Greetings and thanks for visiting! I’m John, and I’ll be your guide here on dividendquest.com. Passive income from dividend investing is the focus of this blog, and I’ll delve into various aspects of dividend investing, my approach to dividend investing, my successes, my failures, and how dividend income has enhanced my financial security. If you find this blog informative, learn a few things you didn’t know before, and maybe find some inspiration then I’ll consider this blog’s purpose fulfilled.
Who am I? Well, I’m a just a regular guy who works in the Portland Oregon metro area as a technical writer for a Pacific Northwest based company, married for over six years, and moved into our first house five years ago.
So how and why did I get into dividend investing? I was a good little saver, had no debt, consistently paid off my credit card balance on time, had IRA and 401(k) accounts, and lived fairly frugally. In short, I was doing okay, but not doing *great*. But three things roughly coincided in 2007 to give me the swift kick in the ass I needed to change and make my money work harder for me.
1, Turning 40. I realized that it was high time for me to get serious about money.
2. Declining bank interest rates. In 2007 interest rates rapidly fell to nearly zero. Savings account rates were a joke and CDs weren’t any better. Action was clearly needed.
3. A feeling that I must do *something*. Not knowing much about the stock market and how to intelligently invest (“It’s soooo risky!!!” cried the internal fear-voice), I was wary of diving into stocks. The result being years of procrastination about investing, unsure of what to do, but knowing I needed to act.
Being much more open to improving my personal finances, I picked up a copy of the best-seller “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki followed by his second book, “Cash Flow Quadrant.” These books opened my eyes about the cash flow habits of the classes, the stunningly simple “asset” and “liability” definitions, and what defines wealth (a very different concept than “rich”). With new eyes, I looked at my present and past financial behaviors and didn’t like what I saw.
Inspired by Kiyosaki, I then turned to “The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing” by Jason Kelly to learn the basic principles of stock investing. The book really does a great job of explaining stocks, investing philosophies and methodologies, and how to trade online. With some financial education under my belt, I felt ready to jump on Wall Street’s roller coaster. I started out investing in a couple companies purely for capital gains, but soon became much more interested in dividend yielding stocks and higher yielding ETFs in particular.
Since starting my journey in dividend investing, I have experienced mistakes, smart moves, luck (good and bad), and developed my own processes and methodologies for finding stocks to watch and buy when I’m ready.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, plus I would like to hear what you have to say about dividend investing as a form of passive revenue and what, in your experience, has and has not worked. So feel free to contact me directly via e-mail to John (at) dividendquest.com.
Thanks again for visiting and enjoy your stay.
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