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| Ohhhh so tempting.... |
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| Not exactly what I have but you get the idea... |
How? By reading others blogs and following others' stories. One such man is the one and only Dividend Mantra. This man needs no introduction, as if you are reading my blog, I'm sure you've read his. DM is a monster when it comes to blogging and picking winning stocks. I can't lie, a bunch of stocks I've purchased have been based on his advice.
I followed his blog religiously, and remember very specifically an article he wrote that struck a jealous chord in me. It was back in May of 2012, and I was just a little beginner still excited by each email I would receive from OptionsXpress about an incoming dividend (I still get excited, it's just they come so often now!). DM, because he is the man, keeps great records and is willing to share them with all of us online. He updates us every month on the value of his "Freedom Fund," his name for his portfolio that will set him free. Let me preface this by saying that I completely understand he puts very little value in the value (hehe) of his portfolio. By that, I mean, his barometer for success is his dividend income not the overall value of this portfolio. In fact, many times he's stated he wouldn't mind seeing the value of the overall market (and in correlation the value of his portfolio) fall so he can pick up stocks at a better price.
Having said that, it still holds true that the bigger the value of your portfolio the more dividend income you're likely to receive. You'd have to agree it would be very difficult for a $10,000 portfolio to bring in the same kind of dividend income as a $68,000 portfolio. So, you'll understand when back in May of 2012 I read DM's post about the value of his portfolio reaching $68,000 while I was sitting there with just under $10,000 in all of my investment accounts. Granted DM had been investing for a good year or two before me, but still it's hard not to look how far others have climbed and realize how much farther you have to go yourself.
Well, it was quite the mental win for me when just this last week I was updating my spreadsheet and low and behold, my total portfolio value crossed the $68,000 mark! I couldn't believe it. I was now that guy standing tall, on a milestone peak that just a few short years earlier I was looking up at! It felt great and I really needed to tell the world!
Again the value of the portfolio is really just a mental win, the real victory is the financial win because my forward annual dividends crossed $2,000 a year! That's right! I've basically bought back more than a month and a half of my life, every year, for the rest of my life! That to me is amazing, and quite motivating to boot!
Whew... That was a lot of exclamation points.
What's interesting about this is that it didn't "seem" so difficult. Staying the course has become easier. I don't mean it's always easy to not spend money and invest it, and I don't mean the journey hasn't been long (two and half years at this point). What I'm trying to say is that it seems very natural, to me, that I'm where I'm at now. I suppose that makes sense as I've watch my investments grow every step of the way. Watched and tracked how my dividends have increased and seen the compounding effect of time. I'm sure this must be how it was for DM, and every other blog I read about where people are investing and chasing their dreams. However, when I was starting out it I had to fight just to obtain $8.00 a year in dividend income. Now my portfolio generates this and more automatically.
There are still many other FI bloggers out there with portfolios bigger than mine, and that's fine. We are all going to the same destination, we are just taking different roads and at different points on those paths. I'm not a very competitive guy but I do like to see where I measure up with others who are similar to me. Who knows, maybe somebody reading this is in my position two and a half years ago. If you are, let me tell you, stay the course. It's worth it.
