The Golden Rule of Building Wealth
PRESENTED BY SNOWBALL ANALYTICS
Disclaimer: This page contains some affiliate links that might just lead you to the promised land of awesomeness (or at least some cool products). I personally use all of the products promoted, and recommend them because they are companies I have found to be helpful and trustworthy. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
The other day, my friend Jakob reached out to me with a great question, asking how I was able to choose the slow, steady process of dividend investing instead of a more exciting approach like day trading, options, or something more along those lines.
From our conversation, it seemed that Jakob was wrestling with the same temptation that many investors feel: the pull toward fast results and high-flying returns. He even mentioned trying options and trading penny stocks and admitted that, although he hasn’t lost much, he’s really feeling the heavy, gravitational pull toward chasing quick gains.
Now, I know we usually save this kind of stuff for the Since You Asked section, but I think what Jakob’s going through gets to the heart of one of the hardest parts of investing: being patient.
In psychology, there’s a term for what Jakob is experiencing called temporal discounting, which is when you opt for immediate gratification over delayed results. It’s what makes spending your money now on something fun (like a friend of mine did here) so much more satisfying than stashing it away for your future.
You get an instant rush from it, and that same urge is why many investors get into something like day trading instead of something like dividend investing. The payoff is delayed by years—or even decades—which can make it hard to put yourself in the shoes of a future version of yourself who will reap the rewards.
And while I completely understand wanting things to happen right here and right now, investing for 20 or 30 years down the road is what’s really going to build lasting wealth.
This isn’t exclusive to investing, either. This principle of delayed gratification is the “Golden Rule” for anything whose benefits only come with time—things like working out, eating healthy, or reading a book instead of scrolling TikTok.
Every time you choose these more challenging, future-focused activities, you’re delaying gratification in exchange for something more meaningful down the road. In other words, you’re sacrificing today for the betterment of tomorrow.
For me, chasing delayed gratification and developing this long-term mindset started long before I got into investing.
Outside of dividend stocks, I’m really into health and fitness and have been lifting weights consistently for almost 14 years. And when it comes to building strength and putting on muscle, just like with investing, you don’t see results overnight.
You don’t walk into the gym one day and leave with a six-pack. Instead, you have to keep showing up, work hard, and continue paying your dues—day after day, month after month, year after year.
Only through that consistent effort will you finally see the results you're after, and that's what makes it feel so rewarding!
Coming into investing having understood that made it easier for me to accept that building a successful dividend portfolio was going to take a long time, as it should. There is no shortcut to wealth, and there is no magic formula that delivers overnight success.
As the saying goes, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. And, honestly, the fact that it takes so long is exactly why many people avoid it. Patience and consistency are hard, and many people feel that it just isn’t worth it.
But for me, that only makes me want to do it more! While others are focused on quick wins in the short term and trying to “get rich by Tuesday,” as Ari Gutman would say, I’m focused on building something lasting and sustainable.
Critics might say that dividend investing is too slow, or that it doesn’t work in the stock market of today. My experience has been the opposite, though, and I know that over time, the results will speak for themselves.
Even though it can start off slow, your dividend snowball will grow into an unstoppable force, and it happens faster than you think. Plus, dividend investing is one of those things that just gets better the longer you do it, and there are plenty of small victories along the way that help keep you motivated.
Whether it's hitting a new all-time high in the portfolio or a record month of dividend income, all of those moments are worth celebrating. They're proof that you're on the right path, and they will help keep you going on the long but rewarding journey to financial freedom.
With that said, I’d love to hear from you: What was the most recent milestone you hit in your portfolio? Write to me here and let me know.
And if you’re in the market for some cheap dividend stocks, click here to learn about three of them that look like great pickups right now.
Dividend Investing Democratized
Join thousands of savvy investors in the pursuit of early retirement. Get Retire With Ryne delivered straight to your inbox every week as you build your perpetually growing, cash-flowing dividend stock portfolio.
One of the most essential tools for any investor is a reliable portfolio tracker, and Snowball Analytics is the ultimate command center for your portfolio, providing all the tools you need (and more) in one place.
Plus, it’s one of the only portfolio trackers out there designed specifically for dividend investors.
The layout is clean and intuitive, offering charts, graphs, and other features you didn’t even know you needed but now can’t live without—like the event calendar, portfolio backtest tool, and the dip finder tool (this has been a game changer).
I’ve been using Snowball for a while now, and it's the most in-depth portfolio tracker I’ve ever used (you can see it in action here). I highly recommend it to any dividend investor looking for maximum functionality and data for tracking their portfolio.
Right now, Snowball Analytics is offering a 14-day FREE trial so you can try it out risk-free. The best part is, if you end up loving it (which, as you'll find out, is not hard to do), you can save 10% on your subscription when you use code “rynewilliams” upon signing up.
IN MY PORTFOLIO 📈
Portfolio performance provided by Snowball Analytics
ICYMI 🎥
All My Dividend Income In October | $82,500 PORTFOLIO
In October, I received 8 dividend payments from some heavy-hitting stocks and ETFs like VICI, MO, and VOO.
In this video, we’ll go through each of those payments so you can see all of my dividend income received for the month, as well as my total income received so far in 2024.
CAREFULLY CURATED 🔍
📺 Crab Walking To Wealth - Another killer conversation from Ari Gutman, this time featuring Colby Craig, AKA The DGI Crab. I highly recommend watching this video to learn how Colby is building wealth with dividend growth investing.
🎧 The Intelligent Investor - A fantastic episode of the Richer, Wiser, Happier podcast where William Green chats with Jason Zweig, who shares his biggest lessons from interviewing Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.
📚 2 S.W.A.N. REITs - Brad Thomas shares two rock-solid REITs that you can sleep well at night owning.
SINCE YOU ASKED 💬
"Is there a simple formula for retirement investing? For example, if I’m investing over a 15-year horizon, should I target stocks with a specific yield and growth CAGR? And how would those targets change for different timelines, like 10, 15, or 20 years?"
- Matthew | YouTube
This is such a great question! While there's no perfect formula, there are some useful rules of thumb you can follow.
In general, the farther you are from retirement, the more you may benefit from investing in dividend-growth stocks with high dividend-growth CAGRs. Think of companies like Visa (V), Microsoft (MSFT), Rollins (ROL), and Snap-on (SNA) that may have low starting yields, but have dividend growth rates well into the double-digits.
The idea here is that with more time to let these companies grow and compound, your yield on cost at the time of retirement could outpace what you'd get from investing in higher-yield, lower-growth stocks.
On the other side of that, as you approach retirement, there’s less time for the dividend snowball to build. At that point, your income needs are more immediate, so it might make sense to shift towards higher-yield stocks.
With that said, this isn't a pass to buy yield traps. That's never a good idea.
No matter the yield, you still want to invest in companies that have a history of paying consistent dividends. Some examples might include stocks like Realty Income (O), Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN), or Altria Group (MO), which offer steady dividends but may not grow as quickly.
Personally, I like to keep a balance of both types of dividend stocks in my portfolio—high-yield/low-growth stocks alongside low-yield/high-growth stocks. I feel that it gives me the best of both worlds, offering both adequate yield today and respectable dividend growth over time.
As I said, there's no simple formula for perfectly calculating your ideal yield and growth targets, but following these principles can at least give you a good sense of direction.
To see how different yield and growth profiles might play out, you can use this free dividend calculator to project your portfolio's future growth. Playing around with different figures based on your portfolio value, annual contributions, and retirement timeline can give you a better sense of what type of dividend profile might be best for meeting your goals.
Have a question? Ask me here to see it featured in an upcoming newsletter.
HOT TAKES 🔥
No Hot Takes this week. We'll be back next week with some fresh ones.
LAST WORD 👋
The Investment Club has officially been live for a full month now!
To those of you who have already become Founding Members, I want to send a heartfelt thank you. I appreciate your support on this new project, and we're getting a lot of great feedback so far! Here’s what some people are saying:
Chris said: I’ve subscribed to a lot of stock research platforms over the years, but Snapstock stands out. It’s clear, insightful, and just makes sense—no fluff, just what matters.
Michael said: The Investors Almanac has given me a clear path for researching stocks from start to finish. I can't believe I went this long without a tool like this.
Logan said: Getting access to Ryne's Almanac is one of my favorite parts of The Investment Club. His stock research and book notes offer a unique perspective that is already helping me in my own research process.
If you want to secure your spot and become a Founding Member, you can learn more and sign up here. Don’t forget to use code “FOUNDER25” at checkout to receive a 25% lifetime discount.
