely free within a decade or so. I hear about the lack of opportunities, income gaps, the evil 1%, the “man” holding us down…and yet here we are not earning incredible salaries and we’re still on track to be financially independent by 40 years old. If that’s not an incredible opportunity and proof of how wonderful this system and our community is, I don’t know what is.

    Keep it up!

    Best wishes.

  85. Nice post Jason.

    I have some fond memories of trading with a full service broker. I still have all the statements stashed away from over 20 years ago. For me, I actually did quite well trading with my full service broker, however, I did much better with the discount broker. Back then, you used what you had. I used the touch tone phone to make the trades with the full service broker because I never had the Internet and before that, I used the broker direct because we had and still have a rotary dial phone in my parent’s house. It feels like I am one of the elders around here sometimes. I have been trading and dividend reinvesting for quite some time now. You are right about this being a golden age of investing, but to tell you the truth, I felt the same way when I placed that first touch tone call and bought Skytel communications. I felt like I was on the cutting edge using that touch tone phone after having just paid the broker a few hundred dollars to trade in and out. Each generation only sees the technology as it comes out and in hindsight, that touchstone phone trade was not very high tech in relation to what we do today. However, at the time, it was very high tech and cutting edge. Each new thing makes the old seem less spectacular and that is the nature of technology. In some ways, I am going back in time. I am using my phone again, albeit a Note 4, instead of my computer for my trades. With this phone in my hands, I cannot believe how antiquated everything before it truly was, but at the time was considered so cool. Time will tell what the future will bring, but I am sure one day, either me or my children will wonder just how I got along with this crazy Note 4 thing.

    Keep cranking,

    Robert the DividendDreamer

  86. Hi DM,

    Very true. I thought about this before and it’s impressive how everything is much easier nowadays. Of all those, I would say that the community is the only one which I did not take for granted.

    I was eyeing dividend paying stocks and started studying how to chose them and what price to pay for them, but when I stumbled upon blogs like yours it just made it a lot more “human”. I could see someone who had been doing it for years and I could track both the steps you took and get regular updates on how you are doing. Like you said, it’s hard to find someone in our personal circle with whom you can discuss this, so it really helps to feel part of a community of so many people that think similarly. It also makes it very interesting how different and disperse geographically everyone is.

    Cheers to you and whole community of dividend investors!

    Best Wishes,
    Dividend Venture

  87. Zoltan,

    One thing I’d like to point out that dividends are most definitely taxed at 25% in Belgium, which I don’t consider to be low. It’s true though that capital gains aren’t taxed.

    Cheers,
    NMW

  88. I’m so thankful for our online community of personal finance bloggers. It’s an incredible source of motivation, inspiration, and knowledge. I don’t have many real life friends who are as interested in personal finance–and certainly not in financial independence–so it can indeed be a lonely journey without the support of this online crowd. And, you are so right, it really is easy to be frugal these days!

  89. I definitely hope technology will be able to save us but to keep our current lifestyle we’re going to need massive changes in a relatively quick timeframe.

    On the other hand, technology itself is also becoming a big disruptor for the economy we know today. An increasing number of jobs are going to be replaced by machines and software. Perhaps half of the jobs we know today will no longer exist by 2050 and this time it looks like job destruction will be much bigger than job creation. One of the best examples that’s in the media today is the self-driving car, a couple of decades from now there will be no need for truck drivers, bus/train drivers, taxi drivers nor delivery guys. And that’s just one major new technology.

  90. I really love your blog. You encouraged me to take my first step towards financial freedom and to make my own blog to motivate myself and others.

    I will continue to read and I am curious about your development in the future.

  91. DM,

    This really is a golden age of sorts, and hopefully one that never goes away. The internet and the applications it supports truly make this possible. I think you are hitting the nail on the head with your analysis of how all of these things can happen in the blink of an eye and allow for frugal or not-so-frugal living.

    I am sure socially there will be some sort of long term consequence, and we already see the talking heads on TV blaming technology for corruptions of our country and people. However, I think most issues were always present and just happen to be more visible now.

    Keep it up,
    Gremlin

  92. Hey DM,

    If you ever do start doing the video/podcast stuff please be sure to keep all your content readable too. I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to be able to read quickly through a 5 minute article rather than spending 30 minutes watching/listening to the same info!

  93. Our community is like an extended family. I have a list of blogs I read every day and we are going through this route to FI together. I wonder where we all be in 10 years time. Sadly, i guess some of the blogs will probably end as the blogger reaches FI status.

  94. I believe dividend investing is the present best means of planning for FI, but has not always been the case. I’ll admit to being in my early 60’s and can recall buying “guaranteed” Canada Savings bonds in the early to mid 80’s paying 12- 16% interest. That seems like a ticket to paradise, but remember when you are buying a home & paying those types of interest rates for a mortgage, there wasn’t a lot left over to invest. But if you did own your home or rented, you had the option of buying that Savings Bond guaranteed by the Federal government or buying, for example KO for about 1.50 and collected a dividend of a penny. It was a no brainer then. Times were different, interest rates & inflation were high and dividend stocks were not the best investment. Today,I am 100% in dividend stocks and index funds, with no bonds or GIC’s despite being retired. History has told us that you have to be forward in your thinking and flexible in your investments, as we don’t know what 20-30 years down the road will look like. Apple stock was worth $5 in the early 80’s and didn’t pay a dividend and you could only dream of what your portfolio would look like today with an investment in AAPL then. I prefer to invest like I am driving a car, look forward most of the time, but every so often glance back in the rear view mirror because you learn from what you just passed, not from what is ahead.

  95. Robert,

    Rotary phones. Now that brings me back to my childhood. 🙂

    Yeah, new technology has a way of humbling us. And aging us, I suppose. Although, it’s not just technology that makes this a Golden Age, but also costs. The costs for many aspects of our lives have been lowered via technology, but it’s the end result of saving a boatload of cash that really helps amplify our results.

    Even though the mountain was just a bit tougher to climb for you back then, you’ve still done an amazing job. Your GE position alone is worth about two of my entire portfolios.

    Thanks for dropping by and sharing that.

    Cheers!

  96. DV,

    I’m with you. This community makes the journey unique and special in a way that can’t really be replicated without it. Those in our personal lives, for better or worse, usually just don’t get what we’re talking about. It’s a shame, but it opened the door to what we have here. So I can’t really complain. 🙂

    But it’s an amazing community we’ve built up over the last few years. And it’s awesome how fast it’s become what it now is. I can only imagine what it will look like in five or ten years.

    Cheers to you and this whole community as well!

    Take care.

  97. You said it. And it continues to get more golden as time goes on.

    Despite it being the golden age of financial independence, the overwhelming majority of people are still chaining themselves to a silly job in order to service lots of debt. I forget the name of the guy (I think it was Bertrand Russell) who predicted that people would work less by now thanks to advancements in technology and productivity. But sadly, people are probably working harder than ever.

    If it wasn’t for this community I don’t know if I would have had the guts to pull the plug on my own. I might had found myself working well into my forties in order to feel confident enough to leave the 9-5.

    Thanks for writing this article, I think our community will continue to grow stronger!

  98. Mrs. FW,

    It’s a wonderful community that we’ve put together. Almost a family of sorts. And it strengthens and enlightens everyone within it. It’s wonderful. 🙂

    Yeah, it’s a lot easier to be frugal with all of the sharing sites and everything else. Add in warehouse clubs and online shopping and you have some real opportunities to save cash.

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Best regards.

  99. ThomasDV,

    Yeah, there have been some calls for a “jobless” future for a while now. I’m not sure what that looks like. It seems that there would potentially be some kind of living wage given to everyone, and those who have the necessary skills and/or motivation to work would go out and fill what jobs still remain, earning some additional coin in the process. And this jobless future would be predicated by technology taking over most jobs. So you’d lose your drivers to automated driving on the blue collar side all the way up to complex machines taking over for surgeons.

    Of course, “jobs” are somewhat of a modern invention, and helped propel our society to where it’s at now. Although, there’s a lot of waste with that as well. Benefits and drawbacks to just about everything.

    It’ll be interesting to see a future in which most people don’t have to work. Perhaps it’ll make those of us in 2014 working hard and saving for FI look like morons, because in 30 or 40 years everyone can “opt out”.

    Cheers!

  100. TDF,

    The community expands. 🙂

    I’m glad you’ve found some inspiration here. That’s exactly why I write and do what I do. I’m out to change lives for the better, because I think financial independence is within the grasp of almost anyone who wants to reach for it.

    Best of luck with your new blog. I hope you find as much success with it as I have mine. Either way, your part of an invaluable community!

    Take care.

  101. Gremlin,

    I’m with you. I hope all of this never goes away, though I doubt it will. If anything, I can imagine things only get better. I’m sure that I won’t even know how to use the technology that comes out in 10 or 20 years, and I’ll look like an old man. Technology can humble you, and it changes so fast. Which is one of the main reasons I don’t like investing in it.

    But frugal living is especially easy these days. It was always possible to be thrifty, but if you can really separate needs from wants, it’s incredibly easy to live on very little due to the abundance in our society and the application of technology.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Best wishes.

  102. jon,

    I agree. It’s definitely like family. We support each other in some ways that our own circle of real-life family and friends cannot. And we grow and strengthen through that support. 🙂

    I think this community will only grow over time. There will be some blogs that will end, but that’s not unusual. I’ve seen quite a few start and quit just in the last few years. But it’s grown exponentially even after factoring out the ones that are no longer around. For every one that stops, you’ve got two that spring up. And I imagine technology will make it even easier to communicate, and perhaps open up new avenues for additional platforms. It’s an exciting future!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Best regards.

  103. Brian,

    Great advice there. We definitely have to learn and adapt over time. I think it’s tough to argue against buying equity in high-quality companies over any stretch of time, although it’s tough to pass up guaranteed bonds paying that type of interest. I’m certainly open to investing in fixed income at some point, but the rates would have to be dramatically higher for me to be interested.

    I definitely wish I could build a time machine and buy Apple back in the day, but for every superstar like that you have a bunch of washouts. Tough to tell the winners from the losers, especially in tech and especially early on. That’s why I prefer to stick with proven winners, and those that pay me as an owner. I might get there slower, but I won’t crash and burn. 🙂

    Cheers!

  104. I agree that people are virtually chaining themselves to desks, if fact I believe people are working harder today than ever before. Years ago people worked their 40 yr week, had their scheduled holidays & when they retired had a guaranteed pension for life. Today, with technology, employers have access to employees via cell & e mail 24 hrs a day, weekends and holidays. They know you can work faster with modern technology so they give you more to do and have no problem suggesting you work extra hours, without compensation. If you refuse, no problem, your job will be filled quickly. I have a friend who went from sales to middle management & he has calls from his boss at all hours, even ” urgent” e mails to answer when vacationing with his family. Lets face it, technology has made many jobs 24 hrs a day instead of 8 hrs. The competitive nature of good jobs, as well as people needing that job to pay for the large mortgage, 2 cars, kid’s activities, daycare & holidays makes not answering the phone impossible.

  105. Pick up the book The Birth of Plenty. It shows how incredibly wealthy all of us in the modern world are on a per capita basis. There is so much more wealth and opportunity today than there has ever been in the entire history of Earth. Jason, your article shows great perspective on life and I loved reading it.

  106. You are correct in that people have more wealth and opportunity, but it is far more concentrated than ever in our history. The Huffington Post reports that the 85 richest people in the world own as much as the 3.5 billion poorest.

  107. DM,

    You nailed it about how wonderful the DGI community is. It’s like having an online mastermind group. I am very thankful for both the inspiration as well as the investing information. It’s truly priceless!

    MDP

  108. Spoonman,

    Yeah, those predictions seemed (and still seem) reasonable. But I think they’re based around logical human behavior. Sames goes for Keynes predictions for a 15-hour workweek. It’s probably economically possible for a large swath of those living in first world countries, but it just won’t happen due to a variety of reasons.

    I’m really glad you were able to pull the plug. I can imagine it’s a lot easier to suffer from OMYS when you don’t have others out there jumping into the unknown and claiming their freedom. Even with this huge community, you still have just a few people out there that have actually crossed that threshold fairly early. But it’s mutually inspiring. I’m right behind you! 🙂

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Best wishes.

  109. When one takes the time to reflect on just how good we have it in this day in age, compared to even a 100 years ago, you start to feel very grateful and very humble. Middle class, hell even lower middle class, live lives that kings and queens of history couldn’t even imagine living. When you start to realize just how lucky we are, you start to realize the opportunities that are open to us (like striving for FI) that was just that much more difficult in the past. Great post!

  110. Wake,

    I haven’t come across that book yet, but I’ll see if I can pick it up at some point. I’m a voracious reader, so new books are always welcome. 🙂

    There was actually a post I penned at the end of last year along those same lines. A middle-class citizen here in the US in this day and age is really far wealthier than almost any major figure that’s ever lived:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2013/11/how-good-it-is-to-be-me/

    Thanks for the suggestion.

    Best regards.

  111. Been reading for months, but this is my first comment.

    This is indeed a great time to manage your financial life.

    I do wish I had jumped in after the crash in 2008, but I was off volunteering and planning to be a rich lawyer. 🙂

  112. MDP,

    Thanks for dropping by.

    This community is definitely priceless. I consider it integral to my own success, and likely the success of everyone within it. We’re all stronger because of it. It’s truly wonderful. 🙂

    Cheers!

  113. Steve,

    Absolutely. I think people too often take what they have for granted. If you could build a time machine and show people what life was like in the 1200s, they might be a little more grateful for their “car that isn’t as nice as their neighbor’s” or “house that’s the smallest on the block”. 🙂

    We’re incredibly lucky to not only be alive in this day and age, but able to take advantage of all of these incredible opportunities to climb to the top of the mountain. Life is good!

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Best regards.

  114. Dividend Chick,

    Thanks for taking the time to drop a comment! 🙂

    I also wish I would have jumped in back then. Hell, I wish I wouldn’t have wasted away an inheritance when I was 21 and invested it instead. I’d probably be financially independent by now. But hindsight is 20/20. You live and learn, and those mistakes have made the man I am today.

    I appreciate the readership. Hope you continue to stay in touch.

    Take care!

  115. I completely agree, especially with the first two points. The community is a beautiful thing, and actually was the motivation for me to become a dividend growth investor to begin with. It’s wonderful to be a part of it. And the cheap trades are amazing. $5, $7, even $20 is infinitely better than what I used to pay for a broker. The more money that goes into stocks, as opposed to our brokers’ pockets, the better off we are. All in all, we live in a blessed time for sure.

  116. So true, although we face some dificulties, it is great time to live. My parents and grand parents didn’t had 1/5 of the oportunities we have today (I’m 37).

    By the way, I saw yesterday here in Portugal an episode of tv series “Criminal Minds” and the story took place in Sarasota. Very nice place to live, it seemed to me.

    Cheers!

  117. Yesterday I (by the way I live in Portugal) saw an episode of “Criminal Minds” that took place in Sarasota. Very nice spot.
    And your post, nice reading as always
    Cheers!

  118. Nuno,

    That’s fantastic! I’m glad Sarasota is being represented. It’s definitely a great place to live. 🙂

    It’s definitely a great time to be alive. I’m glad I wasn’t born in 1500 or something crazy!

    Thanks for dropping by from Portugal. Hope all is well over there.

    Best regards.

  119. DM
    I really enjoyed this post it resonated with me.

    I started blogging because I wanted to to join the community. No I Needed to join it.

    With people in real life pushing you in the other direction. blogging has made me build some back up. If I feel confused I can read so many articles about why frugality rocks and why FI is so important.

    I’m loving my journey and so happy I’m now on the fast track

  120. DD,

    This community is indeed wonderful. There wasn’t much of one when I first started, but it’s grown into something amazing. It’s almost like family in some way and, for me, in some ways it’s better than family. 🙂

    And those cheap transaction fees are great. I imagine they’ll be even cheaper in the future, allowing us to invest for virtually free. Life as an investor just keeps getting better.

    Cheers!

  121. I remember working for something like 10¢ an hour extracting stock price data from a stack of newspapers for my dad. He use the compiled data to run various computer models and called a broker friend at night to share his findings. They talked for hours on end. My dad probably traded a few times a year, making decent money. Slower times back then, but you didn’t know that they were…

  122. weenie,

    Sorry I somehow missed your comment before! My apologies.

    It’s funny you mention investment clubs. Those are actually still going on. I actually met up with a reader not long ago, and he’s involved in one. So I guess they’re still alive and well!

    Yeah, I wonder what the new medium/platform will be in 10-20 years. I can’t imagine something usurping the internet and web pages – blogs are just websites, after all – but you never know. I guess we never saw the internet coming, so who knows what’s next. I’m certainly excited for the future. 🙂

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best regards.

  123. The Roamer,

    I’m really glad this post resonated with you. 🙂

    I know exactly how you feel about how people in your life can push you in the wrong direction. That’s unfortunate, and most of the time it’s probably unintentional. Fortunately, we have each other to lean on for support and inspiration.

    Stay on the fast track!

    Take care.

  124. Ferdi,

    The good old days, huh? 🙂

    I guess we don’t know how much better it can be until something better comes along. That said, I’m very, very grateful for what I already have and I’m pretty happy with the system as it stands. Of course, better is better. I won’t turn that down. But life is pretty good.

    That’s awesome that you had that time with your dad, though. Not only quality time, but you learned a lot as well. And now look at you go!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Best wishes.

  125. Have you ever checked out MIC? Just stumbled across it myself and was curious what where opinion was? Love the material on the site!

  126. I agree, this is a golden age for dividend investing and financial independence! I know I would never have started my journey without this blogging community and your blog especially.

  127. Well said…..it’s really about the ownership of your own time. I know people who are of retirement age but still work because they enjoy it. They own that time and they choose to work. They don’t have to work and they don’t need the money. It’s a pretty cool stage to be at. Others choose to quit their jobs and pursue other interests (hobbies) that they didn’t have a chance to develop while they were working. Either way I think they key is that they own their time and can choose how they spend it

  128. Mr. Jiggy Fly,

    I took a quick look at it. Not real sure what to think. Its results are awfully erratic. The P/E ratio appears cheap, but their EPS jumped from $0.61 to $17.38 in one year. It also looks like it has an odd operating structure, and their dividend isn’t fully qualified. Their business lines are awfully strange and almost seem unrelated. You’ve got aviation fuel on one side and then you’ve got solar and wind power generation on the other side.

    Not quite sure I can really wrap my head around this one. Wish you much luck if you invest here, though!

    Cheers.

  129. Definitely, with the advancing technology, Dividend Investing has become much more smoother to execute and with the bonus of having thrill of getting paid for doing so now and then 🙂

    We are indeed in the golden age where FI is possible to achieve, like I have set my target to get independent in 12 years and keep the progress on my blog. Cheers!

  130. Nick,

    Thanks for dropping by!

    I’m with you all the way. I don’t know where I’d be without this community. I’d probably still be marching to financial independence, but it would be awfully lonely. And I probably wouldn’t be as far along as I am right now.

    We’re definitely in the Golden Age. 🙂

    Take care.

  131. PIM,

    Absolutely. Technology has made our pursuit much easier and even more fun as well. What’s not to like about that? 🙂

    Keep up the great work over there. My journey is about 12 years start-to-finish as well, and I’m about four or so years in. This journey and the progress one can attain on modest means is indeed real. And we have the community to thank for the proof in the pudding.

    Best regards.

  132. Excellent article Jason! It is amazing the numerous advantages that we now have vs. even a decade ago. I actually just wrote an article today about me breaking my first goal and blogging, as I was inspired from the likes of you and several other DGI bloggers. It’s a very supportive community and we thrive on helping/motivating others. Awesome stuff!

  133. Agent,

    Congrats on your $200 in forward dividend income. I’m confident that’s just the start of something truly great. $200 turns into $1,000 turns into $5,000. Success begets success, especially when compounding is thrown into the mix. 🙂

    Thanks for the support, as always. Much appreciated. I’m just grateful to be part of this awesome community. I continue to be inspired every single day!

    Keep up the great work. Stay consistent, my friend.

    Cheers.

  134. Dan,

    Absolutely. It’s not about working or not working, or even hating your job. I wrote an article a while ago on that, that early retirement isn’t about hating your job or anything. It’s about choice, flexibility, freedom. If you go to work, it’s because you want to go, not because you have to go. Huge difference there.

    “Others choose to quit their jobs and pursue other interests (hobbies) that they didn’t have a chance to develop while they were working.”

    That’s exactly where I’ve found myself with writing. And the chance to make your own schedule is, in my view, priceless. Even if there was a “blogging job” out there where I clocked in, wrote all day, and clocked out, I’d pass. I find much more enjoyment commanding my own schedule.

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Best wishes.

  135. Hi everyone:

    I agree with everything except shopping at Wall Mart. They treat their employees awfully and sell many things that are made overseas by workers treated even worse. Also, they have contributed to the death of many, many small business in our country.

    I read somewhere once that our dollar is more powerful than our vote. I believe we have a responsibility to spend our dollar supporting the right way to do things as much as possible.

    Thank you for writing the blog. I really enjoy it.

    Carrie

  136. Carrie,

    Well, that’s the great thing about our economy and our system. You can indeed vote with your dollars. No doubt that WMT has its detractors, and if I were one of them I’d probably choose to shop elsewhere. My view on it is that they employ a ton of people that might otherwise not have jobs, they’ve been buying a ton of goods manufactured right here in the USA over the last couple of years, and they provide goods to me as a consumer at a cheaper price than I get elsewhere, on average. Two sides to every coin, but I definitely appreciate your perspective. 🙂

    Thanks for the support. Glad you enjoy the blog!

    Best wishes.

  137. Myself and a bunch of friends started an investment club back in 2008 (ouch!) and have been at it ever since. We keep putting a modest amount of money into it every month, reinvest our dividends, and keep learning more and more about finances and investing and all sorts of things.

    What a great way to discipline yourself to investing if you might otherwise have trouble saving! And Jason, since I have been reading your blog, I have helped slowly move our club into more and more dividend champion positions. My partners are slowly coming to the realization that your style and portfolio model is not only wildly profitable (over the long term) but also helps them sleep at night.

    Our club portfolio hit $100,000 this past summer and can’t wait to see where we sit in 6 more years!

  138. Tim,

    That’s a great story there. Sounds like you guys have learned a lot after going at it for the last six years. You picked a pretty good time, as stocks became pretty cheap right after you started. Not fun on the downward slide, but sure is nice on the way back up. 🙂

    Glad you’ve been able to position them into high-quality companies that pay out increasing dividends. The sleep-well-at-night factor is huge for me. I don’t get rattled too much, but owning a whole portfolio full of stocks that can go any which way would be way too much for me. Knowing that most of my portfolio is rock solid allows me to take on the occasional risk (like ARCP) without losing sleep, even if I get burned.

    Congrats on the six-figure mark there. Excellent! Keep it up. Onward and upward!

    Best wishes.

  139. This was a great read. I couldn’t relate more to the early stages of this idea of financial independence. I am definitely eating a lot of ramen noodles these days! But investment has been a serious consideration of mine for the past year (I’m in my mid-20s, so I figure it’s a good time to start). One of my friends has a father who made his entire living off of investments. And that was back when a broker was a common middle man. Nowadays it’s so easy – click here, click there and boom! So it’s nice to see someone with a positive attitude about investing. Almost anyone I talk to about it gets a worried look on their face like I’m playing roulette in Vegas. Far from it! I watch my stocks every day. Thank you for your positive outlook. Your site is refreshing and honest. Keep it up!

  140. Marisa,

    I know what you’re going through right now! I was there myself just a few years ago. I remember pretending my ramen noodle lunch was something else, like I was actually eating lasagna or spaghetti. I knew that if I could just get through that initial period and get my snowball rolling, the rest would be easy. 🙂

    Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you enjoy the blog thus far. I’ve been completely open about my journey, for better or worse. And that’s because I want this to be a real-life road map that anyone can emulate. Financial independence isn’t something reserved for the rich. We, too, can reach the mountaintop!

    I hope you stick around.

    Best wishes.

  141. DM,
    Great read and you nailed it again! I agree that we are living in the golden age of financial freedom, the support of community is overwhelming (I had to scroll and read some of the comments, my fingers are tired), everything is a click away. Don’t you wish that it started 10 years ago? We could have our freedom by now! 🙂
    Cheers!
    FFF

  142. FFF,

    I definitely wish I would have started 10 years ago! Hindsight is 20/20, right? 🙂

    This is definitely the Golden Age, though. I think we’ll look back on this time as the turning point for the ability of regular, middle-class individuals to be able to achieve financial independence. It’s truly realistic and reasonable, and I’m out to prove it.

    Thanks for stopping by. Keep up the fight!

    Take care.

  143. I started my journey 25 years ago buying blue chip divi payers.I sold them all and bought the latest “fad” shares and ended up losing 90% of my money.If i had kept the blue chips/divi shares id of been retired now at 43.However it taught me a big lesson.
    I then decided to pay my house off and all my wages went to that.I was mortgage free at 38.I then started divi investing again.This time i know every share i buy i will hold forever unless they are taken over or go bust.Iv already managed to get divi income coming in of 28% of my target and i love re-investing those divis into new stocks.I have my own business so my buying of new shares tends to be lumpy.I can go 6-10 months without buying anything (apart from divi re-investments) and then buy some decent amounts.
    I tend to get all my food in the reduced counter at the supermarket.I know the time they do it and me and my partner spend around £30/$45 a week on food,and thats very high quality things,just reduced) and veg from the market.
    I agree its never been cheaper to live and with no housing costs even easier.

    One big lesson iv learned.Ignore the so called experts.When a quality blue chip divi payer is out of fashion and everyone is saying so its time to buy.I dont buy the sahre price.I buy the present and future dividend.Thats what i base my buying on.

  144. Nice to see you’re been busy with writing new posts! It was interesting to here a US based view on foreign domicile stocks. My main concern living in €-currency country and investing in dollars is the fluctuating exchange rate. I still think that the rates will swing both ways during my investing period, so it doesn’t really matter in the long run. The problem rises when I retire, since the monthly income may vary from month to month. But I guess I’ll end up moving to somewhere cheaper and warmer than Finland, like Florida :). Then the currency issue will go away!

    We definitely live in the Golden Age, but it might be harder to find undervalued stocks than 30 years ago when less people/analyst were valuing stocks. I hope we’ll get some more competition between brokers in Finland, so we’ll get lower fees.

    I’ve made a couple of buys myself recently, the latest being in a Finnish Company called Tikkurila, manufacturer of paints.. 5 years of growing dividends, yield is now at 5,2% and they are taking a beating because of Russia and the ruble. I’m also looking at BHP for my next buy. It looks good and the stock is only getting cheaper by the day!

    Happy hunting for the next buy!

    -Ville

  145. John UK,

    Sounds like you’ve come back from the brink, my friend. Good for you for paying off the mortgage. That surely frees up some cash flow for you, which allows you to invest and build passive income. One step closer every day. 🙂

    I’m also glad to hear you own your own business. I don’t know how that’s going for you, but I’m somewhat of an entrepreneur myself since I run the blog and freelance. It’s amazing to set your own schedule, be your own boss, and create value that’s everlasting and that you own. That sure makes the journey to financial independence even easier and a lot more fun. It’s also more meaningful.

    Keep up the great work over there. I’m confident you’ll get to where you want to be.

    Best wishes!

  146. Ville,

    I’m with you. I don’t really worry about exchange rates at all. Other than looking at it when it’s opportune, and foreign shares are cheap. But on a regular/ongoing basis, I feel it’ll all even out one way or another.

    However, I’m not sure that the analysts valuing stocks make it more difficult to find undervalued stocks. For instance, BHP Billiton is valued at $70/share by Morningstar. Didn’t stop it from going below $50 yesterday, which is its 52-week low. Mr. Market was moody 50 years ago. He’s still moody today. I doubt that will ever change.

    Enjoy that 5.2% yield and growing income from Tikkurila. I hope that investment treats you very well. 🙂

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Best regards.

  147. I like the way you think DM! It’s like we have the same brain. It’s refreshing to see other people in the world with great attitudes who are willing to make sacrifices now for the future. All the while knowing that you’re not giving up happiness. Keep up the great posts!

  148. Crass Cash,

    Thanks! I’m glad we’re on the same page here. 🙂

    Optimism is incredibly powerful. It’s highly underrated. It really allows you to rise above all the noise and realize there’s a beautiful world out there.

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Best regards.

  149. DM, Very interesting post. Perversely, I feel that the easy access of trading has been part of my undoing over the last few years, where I have likely sold more than I have needed to and bought quicker than I should have. I’ve been a little indisciplined, but low cost, quick access to trade execution hasn’t helped. For my Australian portfolio it costs me $40 a trade, and I have to do a skype call with a broker in Australia that takes about 10 minutes to make. As a result, I make real sure that I only place a trade when I really want to and when I have conviction. I think that may be part of the reason I’ve had no turnover in that portfolio this year.

  150. Integrator,

    Hmm, that’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing that!

    I wonder if it’s partially a personality/psychological thing? I’ve had very few sells over the last few years, as the blog shows. And I can sell anytime I’d like for $7.

    But perhaps for some people, the temptation is just too strong?

    I still think the benefits strongly outweigh the drawbacks, as the lower barriers to entry apply to everyone. And I’d rather see someone get burned a bit early on by trading too much than not invest at all. Sometimes you have to get burned to really learn anyhow.

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Cheers.

  151. I love the positivity of your blog. We live in a very rich country thanks to capitalism which is one of the reasons why my parents wanted to come to the U.S. I feel fortunate to live here. I think life in the U.S. can be as expensive or as affordable as you make it. I’m so tired of hearing how things are worse off for the new generation. Not just in the media but people have told me in real life that things will be worse for me and people of my generation.

    I don’t really get that because here in Omaha, Ne housing is affordable much affordable than it is in the rest of the country. In Omaha if you are a professional in a good field such as finance, law, engineering, healthcare or tech, anything that is considered a competitive profession then you can earn a great income, buy a nice home between $100-225,000 that would probably cost you 3x as much in a more populated state and you can still have plenty of disposable income.

    College is more affordable here than it is in a bigger state. I’m finishing up my associate degree and I’ll have no debt when I do. I drive a Kia Spectra which is paid off and while its an “econo-car” it is actually very reliable and has never let me down. It’s actually much more reliable than the Honda Accord I used to drive. I keep up with maintenance costs which I’m sure helps. The only downside is that it doesn’t have cruise control but I consider that a “first world problem.”

    For entertainment I use the library (obviously) I’m a huge bookworm and movie buff. I also have memberships to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Sometimes I go to Redbox if there’s a movie I can’t get yet from all the other places but this is rare. Also parks, museums, historical landmarks, botanical gardens, forests, etc. are all very affordable.

    Thanks to the internet I used ehealthinsurance.com to get health insurance because I wanted an insurance plan that would go with me regardless of where I worked. For other insurance I bought directly from a national company by going directly to their website which is cheaper than going through an insurance agency.

    In addition to that I like to use internet websites like Codeacademy.com and Khan Academy and similar sites to learn new skills for free. I want to be a web developer so I use these sites to learn new skills. Ideally I would love to get hired as a developer without getting my bachelor’s because its been known to happen but we shall see about that. The point is that its possible to learn the skills I need for my career without attending my state university.

    I know that’s not possible for many careers out there. In a lot of careers you need to get certified first for obvious reasons. So I feel fortunate that the field I want to go into is more flexible in that regard.

  152. Lila,

    Thanks for sharing that.

    I agree completely. Life here in the US can be about as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. People unfortunately oftentimes make bad choices when it comes to spending their money, and then want to blame everyone but themselves for their predicament. But humanity has never lived in a more prosperous time than now. Those that can take advantage of that will succeed, as I’ve been trying to lay out for years now.

    The internet is an amazing invention. It’s made so much possible; things that were difficult or impossible before are now realistic and easy. Who knows if I’d even be saving and investing my way to financial independence without the internet? I certainly wouldn’t be blogging about it, that’s for sure.

    It’s funny, because I live right down the road from a world-class beach. This is a beach that people travel from all over the country (and the world) to visit. Yet, I can stroll up there just about any afternoon and easily find a space right near the water. We have a world-class source of beauty and relaxation right in our backyard, yet nobody around here is actually using it. Too busy working to afford their too-large homes and whatever else. Same goes for the library. I recently checked out Warren Buffett’s biography. Not another soul in the building. People complain about how expensive life is today because they’re too busy spending their money. Life is wonderfully cheap, but you have to look in the right places.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Best wishes.

  153. Hi, Dividend Mantra.
    Sorry for the delayed response, but I’ve been out of pocket for a few days. After doing a little bit more research, I’ll back down slightly on my first argument as it appears that revenue growth might be returning:

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-sp-500-companies-with-the-fastest-revenue-growth-2014-11-10

    In regards to the examples where technology is widening the gap, I was referring more to the average middle class worker that once made a decent living doing manual labor on the line at a manufacturing company, but is now on unemployment because his / her job is now being performed by a robot. This class of worker is not keeping up with the technological advancements and is struggling to find work that is on par with what they previously made. Additionally, technology is leading to banks needing fewer tellers, grocery stores needing fewer cashiers, and restaurants needing fewer waiters / waitresses. It doesn’t appear to me that these workers have been able to upgrade their skills to a point where they have been able to capitalize on the next generation jobs that are available. I don’t have any data to support my argument and this is only my perception. That being said, I think that people create their own opportunities and the sky is the limit for any one with even a small amount of ambition.

    Thanks for the article and best wishes for continued success.

    Goosemann Jones
    Flight to Dividends Blog

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