Running on thin ice – you know exactly what this post is about everyone? I know, very ambiguous and disguise-like, but it’s how I’ve been running over the last 5-6 months. This year has had many events, opportunities and actions that has had me running on thin ice, but for some reason – it’s becoming less and less “scary”. What do I even mean about running on thin ice, one may be asking? One slight cue – it deals with cash. And not simply just cash but… Continue reading
Category Archives: Lessons
Dividend Diplomats 5 Important Money Lessons
One of the foundations that we have built our website on is the importance of investing in dividend paying stocks at a young age to maximize the power of compounding dividends. That’s why we have preached frugal living as it has allowed us to maximize the amount we are able to invest now so we can reach financial freedom sooner. While we have been successful recently saving a large percentage of our income, it hasn’t always been this way. Through our experiences (Bert has had a lot more of these than Lanny by the way) or by watching others, we have witnessed many financial missteps of people in your twenties. One of the best thing about the community we are in is that we share knowledge, and we have learned a ton about life, finances, and dividend paying stocks since we started this blog a year ago. So we wanted to share with you the top 5 lessons we have learned over the years in hopes that you can get your dividend snowball rolling as soon as possible.
Power of the 401K Match for a Dividend Income Investor
Ah, the beauty of being a dividend growth investor. There are many, er, most of us that still work for an employer that isn’t our own self. Most of us still work for a firm, a company, a business that pay us on a periodic basis throughout the year, whether that be hourly or salary. As a benefit of working for such an organization – they may offer a matching policy for 401K contributions. Today… yes Today, I want to go through the power of the 401K match has on our dividend portfolios!
4 0 1 K – MATCH
Our One Year Bloggiversary!
One year ago, today, on May 15, 2014 – the Dividend Diplomats were created. Two young guys in public accounting, after constant discussions of investing, financial freedom, dividend stocks and life without the chains – they came to a meeting of the minds. 365 days have past and WOW what a ride it has truly been. (Lanny) has been reading the dividend investing community blog-o-sphere for more than 5 years and (Bert) has done this now for going on 2 years. Two guys that grew up in two different areas on Northeast Ohio – Lanny from Akron and Bert from Cleveland, one being Catholic and the other, er, uhm, Jewish, one being 6’3 and the other being 5’8, they still shared many things in common, one of those being – deep hearted passion about dividend income investing and to have this income to push them toward crossing the line of financial freedom. Time to take a look back at 365 days…
Defining Yield on Cost (The YOC!)
This post will be an investing lesson regarding a certain investing topic that dividend investors will occasionally use when they discuss performance and metrics. It is similar to your yield and is a huge proponent for how long you hold onto an investment, the activities that happen within that investment, as well as the pros and cons of measuring such a metric. The topic that I’d like to discuss today is the Yield on Cost or, as I like to call it – The YOC! And no… this is not the same thing as in the NFL or YAC (Yards after catch), close though! Let’s talk about The YOC! Continue reading
Lanny’s Debt Update
Debt. What is debt? Is this America’s Horror Story? Is it chains strapped to your hands and ankles? Well, by definition, Debt is “An amount of money borrowed by one party from another. Many corporations/individuals use debt as a method for making large purchases that they could not afford under normal circumstances. A debt arrangement gives the borrowing party permission to borrow money under the condition that it is to be paid back at a later date, usually with interest.” Thanks Investopedia for that. Debt can be used in two ways – to pay for something that we use day in/day out as a liability that does not generate cash for us OR debt can be used to leverage buying an asset that produces a greater return than the cost of the debt itself. I have debt and I wanted to share an update where I stand based on today, Mid-April.
Why I Changed Jobs
In my last article, I hinted that I recently made a big decision in my life, and boy was it a difficult one. As the title of this article suggests, I recently changed jobs for a variety of reasons. The decision was not an easy one by any stretch, and I had many conversations with my fiance, family, and Lanny about the move. But ultimately, the pros outweighed the cons and handed my boss my resignation letter. Just like that, I closed one chapter of my life and began writing a new one. Here is some insight into why I changed jobs.