Personal Finance Archives - Page 7 of 21

The Dividend Challenge

I am obsessed with growing dividends and seeing them compound every year. Well now I am doing a crush the dividend challenge. (#dividendchallenge) The purpose is to well increase the dividends in 2015 and surpass what was received in 2014.

If you make the gap bigger between last year and this year you will experience year over year growth. The benefit of dividends will not only give you a greater sense of return on your money, but it will also provide the opportunity to get even more shares going forward. If you do this, you will invest on purpose for increasing dividends aka icing on the cake in my opinion.

Imagine getting 10K a year from dividends in 2015 and letting things compound. By the year 2020 can you imagine how much you will get from dividends? Its safe to say it will be more than 15 thousand dollars of free money just for holding an asset.

What in life gives you free money for holding it? Nothing does and only investments do. Now are you ready to crush the dividend challenge?

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The Best Financial Scenario

Do you want to know what is the best financial scenario for your money? We all have our wants, needs and goals in life. The optimal route for the average person, is a road not heavily traveled and hopefully that route can skip over all the money trials and tribulations. For many folks including yourself the desire should always be to travel down the less friction induced monetary highway on the path to ultimate wealth prosperity.

If you agree with the thought provoking message above, it will be to your advantage to continue reading. Once you begin to implement the financial scenarios within this intricately worded post, the scenery will appear as if you are traveling on a Japanese bullet train going over 300 miles per hour, thanks to the financially supercharged decisions you will make. It will feel this way only when it comes to building wealth as the primary objective, as far as life goes. The rest of the time you can slowly enjoy the other pleasures of life one day at a time at the preferred pace.

The ultimate tactic any modern human can do is to begin the supersonic compounding as early as feasible. If your still in the cave man status I predict investing is not in your vocabulary, for the mere fact of fear or maybe ineptitude towards investing.

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Don’t Invest all Money into Index Funds

Don't invest all money into index funds

Index funds are great because of the simplicity behind them and how dirt cheap (Fee Wise) they are compared to other mutual funds. But please don’t invest all money into index funds.

I will let you in on a little secret why I will always invest part of my money away from index funds. Index funds are considered a passive investing strategy as you can place your money, forget it and realize on average a 4-8% return on your money. Index funds usually mirror the broad based market like the S&P 500, NASDAQ or a plethora of other indices.

The main issue I have is that the returns of Exxon, Apple, IBM, Johnson & Johnson is by far greater in a 20 year time span compared to that of long running Index funds. If you find a calculator that can go back in time and give you what a 10,000 dollar investment over 20 years made in any of the companies I referenced above. You will be amazed to find the amount will be staggering. The returns I’m talking about should be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you compare the same 10 grand into an average index fund investment, it will not even come close.

Now why is the figure so drastically different from the individual big blue chip stocks to an average index fund? I will attempt to be an investing guru, and provide you with the details as to why.

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Financial Ponderings

I want to give you a few of the financial ponderings I was thinking of during lunch yesterday. These will never change as Americans are fully integrated into a system that is not beneficial for the average person. I hope many of you will learn a few things from reading these tidbits and just stop to think that maybe there is a better way to live life.

Granted we all take risks in life for instance if a stock you owned dropped a few dollars, and you cashed out. But if you are constantly signing on the dotted line for loan applications year after year, then you are destined to live a life of less abundance. By overspending on products and getting services above means is a lifestyle that is never good financial sense.

By discussing the financial ponderings and then acting responsibly by your money any reader will transform into a super informed financial mastermind. Who can decipher any financial pitfalls like a spelunker for the money life we all lead. If done right The ups will be tremendous highs, and the downs will be easily stress free as we can cover any emergency due to the financial smarts and cash hoard we have stashed by not being victims to these interest rate trickery by the banking institutions.

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My High Income Investment Account

I’ve always been big on investing into high yielding stocks or mutual funds. I am a big proponent in investing in something that gives constant rewards. It just makes me feel good to get new shares of my investment every month or every quarter for doing nothing. This is where my high income investment account comes into play.

In the future this high income investment account will hopefully sustain my retirement needs when I no longer desire to work. Another reason I am going this route is to set up my very own high yielding mutual fund, but with more risk. This will hopefully provide greater returns in the future.

On average over the last 10 years, mutual funds have only averaged a dividend yield of 2-3%. But with these individual stocks, depending on the price you buy it at, and with the consistent yearly dividend increases, I know I can have a 7-10% yield on cost investment.

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Not the Average Definition of Stuff

Not the average definition of stuff

Do you find that your house is full of stuff that is just lying around, for the most part unused and collecting dust? This is unfortunately the norm for most Americans, because we love to buy, purchase, acquire, and lastly procure stuff.

Hey everyone all of that stuff will not make you happier, it just takes up space and energy. I will show you a few awesome, not the average definition of stuff, to make you laugh.

In 2014 the average American adult is predicted to spend about $700-800 dollars for Christmas gifts aka they will give away a bunch of stuff to friends and family. When you multiply this amount as a nation that figure is around 600 billion dollars. (Begin awkward hand clap)

After you read these, you might think to yourself I really don’t need all this stuff and can now focus on living a simpler life.

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The Last Hundred Dollars – Christmas Edition

A new series is born today, with the premise that now I will let you in to see the things that I spent my last hundred dollars on. Imagine if you had only a hundred dollars to your name, what would you spend it on?

The last hundred is a way to lighten up the financial blogosphere with something unique. Yeah I could give you a bunch of boring spreadsheets showing my monthly net worth, but that’s been done a thousand times over.

Also part of me is still hesitant to fully reveal my financial numbers in all its lowly soon to be very highly glory. What will this accomplish, maybe nothing. But it sure is exciting to see what people spend money on, don’t you think?

The spring is about 4 months away and I am very excited to shovel massive amounts of snow this winter. (Not really) We are gonna switch it up today and give you a snap shot of spending in the month of December for some Christmas gifts and random misc. things. (Obviously excluding Mrs. Rich Uncle EL’s gifts, as I don’t want to give away all my secrets)

See below for some spending based off the last hundred dollars – Christmas edition.

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Financial Champion or Financial Wimp

The premise behind the financial champion or financial wimp is to decipher where anyone who is currently employed is excelling or falling behind everyday with money matters.

There’s not much info out there on actual facts whether someone is a financial champion who makes all the best choices with money or a financial wimp who squanders money. (PF Bloggers Excluded) The financial wimp is inclined to make excuses behind each and every financial choice they make. It can be blamed on several factors like not making enough income, not being able to avoid debt, not sacrificing for immediate gratification, etc. Let’s make an effort to stop all the excuses.

Now where the grass on the other side is usually greener or at least appears that way. The financial champions are the folks who constantly strive to do the best for their finances without any mental barriers or #excuses. They fund 401K to the best of their abilities, they have a Roth IRA and fund that as well, they understand the value of money, they take choices regarding money not lightly, they brown bag lunch in order to pay debt off sooner, and they understand happiness does not come from buying everything that glitters.

Now let’s discuss what traits distinguish the two polar opposites of financial people. I am not trying to put anyone down or praise anybody, but there is a truthful way to live a dedicated money life. See below for the awesomeness.

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