Financial freedom isn’t a theoretical concept but rather a lifestyle founded on real, hard math.
I believe one is financially free when they’re free from financial concerns. More specifically, being free of financial concerns would imply that one is able to generate enough passive income so that their basic expenses are effectively already covered.
Well, I can say that I’ve worked hard enough – along with receiving a little luck along the way – to get to this position, and it’s in these updates that I show the math behind the lifestyle.
I’m paid just to wake up and exist these days, which feels incredible!
Before I even think about taking on challenges or somehow exchanging some of my time for money, my core personal expenses are already covered. Whereas most people are “in the hole” every morning they wake up, I’m in neutral or positive territory. That means I’m in a position of power and control rather than a position of weakness.
I own my own time now. This was the one thing I set out to own many years ago, when I first started my journey to financial freedom. I could never understand why people want to own stuff and things if they don’t own their own time yet. Time is the ultimate and most valuable commodity in this world. And I’m now free to spend it as I please, which allows me to pursue happiness and live a purposeful life.
Keep in mind, however, that while my aim is to show the basic “infrastructure” of my financial freedom via these real-life, real-money reveals, I’ve come to realize that much of the math is moot. One is very likely going to go on to make much more money past the point of financial freedom, which means that one shouldn’t anchor their entire life on hitting $X in passive income. It’s just really not that vital.
Money shouldn’t be thought of in terms of having to live off of it but rather in terms of providing the flexibility and courage to live life on your terms.
Nonetheless, I think it’s still important to operate with all of the benefits (like that aforementioned flexibility and courage) that financial freedom confers. And so I present my passive income and core personal expenses, as you can see below.
Passive Income
The majority of my passive income is made up of the growing dividend income my Full-Time Fund generates on my behalf. The Fund is like an invisible worker, sending me the entirety of their paycheck. It’s a great relationship, but I can’t seem to shake this feeling that I’m really getting the better end of the deal. (Shh. It’ll be our little secret.)
The dividend income my Full-Time Fund generated for me in September 2016 can be seen in the table below. In the first column, you’ll see the name of the company and its ticker. The second column is the dividend paid. You’ll then see the total of all dividends paid to me this past month on the bottom right, in bold.
Without further ado:
| Viacom, Inc. (VIAB) | $11.00 |
| Albemarle Corporation (ALB) | $15.25 |
| The Coca-Cola Co. (KO) | $49.00 |
| Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI) | $16.10 |
| South Jersey Industries Inc. (SJI) | 13.19 |
| Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) | $22.75 |
| Diageo PLC (DEO) | $46.16 |
| Altria Group Inc. (MO) | $48.80 |
| Tiffany & Co. (TIF) | $9.00 |
| Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) | $104.00 |
| Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN) | $22.20 |
| W.P. Carey Inc. (WPC) | $73.88 |
| EPR Properties (EPR) | $6.40 |
| Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB) | $24.70 |
| Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) | $6.73 |
| Realty Income Corp. (O) | $14.14 |
| Stag Industrial Inc. (STAG) | $12.74 |
| Chubb Ltd. (CB) | $10.35 |
| Medtronic PLC (MED) | $15.91 |
| General Electric Company (GE) | $39.10 |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) | $11.70 |
| Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) | $12.65 |
| Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) | $44.25 |
| Armanino Foods of Distinction Inc. (AMNF) | $27.00 |
| Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) | $24.60 |
| Total: | $681.60 |
Another fantastic month.
More than two dozen of the best businesses in the world sent me checks in October.
And what did I have to do for these payments?
Nothing. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m paid just to exist. It’s a great arrangement, I must say.
This month’s tally pushes me to $8,668.20 in aggregate dividend income on the year. October’s total is 45.7% higher than what I received in October 2015.
In addition to the dividend income you see above, my book, The Dividend Mantra Way, earned me $84.87 in passive income this past month.
Lastly, I also occasionally receive cash-back rewards from credit cards. I opened a couple cards up earlier this year so as to take advantage of some bonuses that were offered for new accounts, as I knew I was going to spend more money than usual in the fall due to our planned trip to Chicago. My total cash-back rewards this month amounted to $360.02.
So my total passive income came in at $1,126.49 for October 2016.
Core Personal Expenses
That passive income is designed to cover my core personal expenses.
I define core personal expenses as all money I spend in a month, except that which is spent on the following:
- Business Expenses
- Philanthropy
- Student Loan Repayment
- Health Insurance
It’s quite simple why I exclude those specific categories.
Excluding business expenses is self-explanatory; business expenses are not personal expenses, and they wouldn’t exist if I didn’t have a business.
Philanthropic ventures are also fairly self-explanatory. I won’t/don’t give what I don’t have.
I started my philanthropic giving in early 2016 in earnest, just after realizing I’d become financially free. I see my position of strength as an incredible gift but also an incredible burden, as I believe it’s my duty to humanity to help those in need. In order to become the best version of myself, I need to transcend myself and make the world a slightly better place.
I see philanthropy much like investing, where I’m able to incrementally give to a diverse range of organizations. Over time, these sums will be substantial. Furthermore, I foresee the last 1/3 of my life dedicated almost exclusively to philanthropy. I hope to share more about these ventures in time.
I exclude student loan repayments and health insurance because these are expenses that wouldn’t exist if I were truly living off of just my passive income. Both would effectively be ~$0 at the income level my passive income alone provides.
Thus, core personal expenses are essentially just the essentials. We’re talking rent, food, transportation, internet access, mobile phone bill, household goods, etc. Everything except that which I just laid out.
Core personal expenses for October 2016 came in at $1,321.00 (rounded to the nearest dollar).
This past month’s core personal expenses were substantially higher than usual. This is solely due to our aforementioned trip to Chicago. And the additional spending was almost completely related to extra transportation expenses (to and from airports, along with bus/train travel within the city) and additional food costs (we ate out a few times in Chicago).
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My coverage level this month (passive income/expenses) was 85%.
This is obviously well below last month’s coverage level of 141%. But a trip to Chicago meant it was nigh impossible for me to stay at or above 100%. But it’s not really a goal of mine to stay at or above 100% in every single month. It’s really the average over a quarter (and a year) that I care about, as passive income and expenses are moving targets.
Other than some holiday spending, the next couple months should be pretty quiet on the expense front. Should be fun to see how things line up as the year comes to a close.
Conclusion
Some people may look at my passive income and core personal expenses and think it’s not enough. Well, that’s really an individual call. I have more than enough for me. I want for nothing. I’m for the most part living the life I’d live even if I had access to unlimited wealth. I’m doing what I want, when I want, with whom I want. I no longer worry about buying stuff I neither want nor need with money I don’t actually have to impress people I don’t care about. Now free from such silly expectations, I’m able to pursue happiness and live a purposeful life with reckless abandon. I’m honestly happier than I’ve ever been. I have the flexibility and courage to live life on my terms.
I could actually spend more than I do, as I earn money on top of the passive income I collect. And if I thought I’d be happier doing so, I would. Instead, I’m more interested in new challenges, writing, reading, exercising, spending time with my puppies, relaxing, and becoming a burgeoning philanthropist. These activities drive my happiness; money does not. Of course, I still invest here and there with any excess capital I might have, as that’s a passion of mine. And seeing as how I’m just barely financially free, I continue to grow my coverage level beyond what passive income growth alone will do.
But how much passive income you need is really your call. Your expenses are your own. Your life and happiness are unique to you and your worldview.
What I intend to show through these updates is simply what financial freedom, in purely distilled math terms, looks like for one man. Of course, financial freedom is so much more than math, with the math itself being largely moot anyway. But the basic infrastructure should still be as intact as possible.
That’s it for this month. I hope you enjoyed seeing what things look like on my end. And I hope you take away some inspiration here, knowing that it’s possible to achieve financial freedom quite early in life, even if you don’t start all that early.
Have a great October? What percentage of your expenses were you able to cover with passive income alone?
Full disclosure: I’m long all aforementioned stocks.
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: bplanet at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Congrats on the great month!
I actually didnt recieve my TD dividend until November, thus I add it to my November records. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
shaymychael,
Thanks!
I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out. Getting paid just to exist is probably the best job I’ve ever had. 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
It is absolutely amazing to see successful results. You cash-back rewards income is pretty high, but it is passive when you have control in your spending. People use cash (scare to use credit cards) miss this type of income streams.
I occasionally take little expensive travels, because, in my view, it is very important to enjoy our current live while saving for future.
Best Regards,
FJ,
Yeah, cash-back rewards are great. You’re going to spend a certain amount of money on things like food, mobile phone, etc. So you may as well collect a little back. And if you game the sign-up bonuses right, it can be an extra few hundred dollars every year, which certainly adds up (as you can see here). I look at it like a discount on everything I buy. If it’s 2% cash-back, that’s a 2% sale on everything. Better than 0%.
A lot of people love traveling. I actually don’t. Flying is, like, one of the worst things I can think of. But I guess that’s one reason I moved to Florida years ago – I wanted to live somewhere that I didn’t want to take a vacation from. Working out pretty well. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Best regards.
Jason, excellent recap once again. I particularly like your point about operating from a position of strength because you aren’t starting in the hole each month.
I have an Internet startup here in the bay area and have really pushed us over the last 18 months to get profitable rather than depending on more venture capital. It’s amazing how your negotiating power and attitude change when you’re profitable.
Your business (in this case, your life) is now profitable. What an awesome place to be in. Congrats.
Travis,
Couldn’t agree more. When you come from a position of strength, your whole perspective changes. You’re able to be picky about how you go about spending your time/opportunities/energy/creativity/money/life.
Best of luck with growing your startup!!
Cheers.
Great job Jason. Keep doing you and collecting those big monthly cheques.
DB,
Thanks, man. It wasn’t easy to get here, but it was all totally worth it. 🙂
Cheers!
Keep those monthly cheques coming, very solid month and great to see that you have other sources of passive income! 🙂
Tawcan,
It’s an incredible lifestyle. I’m so fortunate. Getting paid just to exist is definitely the easiest job I’ve ever had. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Best regards.
Hi, Jason
It is a pleasure to read you. I’m glad for you. Being free should be wonderful. I’m in the way but I still need a lot. There we will continue. The way is slow, very slow but tremendously exciting.
Regards! 😉
inversorsensato,
The path isn’t fast or necessarily easy, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I actually got here a lot faster than I had anticipated, but I also took it incredibly serious. I was on it 100% of the time. That said, it does now feel good to take the foot off the gas pedal a bit and just enjoy the rewards. I’m sure you’ll see how all of that works in time. 🙂
Keep it up!
Cheers.
Would a major medical emergencaaf wipe you out or does your insurance cover 100% of expenses.
Also, I notice no responsibility of kids, which is big, but I could not imagine my life without my young boys and all the happiness they bring me. Glad you can do it on 10k a year, nice reading, keep it up.
Joseph,
I don’t know of any medical insurance that won’t cover you in an emergency. Some deductibles are quite high, but your monthly premium is simply lower. Just depends on how you want to set that up.
As for children, to each their own. Some love having kids. Some do not. I decided that kids probably weren’t in the cards for me many years ago, long before starting down the path to financial freedom. So it wasn’t a financial call at all. It was a lifestyle call.
Thanks for stopping by!
Take care.
Well done Jason. Your YoY growth is clearly the part of this month’s work that is most impressive, at least in my opinion. Or perhaps your credit card income….Would have been even less coverage without that move (so good one!!) I believe we will end the year with similar total Passive Income. Keep it up bro,
PID,
Yeah, I knew the Chicago trip was going to set me back a bit, so I wanted to mitigate those expenses somewhat. A bonus here and there adds up! 🙂
Appreciate the support. Sounds like you’re doing great over on your end. Keep at it!
Cheers.
THIS! This meat and potatoes view was always my favorite, next to your overall persistence and optimism. Man keep it up. You’re an inspiration.
Ronald,
Thanks so much, man. Glad you find inspiration in these updates. That’s really why I share all I do.
It’s not easy to get here, but it also doesn’t have to be this multi-decade journey. Just have to give it all you have.
Best regards!
“I’m paid just to wake up and exist these days, which feels incredible!” I love this quote and it’s totally inspiring. Congrats on another great month. 🙂
Andre,
Getting paid just to rise out of bed is indeed the best gig I’ve ever had. Of course, a great gift can also be a great burden, and so that’s why I’ve been moving into philanthropy. If I can make the world a better place before I’m dead, I’ll feel pretty good about things.
Thanks for the support. Great things are still yet ahead for all of us, I’m sure. 🙂
Best wishes.
“The Fund is like an invisible worker, sending me the entirety of their paycheck. It’s a great relationship, but I can’t seem to shake this feeling that I’m really getting the better end of the deal. (Shh. It’ll be our little secret.)”
I really like this- something about the style really reminds me of Warren Buffett’s annual letter. Indeed, it’s true- it is an invisible worker.
My passive income for October more than covered the monthly expenses, with a record nearly $7K coming in from dividend income. Some months will fall short but generally life is good. That helps to take the sting out of the uncertainty of other geopolitical events, both in the USA and in Asia, which would otherwise add uncertainty to the future.
-Mike
Mike,
That passive income is a bonanza. Nice! 🙂
I did give Thailand a try earlier this year, if just to check it out and see what some of the hoopla was about. I could live like a veritable king over there on my income level. Just wasn’t for me, though. But if you enjoy it, it’s a great spot to be.
Keep on living the good life!
Cheers.
Do you plan on writing about your Thailand trip? I’m curious to know what changed your mind about the place.
blahblah098,
Yeah, I plan on talking a little bit about that, though more in the sense of a larger theme. So it won’t be like a field trip report or anything.
But there’s nothing that changed my mind. I never had my mind made up on it. I hadn’t been there before, so I couldn’t honestly say whether it’d be great or not. For me, the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. To each their own. I will say you can live very cheaply over there, although I think there’s a lot more to life than trying just to live cheaply. The money is, after all, just a means to an end.
Cheers!
You are happy, healthy and financially free. What more can you wish for really? Well done Jason!
Love the fact that you included a philanthropy section in your expenses, really shows who you are as a person.
Good luck this month.
Team CF,
Thanks so much. You’re absolutely right. I’m really fortunate in so many ways. It’s a great spot to be in. The amazing thing is that so many others could be here, if they wanted to be. So I’m grateful that I’m in a position to inspire those that want to be inspired.
Philanthropy is something I’m very excited about. I plan on dedicating the last 1/3 of my life solely to philanthropy. I won’t ever have the firepower of Gates or Buffett, but it’d be nice to be able to see much of my wealth given away before I’m gone. I’d rather give while I’m alive than just bequeath a sizable estate. Although, to be fair, I didn’t give anything on my way to financial freedom, so I am aiming to make up some ground over time. Of course, I plan to give time rather than just money later on, which is really the more valuable asset.
Hope all is well!
Best regards.
We are pretty much on the same line of thought regarding philanthropy. We also both plan to give lots of time once we are FI, rather than giving money now (time is an asset we don’t really have at this moment, so can’t give that away either). It really is a longterm vision.
Congrats for the month. But are the elections making you nervous about your portfolio?
Erik,
That’s funny. If the election made me nervous, I wouldn’t be a very good long-term investor.
Cheers!
Geez, it seems like the YoY increases are getting LARGER since you started Dividend Mantra. I’d have to have dirt on my boss’s boss’s boss to get a 45% raise!
I don’t understand your reasoning for not including student loans and health insurance as part of your core personal finances. I understand not including the other two (especially philanthropy), but student loans and health insurance are monthly payments in your name, and you can ruin your credit for not paying then (or lose your health insurance and possibly jeopardize your chances of buying elsewhere). This is regardless of whether you fund your life via active income or passive income. I’m curious as to how you came to that line of reasoning.
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
ARB,
I would have had to ask my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss for a 45% raise back in the day. But that kind of growth is likely to slow considerably here in the near term as I focus my capital/attention/time/energy in other areas. I suspect I’ll be back doing something more traditional in a few years, so maybe it speeds up again. Or maybe I just give more away. A lot of possibilities, which is part of the fun. 🙂
As for not including health insurance and student loan repayments, I lay the logic out in the article:
“I exclude student loan repayments and health insurance because these are expenses that wouldn’t exist if I were truly living off of just my passive income. Both would effectively be ~$0 at the income level my passive income alone provides.”
I’m not saying you should take advantage of something like, say, IBR for the student loan repayments. Rather, I’m saying you could. Regardless, I earn more than just my passive income, and I pay those bills.
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
Hello Jason, nice to see you blogging again. That is quite the massive jump from last years growth, and congratulations on hitting your retirement goal 7 years ahead of time. I also have an important question I hope you can help me with. I am currently 20 years old and I currently work part time at Lowe’s which has a matching 401k plan. The total match is 4.25% up to 6% of my pay. I haven’t set a clear goal on when I want to retire but I think I would probably want to call it quits at around 50. Currently I am putting 50% of my paycheck in the 401k because I don’t really need the money right now, but do you think it would be wiser if I just contribute up to the company match and continue to reinvest the rest of the money into my taxable account so I can potentially retire a few years earlier, instead of tying up the money in an account that I can only access once I’m 59.5?
retire early,
Thanks so much for the support. Much appreciated!
It’s really amazing to be in this spot. Worked hard, stuck with it, and received some good fortune along the way. The harder you work, the luckier you get. And still so many opportunities out there for those willing to do the work. It’s pretty amazing stuff. 🙂
As for your situation, I can only say what I did, which is what I would do all over again. I never contributed to a 401(k). I decided long ago to focus completely on taxable accounts, which would maximize accessibility and ease. I was open about that and talked a lot about that over at Dividend Mantra. But to each their own. There are a lot of proponents on both sides. You can certainly jump through hoops and access money in traditional retirement accounts early, but I guess it just depends on your hoop-jumping ability and inclination. I’m not a hoop jumper.
Being 20 years old and thinking ahead puts you in a great spot, either way. If you’re aggressively saving and investing all the way through, you’ll likely be free to do whatever you want by the time you’re 30. But where your money sits will really depend on you. You’ll have to decide the likelihood of wanting to access it, look at the rules regarding accessing it early, etc. Since I think the early retirement math is largely moot, the likelihood of needing to access it all quite early is also low. However, I do like knowing that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. That kind of flexibility shouldn’t be underestimated, in my opinion.
Best wishes!
Thanks for the reply, I will probably just end up reducing it to where i’m getting all of the companies match. I think I’d rather have a few more years of freedom than a bit more (likely unnecessary) money in retirement. I had only just started reading Dividend Mantra a month before you stopped blogging so i was unaware of your thoughts on retirement accounts. One last question, Lowe’s has an ESPP which i contribute 20% of my paycheck to and every half year i purchase stock with those funds at a 15% discount. I don’t intend on Lowe’s being my primary employer forever but i know most people don’t want their employer to be both their source of income and part of their retirement funds. That being said Lowe’s has increased its dividend for an impressive 54 years and all of it’s other criteria matches up with mine, and the 15% discount is just icing on the cake. Do you think i should just hold onto the shares as long as they don’t become a major position in my portfolio or should i give in to the crowd and not be invested in my employer?
retire early,
Well, I never had the option of a match. Had I had the option, I probably would have taken it. It would have been a tougher call at that point. But not taking the match is just passing up on free money, which would be silly. So taking at least the match makes a lot of sense to me.
As for the ESPP, getting a high-quality stock like LOW at a 15% discount is fantastic. I’d just make sure not to let that one position get too out of control.
Cheers!
I hope nobody minds if I weigh in here.
I’d continue putting that money into the 401k. The reason being is that you will be lessening your tax burden now. Better to start saving in your 401k now than to play catch up later, as someone who saves for 10 years and turns it off for the next 30 will actually earn more than the person who waits 10 years and then saves for 30.
Now that you have lowered your tax burden, you will make up for the lower net profit by living life the Dividend Mantra way, weaning yourself off pricey material goods, minimizing your expenses, and investing the rest into dividend growth stocks.
This way, you have a backup in your 401k in case you make bad investing decisions on your taxable account (chasing yield, being overvalued stocks, panicking and selling, etc). When you do your 401k, look for a fund with low fees (meaning a low expense ratio. 0.20% is probably the most you should pay). Anything attached to the S&P 500 should do.
From there, learn to develop other sources of passive income. Invest in rental properties, start a blog, write an ebook, license an idea, start a drop-shipping business, sell your body for science, whatever works for you. This way you are earning more, scaling it, and building yourself income streams that will continue to come in long after you decide retire from full time work.
Hope that helps!
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
I don’t mind your opinion at all, the more views I can get on the subject the better! In terms of lessening my tax burden, I think I would potentially end up paying more taxes in the future. If I were to keep putting 50% of my pay into the 401k, I would be in the 10% federal tax bracket as well as 1.4% in NJ state taxes. Once I start my career I’ll be making even more money and plowing more money into the 401k, giving me a hefty balance once I’m able to access it (without penalties) at 59.5. At that time even if I’m no longer working a career job and just doing something part time like retail, I assume I’ll be making a lot more in dividend income putting me into a higher tax bracket, which would lead to me paying more taxes on the contributions than if I just invested them in my taxable account now. Correct me if I went wrong somewhere but it seems as though I’m not saving much if anything at all in taxes.
In terms of funds, last year they removed most of the funds managed by big names such as Vanguard and T. Rowe Price, and replaced them with generic Growth, Income, and Inflation strategy funds. In terms of growth the only options I really see are the Growth fund, Lowes stock, and Vanguards target date 2060 fund. The growth fund has a .50% expense ratio and Vanguards is below .10% (don’t remember the exact number). I have no wish to be in bonds so I crossed out the target date fund and the growth fund has been under performing since being created a little over a year ago (its a fund managed by aon hewitt). The only thing that leaves is lowes stock but I don’t want to be so heavily exposed to lowe’s in both my retirement and taxable account. Feel free to weigh in on which funds you think I should be in, but I think my best bet is to just reduce my contributions to the company match and redirect those fund to my taxable account so that I can retire even earlier
So lemme just preface this by pointing out that I’m neither a licensed tax professional or a FINRA licensed investment professional. Not knowing your full financial situation, it’s hard to give you anything other than general advice. Plus, I’m the last person on the planet to be doing tax calculations for anybody. Not my forte.
That said, your reasoning sounds a little off. In a taxable account, you are being taxes every single year. In a 401k, you have more control over the taxes because you control how much of the interest is being taxed, plus you aren’t paying every year which helps with compounding. While your career will put you in a higher tax bracket over time, remember that dividends are tax advantaged. You pay less taxes on them no matter what. So it’s a matter of paying ordinary income tax on that paycheck money now, or live off dividend income later (tax advantaged) and small 401k distributions to make up the difference (ordinary income tax, but on a much smaller and more controllable amount).
I would speak to a tax advisor and/or do the math yourself. It’s really hard to give a sound strategy without hard numbers or the ability to predict future income. But I can tell you that the more money you put away into a 401k, the less the government gets it’s hands on. And once you hit the 25% tax bracket, work full time, and go out on your own, those taxes start affecting your wallet HARD.
As for your funds, I personally think you should stick with the one with the lowest fees. Don’t worry about the performance of a fund that’s been around for less than a year; a year’s performance is not enough to evaluate any investment vehicle. And when it comes down to it, no expensive actively managed mutual fund will beat a passively managed S&P 500 index fund/ETF over the long run.
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
Oh, one thing I totally forgot to mention. The people that like to have their employer be their source of both current employment income and retirement investment income? They’re wrong. DO NOT DO THAT.
If the company you work for starts coming under hard times (or worse, goes belly up), not only will you lose your job, but the dividend income the company is spitting off. Plus, the share price of the company will plummet, forcing you to hold onto a toxic asset or sell at a loss.
That’s why I won’t hold company stock in my 401k. In my taxable dividend account, sure, but only a small amount.
Thanks for the replies ARB, I’ll stick to maxing the 401k for now so I have something to fall back on
Awesome and inspiring update as usual. Always happy to see so many names in common paying us both. Obviously still on the right track of growing your passive income stream with a solid year over year gain. Thanks for sharing.
Keith,
Thanks, man. Just solid businesses paying us more money. Life is good! 🙂
Best regards.
85% AND a trip to Chicago…nice month Jason! I’m interested to see your coverage ratio in future months as the credit card reward income drops and the Chicago trip falls off as well. Regardless, amazing freaking month! This is the roadmap for financial freedom and it is nice to read about your experience so that we can see how to maintain life being financially free.
The one nice thing is that you maintained the high rate in a down dividend income month. So you may not have saved as much this month, but once the third month of the quarter rolls around, I expect you the savings rate soars. This should allow you to build up the cash reserves to cover months like these where your savings rate may slightly dip below 100%. Cash versus accrual haha
Congrats again Jason!
Bert
Bert,
Appreciate it so much. Doing what I can to show what financial freedom looks like in real-time – both in financial terms as well as non-financial terms. 🙂
This was a tough month for expenses, but I also had those nice cash-back rewards. So it evens out. I mean, it’s not the end of the world if I don’t quite hit 100% over a quarter or something, since it’s not like that means my lifestyle somehow changes. But I would like to “stay above water”, so to speak, if nothing else than to show what it looks like. Of course, knowing that I’m still there is a great psychological benefit, in my view. And I like operating with all of that flexibility.
Hope all is well up in Cleveland!
Cheers.
Hey Jason!
I was reading all your texts at dividendmantra. I was sad as you left us with your textes. I love reading your undervalued dividend growth stock of the week every sunday at dailytradealert.
you was one of the reasons why i startet this journey. A HUGE thanks to you!
Finally I found this site. I love to read here too. thanks for sharing all your thoughts.
I startet a blog too in early 2016. You can take a look, if you want to. In the right sidebar is a google translation button.
your passive income is amazing. I am making good money with trading options, but my dividend portfolio is not as huge as yours. anyway… I am at the beginning of the jouney 🙂
thanks a lot for this amazing stories!
best regards
Chri from Austria
Chri,
Appreciate all the support. I really do. Thank you so much. 🙂
I wish you nothing but the best of luck with both your journey and your blog. It’s a lot of fun. Definitely a lot of hard work. But the rewards are well worth it, in my opinion. So many good things yet to come for many of us.
Keep at it!
Cheers.
Sounds like you willl have two good months coming up, as most companies pay in November and December. Good luck and passive income is the best.
RichUncle EL,
Should be interesting to see how the rest of the year shapes up! 🙂
Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers.
Wow, I didn’t even know you were writing on a new blog until I saw a post about it on ‘dividend diplomats’ blog. So glad you are back and still kicking ass!
Captain,
Back at it, man. I’m sure I won’t be blogging like this forever, but it’s great to be putting some fresh ideas out there. 🙂
Hope all is well!
Best regards.
Jason, so great to have your reports back. I’m up to 38K in dividends this year. I am going to retire in 2017, and focus on getting paid to wake up as well. I will add a pension to the divi income. I have not been adding to my portfolio of dividend growth stocks been saving tons of cash for move and down payment. I switched from dividend reinvestment to collecting dividends about a year ago. We are so happy we will be able to get free of DC. We are still looking at Santa Fe. I’m really looking forward to breaking free.
DD,
Thanks so much. I’m glad to be back!
You’re in a great spot there. You have the resources and the will. Those are two necessary ingredients. It’s now just a matter of time (a third ingredient).
Santa Fe seems nice. I’m sure you guys will enjoy the new lifestyle. The weather there is surprisingly similar to D.C., so that won’t be too much of a change. The Southwest has for some reason never really appealed to me personally, but I can see the beauty of that part of the country. The diverse options we have as US citizens is just amazing. Beaches, desert, mountains, etc. Hot, cold, mild, etc. The options are crazy. We’re so fortunate.
Good luck!!
Best wishes.
Thanks Jason, Santa Fe might be similar to DC in terms of temperature, but they get significantly more sunshine and MUCH LESS humidity. You are right, options are incredible once you achieve FI!!
Proud of you!
People like you reinforces my aim to reach Financial Freedom.
Follow enjoying the life!
Regards
DR,
Thanks so much. Very kind of you! 🙂
I only aim to inspire those who want to be inspired. If you see the light, it’s a beautiful thing.
This lifestyle isn’t for everyone, no doubt about that. But I can say firsthand that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. I’m very happy.
Best of luck with your own journey over there!
Cheers.
Loving the transparency here Jase, good on you for keeping it real and posting these numbers!
Looking forward to watching your dividends grow and compound and it’s given me plenty of food for thought..
Out of interest have you ever bought or considered real estate? I’m going to plan on having 4 to 5 income streams (dividends being one) and curious on asking other FIRE bloggers!
Thanks and onwards and upwards 🙂
Jef,
Yeah, I’ve been sharing my real-life numbers for years now, though I don’t go into as much depth as I used to (compared to Dividend Mantra). At some point, discussing how much I spent on groceries or bus passes just becomes boring for me. When I first conceptualized this site, I didn’t even want to write articles like this, as I now prefer focusing on how the money impacts (usually positively) the peripherals of our lives. However, I figured I’d do at least a few posts just to show what the basic infrastructure of my financial freedom looks like in purely financial terms.
As for real estate, I have no personal desire to own:
https://www.mrfreeat33.com/its-not-about-the-money-rent-versus-buy/
But to each their own on that one. 🙂
Cheers!
Thanks for sharing the article and I’m reading your archives so I’ll come across it 😉
Cool cool, I enjoy real estate although as you say it’s not for everyone
I agree on seeing the mundane expenses although you hit a nice balance here and the theme of your blog in general resonates with me..
Keep on keeping on!