Is It Too Late To Start Investing?
Investing is like a fine wine – it just keeps getting better with time.
You've probably heard me say this more than once, and I'll undoubtedly say it again.
As a younger investor with many great years of compounding ahead, I can't help but look forward to the future. My portfolio might not be breaking any records now, but fast forward a decade or three, and it’s bound to grow into something pretty life-changing.
After all, time is a dividend investor’s greatest ally.
But here's the deal: I recently got an email from a member of our community here. He’s 40 years old, so 10 years older than me, and instead of getting excited about what lies ahead, he's worried about the future of his portfolio.
He’s concerned that the journey to financial freedom will take too long, and that by the time he gets there, he'll be too old to truly relish it. He doesn’t want to look back and wish he'd spent more on living in the moment instead of putting money into his portfolio.
I get it. Even though I think the future is bright, I totally understand where he's coming from.
Reaching financial freedom through dividend investing is a marathon. It’s easy to question what it’s all for when the finish line is decades away, and when there are likely many other things you’d rather spend your money on along the way.
It requires sacrifice, that's for sure. But the sacrifice today is worth it for the betterment of tomorrow. Every contribution to your portfolio, every reinvested dividend, it's all progress – and that progress adds up and compounds over time.
So when you meet those moments of doubt, and find yourself sitting with those feelings of frustration, remember – your financial future will be brighter than today. Your belief in that will override any doubt that creeps in, and will keep you going when it feels like none of this matters.
If you’ve ever thought about throwing in the towel, don't. Just keep investing, and keep climbing. I think you’ll be pretty amazed at how far you can go if you just stick with it.
Even a few short years of investing can make a big difference, and after a certain point, you’ll see your dividend snowball really explode. I’m telling you more about that here.
At any rate, I want to hear from you: What advice would you give to our friend here, or anyone else dealing with similar feelings of doubt and frustration on their investing journey? Write to me here and let me know.
And a big thank you to the 38 readers who responded to last week's newsletter! You can read some of the responses at the bottom of this newsletter in the "Hot Takes" section. 👇
Dividend Investing Democratized
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I use Seeking Alpha every single day, and have done so for years now. It's my go-to website for everything related to stock research, and it's been essential in helping me become a better investor.
Whether I'm looking up dividend stats, reading the news, listening to earnings calls, or just want to find out what others are saying about a particular stock, Seeking Alpha has it all for free, and the Premium version is even better.
The Premium version gives you unlimited access to Seeking Alpha's library of articles, personalized portfolio tracking tools, and a ton of other essential features for the dedicated dividend investor. You can see the full list of Premium features here.
Right now, Seeking Alpha is offering a 7-Day FREE Trial of their Premium platform so you can try it out risk-free. The best part is, if you end up loving it (which if you're like me, you definitely will), you'll automatically get $50 OFF of your annual subscription.
It's normally $239 for the year, but with the discount it comes out to $189, so you're saving about 20%. I've been using it for years, and have definitely found it to be worth the money.
If nothing else, it's at least worth checking out the 7-Day FREE Trial.
IN MY PORTFOLIO 📈
Follow my portfolio on getquin, and track all of my purchases, dividends, and updates in real-time.
ICYMI 🎥
Our Most Bought Stocks of 2023 (Over 10 Channels Featured) 💰
2023 has been a great year for dividend investors with a lot to reflect on. To close out the year, I wanted to do something different, so I asked all of my friends here in the dividend investing community what was their most purchased stock throughout the year.
In this video, we’ll get to hear from over 10 different creators, who will all share which stocks they bought the most in 2023 as well as why they think they're good long-term investments.
CAREFULLY CURATED 🔍
📺 Coke vs. Pepsi - It's a rivalry as old as time, but ultimately, which one is better? This video outlines the battle between these two beverage behemoths over the years, and gives investors a little taste of each one's history.
🎧 Celebrating Charlie Munger - In this episode of We Study Billionaires, William Green pays tribute to Charlie Munger, highlighting personal anecdotes and insights from other famous investors including Mohnish Pabrai, Tom Gayner, Joel Greenblatt, and Chris Davis.
📚 Frugal vs. Independent - In this recent blog, Morgan Housel offers an important distinction about people who spend less than they earn, which I'm pretty confident includes many of us here in the dividend investing community.
SINCE YOU ASKED 💬
"Is it redundant to own an ETF that has the same stock that you already own? I own VZ, but if I buy an ETF that already has VZ is that bad?"
- @alvaro93364 | YouTube
This is a great question. It's not bad at all to own a stock individually and also have exposure to it through an ETF. I actually have that going on with a few of the holdings in my portfolio.
In your specific case, all it means is that you'll have a higher allocation to VZ. You just need to decide if that's something you want.
Have a question? Ask me here to see it featured in an upcoming newsletter.
HOT TAKES 🔥
Last week, I asked readers if they invest in a Roth IRA or any other type of retirement account. Here are some of the responses:
Thomas said: Because I am in a union, my employer does not match our 401k. I will receive a pension upon retirement from the union. Because of this, I have started investing into a Roth IRA focused on stock appreciation and dividend growth. I have a 25 year time horizon which gives me plenty of time to invest and grow the portfolio to help supplement my income with dividends or work part time and continue to contribute. My hope to is to max out my IRA every year if possible and then at 50, bump it up with the catch up contributions. Based on projections, I should sit around $350,000 or more depending on my ability to max out the account and price appreciation which would give my wife and I an extra $1,000 a month from dividend income if we need.
Chris said: I currently have a Roth IRA and a taxable brokerage account, like yourself. I max out my IRA and it is strictly for dividend growth stocks and ETF's only (SCHD, KR, & BAC are my top 3, in that order with SCHD making up 50% of my Roth IRA). Knowing that when I can tap into that and receive all of the dividends tax-free is extremely important to my wife and I. We are probably going to open up another Roth IRA in her name soon, as we both at least match our employer contributions into our 401k and 401a accounts.
Clay said: I started 8-10 years ago, and have only been maxing out my contributions for the past 3-4 years. When I began, prior to ago 59.5, it was a way to force myself to not raid my savings and forced me to let it sit and compound tax-free. This was prior to having set up a defined budget, paying off debt, and having a cash savings plan in-place. Once that was established, I found I didn't have a need to raid my investments for cash.
Travine said: I invest in a Roth IRA, and I'm proud to say I'm maxing it out for the 1st time this year. I also have an HSA account which my employer adds $1k annually. Thanks for the emails and videos as they motivate me even more to keep saving and investing. Keep makin' that sweet cash flow.
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