Dividend Investing is a Fool Proof Plan – F–K the haters! Pursuing FI by Blogging & Dividend Investing is a Fool Proof Plan
The title got cha’ eh, bud.
You thought I was mad didn’t you?
Well, sorry but I’m not. This is actually a very happy blog post that I’m excited to share with you.
The thought of the worst case scenario for blogging and dividend investing has been on my mind lately.I’ve been pondering if it would be better to completelydevotemyself to a career or more normallifestyle.
The question is:
What will life look like in 10 years if I stay focussed on blogging and dividend investing?
There’s also another layer of questions that branch off that question:
What if I never become successful at blogging? What if I fail to save enough money to reach FI within 10 to 15 years?Is mypassionfor blogging holding me back in other aspects of life?
Truth be told, the outcome is not so bad no matter how you want to spin it.
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The worst case scenario is that I work a similar career as everyone else.
The only difference is that I’ll have a large stock portfolio, no debt, a blog that generates $1,000 per year (I’ve made over $500 before), and I’ll have blogging friends to hang out with on a yearly basis at Fincon.
But besides those differences, there is absolutely no reason why I can’t have a successful career along side an anonymous blog.
If that’s the worst case scenario, please sign me the f*ck up!
I will be better at writing than I am now.
Another positive outcome from blogging over the next 10 years is that I’ll be able to write better. There’s just no way that I won’t be better. I mean, I’ll never achieve an academic grasp of grammar, but that’s ok. I’m a blogger and dividend investor first, and I could always hire an editor to clean it up.
The main idea is that I’ll improve over time. I’ve always been the type of person that learns by practicing, not by instruction. The way that teachers explain information does not make sense most of the time. From my viewpoint, they are relaying information from a textbook and only explaining it to the extent that the textbook explains it. They don’t really know how to apply the information in a practical sense. That’s just my opinion.
I’ve learned more about writing through blogging over the last 2 years than any classroom has ever taught me.
Blogging helps keep the mind fresh.
I have a grandfather who is 92 years old and still going. He retired at 55 and has spent his entire retirement on personal hobbies. I really think hobbies have kept him going. He golfed, gardened, watched baseball, and he always enjoyed completing crosswords every morning. Based on my observations, completing crossword puzzles helped keep his mind fresh. I think blogging is my version of crosswords.
Writing and organizing my thoughts will help my mind stay fresh. And basketball is my sport, if you really want to know.
I will have a better than average understanding of the markets and economy.
It struck me as odd the other day when I realized I know what the hell I’m talking about during a conversation about the stock market. Obviously I’m supposed to have some kind of an idea—I’ve worked in that space professionally, and I write about dividend investing on this blog. But still, I impressed myself during a recent conversation about investing. After researching different equities, analyzing balance sheets, and by keeping an eye on the markets over the years, I have a better than average understanding than I realized. If I spend the next 10 years saving money, investing, and working towards FI, I’ll have an even more solid understanding of the markets.
Financial stress will not exist.
One of the worst kinds of pressures is financial stress.
When I was day trading during my year off, my system actually worked. I was making decent money before the full-time pressure happened. But once my income depended on trading, it became a lot more difficult. It was a pressure that I do not want to deal with again.
That’s ultimately why I went back to work—dividend investing is a fool proof plan to support blogging. Through dividend investing over the next ten years, I will have saved up a sizeable chunk of money and I will have no debt. In turn, I’ll have the time to be patient with decisions, which will lead to…
Options.
Even if my plan to reach financial independence changes, I’ll have options.
For example, if I want to be normal and buy a car, I’d have the cash to buy one. If I wanted to stop pursuing financial independence to buy a house instead, I’ll be able to.
Moreover, if I want to take a year off work to spend time blogging—oh wait, I already did that.
Retirement will be cushy.
Further to the point about having options, I could always work longer.
It’s possible that I’ll reach financial independence and want to earn more money. Perhaps I’ll aspire for a higher quality of life by the time dividend income covers my basic expenses. I’ve learned to never say never.
But as of right now, I’m still as interested in saving money as ever because dividend investing is a fool proof plan. I’m as interested in blogging as I’ve ever been too.
As such, I’m still working towards early retirement and a cushy office to blog and allocate capital in.
Because this is how I enjoy spending time.
A recent conversation about financial independence really ticked me off. It actually made me livid.
In short, the arguer claimed that investing was a personal interest and that it’s not for everyone.
They went into a rant about how I’m depriving myself and how life could end at any moment.
I mean, I agree that life could end at any moment. But here’s what haters fail to grasp—this is how I enjoy spending my time.
I simply enjoy blogging and investing more than I like buying new stuff.I’m aware that the nostalgia diminishes, so buying stuff only leads to temporary happiness. There will always be a newer version eventually.
On the other hand, blogging and dividend investing is a fool proof plan that won’t let you down.
It’s really about understanding yourself as an individual and how you want to spend your time.
Concluding Thoughts |Blogging andDividend Investing is a Fool Proof Plan
Hopefully this post provides financial independence haters with a different perspective to chew on.
Every time I save money or publish a new blog post, it infuses me with the same jolt of energy that the leather smell in your new $70,000 truck providesyou with.
Not that it’s a bad thing to enjoy nice vehicles, it’s great if it makes you happy.
As I have continued to proclaim on this blog, it all comes down to how you want to spend your time.
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