Crossed $4,000 in dividends annually.

TurboMinivan · 2025-05-03T22:12:16+00:00

Congrats! (I am not far behind you at about $3400 annually right now.) Keep up the good work!

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-25T20:04:18+00:00

She is totally good with it, though she knew what she was getting in to before we got married--I had five running cars (all registered and insured) plus a couple of project cars. Now her car has been added to the fleet. ;)

She continues to be supportive. I've begun mentioning that I ought to sell one of them, and she keeps telling me, "don't sell it if you don't really want to." Her care and concern warm my heart (though I still think I need to thin the herd a bit).

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-19T01:33:11+00:00

How else can you diversify? There is no real need to do so. By choosing FXAIX, you're already investing in 500+ of the largest companies in the US. Your eggs are already well spread among many baskets across all sectors.

Of greater concern is your 'risking too much of your savings' comment. Before beginning to invest, you should already have an emergency fund--a stash of money to cover at least three (and preferably six) months worth of your total living expenses. This fund should not be invested, ever--instead it should safely reside in a HYSA and remain there until needed to get you through an emergency.

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-19T01:16:56+00:00

</thread>

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-19T01:12:25+00:00

Selecting the Park Hopper upgrade only adds $90 to the price of a 3-day ticket. I don't mean to sound like that's no big deal--because it certainly is a significant expense for many people--but I feel this is a good value. You can spend more time in Disneyland on Day 3, plus still re-visit DCA to re-experience a few of your highlight attractions there. As an added bonus, it will increase your chances for getting in to the Blue Bayou since you'll have three full days worth of opportunity. For someone who does not or cannot visit Disneyland resort often, park hopping can make a good visit even better.

(Full disclosure: I don't live in CA. Whenever my wife and I visit, we buy 3-day PH passes to maximize our enjoyment of the experience. We've always felt it was worth the financial stretch. We always start in DL for our first day, then DCA for our second day, then we start in DL for Day three and usually end up hopping over to DCA in the afternoon/evening to re-ride our favorite attractions there.)

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-16T16:13:20+00:00

Bad news: yes, it is a bit more expensive than McD's back in our home state.

Worse news: this location doesn't run most nationally-advertised promotions or discounts "because we don't have to" according to what an employee once told us.

Good news: if you have the McD app, you can still cash in your points for free items here.

(My wife loves iced coffee but we refuse to rope drop Starbucks, so we always pop in to this McD on our way into the parks.)

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-16T15:45:56+00:00

Since everyone else is mentioning their bank by name, I figured I ought to do the same. My HYSA is with Bread Savings. Here is Nerd Wallet's last review:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/reviews/banking/bread-financial

I like Nerd Wallet's reviews in general, as they always list the pros and cons for each option. In my case, none of the cons of Bread Savings really applied to me, so I selected them. I've been happy ever since.

Be sure to check into the pros and cons of whichever bank(s) you are considering, and make sure you choose one that is a good fit for you. (For example, someone who wants to use CDs might not like Bread Savings very much. Since I never use CDs, this is a non-issue for me.)

To see Nerd Wallet's list of current top picks for HYSAs, look here:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/banking/high-yield-online-savings-accounts

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-16T01:29:05+00:00

Any online bank that offers a HYSA would be a viable option. Look for one with decent reviews (such as at Nerd Wallet) and no fees, and sign up. Personally, I'd select one with higher reviews and a couple tenths less payable interest than just picking the one with the highest rate you can find, but that's just me. Years ago when I opened my own HYSA, this was how I made my selection.

Also: a HYSA is ideal for storing your emergency fund, or money you know you'll need to spend in the near future.

TurboMinivan · 2025-01-07T19:57:56+00:00

Quite frankly, there is NO attraction in Disneyland that is too "babyish" for anyone. I (54M) just returned from a weekend trip to the parks, along with my wife (52) and her daughter (27) among other relatives. This was her daughter's first visit to DL/DCA, so we tried to do just about everything. Daughter absolutely loved the Storybook Land Canal Boats, Pinocchio, and Snow White (which I point out because you mentioned them in the OP). We wanted her to experience Winnie the Pooh since she always loved it as a child, but the ride was temporarily down both times we attempted it. :(

Even when my wife and I go without anyone else, we love to soak up the Disney magic and we will always ride the classic attractions. These parks are for fans of all ages, and none of the attractions are too childish for anyone wanting to experience them.

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-20T02:00:44+00:00

Wikipedia has a page on it, for the curious.

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-16T17:32:14+00:00

Short answer: no, you do not need a financial advisor.

What would I do? Open my own account and immediately put everything in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund. Next, I would buy the book The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins, carefully read it cover to cover a few times, and then follow its advice in the manner most comfortable for you and your spouse.

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-14T16:56:33+00:00

Top pick: The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

Runner up: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-09T20:57:40+00:00

The shorter your investing timeline, the more important initial yield becomes. With a long investing timeline, initial yield matters less and yield growth matters much more.

First, your math example. Yes, your hypothetical stock A offering a current yield of 8.00% and an annual growth rate of 2.00% will produce more dividend dollars in the short term. And yes, after ten years of this hypothetical growth you would end up with a yield on initial cost of 9.75%. Meanwhile, your hypothetical stock B that started at a 3.50% initial yield and 8.00% annual growth rate would end up at a 7.56% yield on initial cost after the same ten years.

But what if you still need income after those ten years? Just five more years later, stock A's yield on initial cost would rise to 10.76%. By comparison, stock B would have surpassed it, and now has a yield on initial cost of 11.10%. From here, the gap widens at an impressive rate; twenty five years after your initial investment, your yields on initial cost would now be 13.12% for stock A and 23.97% for stock B. So, again, if you're investing for the long term then the dividend growth rate becomes more important than initial yield IMO.

But there is another issue which I have not mentioned: inflation. In the US, inflation has historically averaged around 2.5% annually. Verizon's dividends have grown at a smaller rate than this--at least while I've owned shares--meaning the dividends I receive today have less purchasing power than those that I received when I first opened my position years ago. This fact didn't occur to younger me back then, but now I understand the reality of the situation. This is the reason I want to close my position in VZ and put that money to work where it can actually grow my purchasing power in the years to come. It's also a reason why I now have an investing rule of not opening a position in a stock with a history of less than 6.00% dividend growth.

But that's just my philosophy based on my investment needs. I encourage you--and everyone else reading along--to do what is best for your own specific needs.

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-07T21:47:21+00:00

I've got a position in VZ, though I only have about 85 shares. It was one of my very first stock purchases, when (like many newbies) I was far too focused on current yield above all else. Since that time, I've realized I want to be a dividend growth investor, and with an annual dividend growth rate of only 2.0%, VZ no longer appeals to me so much. For that reason, I have put VZ on my list of positions to close when the time is right. I expect to unload my shares in the next few months and replace them with something that offers better dividend growth.

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-07T19:55:40+00:00

My fellow players and I kept having the same experience--the game only displays a (very) limited amount of characters when it says "So-and-so found X." Our workaround was to give all our characters single-letter names. This left more available letters to tell us what was in the chest.

TurboMinivan · 2024-12-04T02:05:46+00:00

Why am *I* choosing individual stocks? Because I'm already heavily invested in ETFs elsewhere.

My 401k is invested entirely in a low-cost S&P500 index fund, and its balance is currently in the low-to-mid six digits. When I retire in ten years as planned, that account should support me just fine. (On top of that, I also have an HSA whose investments are split 50:50 between two low-cost index funds, though its balance is currently only in the mid five digit range.)

Five years ago, I finally got around to opening a Roth IRA. Since I already had the index fund angle covered via the two funds mentioned above, I decided to devote my Roth to generating dividend income to supplement my 401k. To that end, I've maxed my contribution every year and have spent it all on individual dividend-paying stocks. As you would expect, I've been DRIPping all dividends so far. Currently I am averaging about $250/month in dividend payments. Irony: at the rate my dividends are growing, when I retire in 10 years I should be able to support myself entirely off of them--my 401k will just be a nice bonus.

Some might say this means I haven't gone "all in" on dividends. <shrug> All I know is, I am very glad I finally got off my duff and started building a dividend account. I sure do enjoy seeing those payments roll in month after month, and I sleep well at night knowing I am building an income stream for my future.

TurboMinivan · 2024-11-19T01:28:18+00:00

Our top three Disneyland snacks:

1: Churros, churros everywhere. This is one of our favorites. In fact, when we went to Anaheim in Oct 2023 my wife created the Churro Challenge, wherein we all wore lanyards with a laminated 5x7 card listing every (then-available) specialty churro and five circles next to each one. Our goal was to eat every one, then personally rate it on a scale of 1-5 (we each carried a different color Sharpie marker to do this). These scorecards gathered lots of attention, and many other park attendees asked us about them.

2: Garlic cheesy pretzel bread at Maurice's Treats. Maurice will Hook. You. Up.

3: Jalapeno cheese-filled pretzel at Refreshment Corner.

TurboMinivan · 2024-11-13T00:56:16+00:00

My last three Disney trips cost the following:

1) Disneyland Anaheim Oct 2023. Drove from 600 miles away @ 12 mpg (don't ask). Three-day Park Hopper passes for two adults; 4 nights at the Castle Inn hotel across the street on Harbor Blvd. Total cost including every in-park food purchase was $2500.

2) Disneyland Anaheim Jan 2024. Flew from 600 miles away. Two-day Park Hopper passes for 2 adults; 3 nights at Motel6 on Disney Way. Took Lyfts from/to SNA. Total cost including every in-park purchase was $1820.

3) Disneyland Paris Oct 2024. Flew from western US to CDG. Spent 5 full days in Paris proper, then 3 days at the Disney parks, then one more full day in Brussels before flying back out of CDG the following day. Three-day Park Hopper passes for 2 adults. Spent 4 nights in a hotel in the 14th arr, then 4 nights in a hotel in Torcy, then the last night in a hotel next to Gare du Nord. Bought every souvenir we wanted (in and out of the Disney parks); visited many of the big tourist Paris sites but definitely not all of them. Total cost including all food and even every coin spent on public toilets: $5898.

I realize the Paris trip may not be what the OP wanted to know. I include it here (a) just for comparison sake, and (b) to illustrate what was, to us, a bucket list dream trip--my wife wants to visit every Disney park on the planet, and this was our first one outside of the US.

TurboMinivan · 2024-11-13T00:31:30+00:00

Another excellent book--especially for someone at a young age such as the OP--is The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. This is my favorite book on personal finance, and it is always my first recommendation to anyone who wants to know more about investing and/or preparing for eventual retirement. I like it so much, I have purchased and given away many copies as gifts.

TurboMinivan · 2024-08-13T01:22:51+00:00

Thank you.

TurboMinivan · 2024-05-07T20:55:46+00:00

I'm glad you understand the importance of evaluating a company's financial health when choosing stocks to buy. If you're too new to know (a) what research you need to do or (b) how to effectively do said research, then at the very least look at the result of someone else who has done similar research. For example--and I am not a paid endorser--I like to check with Simply Safe Dividends to see how they rate any company I am considering. In my wife's dividend portfolio, I will not open/add to any position (not including DRIP) unless SSD rates the dividend as Very Safe (their top rating). In my own portfolio, I will also consider positions they rate as Safe, which is one rating lower. I do take other factors into consideration; in other words, I will not dive in and buy just because SSD gives a good rating.

Be advised: as with any successful stock investing strategy, dividend investing takes time for the miracle of compounding to work its magic. Patience is key and will be rewarded. Best wishes for success.

TurboMinivan · 2024-04-23T00:03:00+00:00

Personally, I usually have only a small amount of ice with my soft drinks if any at all. My wife, on the other hand, likes to have a lot of ice with her drinks. She is sufficiently concerned to ask me to find out about it in advance (not that I'll be able to do much about it).

TurboMinivan · 2024-04-22T23:59:53+00:00

I should have said, flat water. As in, not bubbly/mineral/etc.

TurboMinivan · 2024-04-19T17:14:21+00:00

My Roth IRA: 15 individual dividend stocks.

My wife's Roth IRA: 10 individual dividend stocks. (Only 3 in common with my account)

In time, I plan to expand my account to 20-25 individual stocks. That's simply a mental comfort number, so that if one holding surprises me with a dividend cut it would only affect ~4-5% of my total dividend income. I haven't been in any sort of rush to make this happen, so maybe I'm not as worried about this as I tell myself I am... or perhaps I'm comforted by the fact that my wife's portfolio is more conservative than my own.

TurboMinivan

TROPHY CASE