We are the Dividend Diplomats. Two guys in their Mid-20’s young-30’s in a race to gain more time now before we hit 59.5 years of age for the “normal” retirement age. You can see our goals at the linked page. The Dividend Diplomat journey began in a 1997 Toyota Celica that was struggling over the 200,000 mile mark on our way to Clearfield, PA… One individual had over $1.5K in projected dividend income and the other had more money in his pocket than projected dividends in his portfolio, and let’s just say – most people don’t hold that much cash, if you catch my drift.
This is when the journey truly began, a nice 3.5 hour conversation from two CPAs in a beater of a car, talking about breaking free from the chains of working as a CPA. We both were fired up, eagerly talking investing strategies and that is when the one Diplomat began his preaching on the Dividend Investing topic. He discussed how it takes the nonsense out of the ridiculous world of investing and suddenly made it very clear on the strategy to truly build a cash flowing, incoming thriving portfolio. Here is where we will describe who we are briefly, as well as link to the longer story from where we have come from and where we are about to go. Thank you for visiting our site, as we update you on or purchases, stock analysis’, goal status, portfolio updates and, of course – our dividend income monthly breakdowns. Let’s all try to learn and push each other to new lengths to fully reach financial independence, here we go!
Lanny
- Age: 31
- Born: Akron, Ohio
- Where did you graduate?: The University of Akron – B.S. Accounting (2009) and MBA-Finance (2011)
- First Stock/Investment Owned: T. Rowe Price 2040 Fund
- Date of your first purchase: February 9, 2009
- Top Dividend Producing Stocks: Canadian Imperial (CM) and AT&T (T) (as of 8/26/19)
- Current Overall Yield: 3.66%
Bert
- Age: 30
- Born: Cleveland, Ohio
- Where did you graduate?: THE Ohio State University – B.S. Accounting (2011) and Case Western Reserve University -MAcc (2012)
- First Stock/Investment Owned: Bank of America (BAC)
- Date of your first purchase: September 20, 2010
- Top Dividend Producing Stocks: Citizens & Northern Bank (CZNC) & Target Corp (TGT).
- Current Overall Yield: 3.98%
Lanny, Bert,
realising that you two are together on to this journey together as friends made my heart jump.
That really is remarkable. As is your blog at first glance.
I am looking forward to digging deeper into it.
Stef
I read an article of yours on SA and as a fellow 20-something starting my investment journey (long-term focused as yourselves) I look forward to following your journeys and learning from them. Happy investing!
Track you guys down from seeking alpha, very inspiring!
Wow, two heads really are better than one!
And, you’re both CPA’s?
Please let me add your site to my blogroll!
Thanks in advance,
Pat (old retired guy with no background in accounting whatsoever)
So glad to see two smart young adults doing what they can to provide for them self
Keep up the hard work and it will pay off down the road
Hi,
Just wondering if you accept advertisements on your website(dividenddiplomats.net)? If so, then I’d
love the chance to buy some space from you.
Let me know if you’d like to hear more and we can arrange a deal.
Regards,
Alan Williams
Hi Lanny and Bert,
it’s great to see two young friends together on the journey to financial independence.
I can smell early retirement for you.
Dear dividenddiplomats.net,
Just wanted to check if you accept outside contribution / sponsored posts.
I’m Ariaa Reeds – a freelance writer and digital marketer. I write similar articles about business/technology/finance, so kindly guide me through with the process.
Looking forward to hearing back from you.
Regards,
Ariaa
Hi Lanny and Bert,
My name is Anuj Agarwal. I’m Founder of Feedspot.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Dividend Diplomats has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Frugal Blogs on the web.
http://blog.feedspot.com/frugal_blogs/
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Frugal Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!
Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog. Use the code to display the badge proudly on your blog.
Best,
Anuj
It’s great to hear about how you got started. I would love to hear more about your methods. I built myself some pretty cool excel tools to track my earnings and progress. How do you guys do it?
Hi Lanny,
I recently stumbled onto your blog and liked what you were doing!
I have a few clients who would like to work with bloggers in the personal finance niche and wanted to hear more about your advertising offerings. Do you offer guest posts or sponsored posts?
If you do, I would love to hear more about your pricing and how you typically do these posts.
I appreciate your time and hope your week is going well.
Best,
John
Hey Lanny,
I’m a content writer and specialize in finance, money managing, debt, investment related topics.
Do let me know if you accept paid posts. We are very much interested in paid postings.
Regards,
Melissa
Hey guys, congrats on your blog, I have been reading it for some time and really like your insights on dividend investing. I created a site for long-term investors (https://stockrow.com/), where you can visualize financial data on interactive charts and embed them on a website. I was thinking it might be useful for some of your articles, as you can quickly display 10 years of data on a chart. If you have time to check it out, I would really appreciate your feedback.
Best regards,
Matus
Hi Lanny & Bert, I recently created a new passive income website. http://www.passiveincomewiz.com
I have admired your site and content and would appreciate any feedback. Your site inspired me to create my own. Thanks, TJ Mitch
Guys,
Do you do direct stock purchase plan investing? I have been doing that since 1997.
My dividend income for this year is expected to be over $10,000.
McCormick looks like it gave me about a 10% dividend increase. Woo-Hoo.
Josh.
LMAOOO, “THE” Ohio State University. I hate you. I go to Kent State right now. If you guys ever have a meet-up, I’d love to attend. I think this is one of the best PF blogs out there right now.
Thanks Phil –
Pumped you are in NEO, let us know when you want to meet up at any time.
-Lanny
Hi,
Enquiring about sponsored post opportunities
Regards
Rob
Hey guys,
My name is Tyler R. Martin. I’ve been reading for a while and have always been very interested in your content. I was hoping you’d be interested in having me contribute as a guest or perhaps you guys could use one of my posts. It would really help me get the ball rolling and I think your readers would love it. Please check out my site at https://paragonvalueinvestment.com/ and send some feed back if able. Id be happy to help you guys in anyway possible. You can email me at [email protected] and would love any and all help.
Thanks
Tyler R. Martin
Tyler –
Thank you for your comment, e-mail us at our gmail account!
-Lanny
Love your videos. 2 questions, first do you have a downloadable empty spreadsheet? Second, what’s the info on getting a coffee mug? Thank you
Hi team,
My name is Bernard. I am representing ebrand contractor, a digital marketing company based in Australia. One of our clients will like to advertise on your website through sponsored posts/articles. Is this something you do.
If yes, how much you charge per post/article. And are there any other conditions? Do you have any other website aside this? If yes, kindly send us the list so we can have a look and see if other websites qualify for our campaigns.
Thanks in advance
Bernard
OMGosh, You guys ROCK!!!! My friend turned me on to you two youts and I’m hooked. I’m a little bit older and late to the party with investing. Started eight months ago and have been doing a disciplined two dividend stocks a week with some or your recommendations. Loving the results. VZ is the one I’m focusing on now. You guys remind me of me and my buds twenty years ago! Love, love, love the humor, we need it so much in this rough world. Very informational content. Huge fan, keep up the great work! Would love to get a coffee mug, is there somewhere I can buy one?
Franklin –
Thanks for the message my man! Love the comment. As for the mug – I see your e-mail, is that your current e-mail? Shoot us your address at our e-mail and we’ll see what we can do about a mug! We’ve been trying to find the first order we ever did for us, to see if we can get these bad boys out there!
Any time you have questions – do not ever hesitate to ask or let us know! We’re here, always!
-Lanny
Lanny,
Yes it is current and will do.
Thanks,
Franklin
Keep grinding! My background is pretty similar and I just started a blog as well… midwest for life 🙂
Hi Lanny and Bert, great work on growing the blog over the years! I’ve been following on and off, but I recently started working on a new project and would love to get your guys’ thoughts. It’s called Shareholder Vote Exchange (https://svegroup.com) and it’s a way for passive investors to sell their shareholder voting rights to generate extra income.
It’s completely free to get started and might be a good way to enhance your income, especially if you aren’t interested in using your votes. I’d be happy to give you guys a walkthrough of the platform anytime. Keep up the good work. Cheers!
Anyone ever tell you that Lanny looks like a cross between Kramer and Luigi? 😆
I enjoy your videos though!
“Giddy Up!” (Kramer voice)
-Lanny
As an amateur blog writer (about dividends, etfs, reits and other things) it is great to see other people who are on the same path with you. I will try to read all your articles, really loved your page.
Regards from Türkiye.