Now that I’ve been investing for 15 years, I find myself asking all of the time – when will I be able to stop?  We’re having a family and expenses definitely are rising slightly each year.  We keep investing into the stock market and climbing towards financial freedom.

This article focuses on the topic of knowing when to stop investing and truly start living. Continue reading →

I have an old 401k plan.  A 401k plan is an employer-sponsored retirement plan that the employer may or may not provide a match in and may or may not have a vesting schedule that also is part of the plan.

After checking my Vanguard 401k account today, as Vanguard houses my old 401k from when I left my employer almost 6 years ago, I was shocked when I saw the value.

I was able to filter their time-frame to see the returns over the last 5 years and… Continue reading →

Dividend investing comes in all sizes, time periods and investments.  The main goal truly remains the same – to build a passive income generating portfolio, that grows every year.

We wrote about Milestones are Part of Being a Dividend Investor over 6.5 years ago.

Today’s article is about the thresholds that can be achieved, celebrated, backs to pat and the headnod to happen.  In fact, we (Lanny and his wife) are about to hit a threshold that’s probably worth celebrating.  Let’s dive in. Continue reading →

If you do not know by now, my wife and I have been buying Vanguard’s High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) for almost 3 years straight, on a weekly basis.

We did this ETF for a few reasons – to acquire shares in a yield that is usually north of 3%, with a dividend growth rate in the 6%-8%.

It’s Q2 and Vanguard announced the dividend distribution for the quarter – so how does it look? Continue reading →

Interest rates are high, should remain high and even have a chance of going up, as the Federal Reserve tries to tame inflation still.  Jerome Powell has done a number on the economy already ,raising rates 500 basis points in the last 14-15 months.

Rising interest rates has caused high yield savings accounts to sky-rocket, as you can earn anywhere from 3.85% up to 4.85%, fairly easily.

In addition, it isn’t just high yield savings accounts that are going up, so have certificate of deposits or CDs.  Yes, the most boring product, ever.  Well, almost as boring as U.S. treasuries.  What no one is talking about is the NO PENALTY CD.  I am here to tell you why I think it offers the BEST of BOTH worlds and why I use the No Penalty CD option right now. Continue reading →

Time to crank out an article, reflecting on the Banking Crisis that has now plagued the US and Global economy for the last 2-3 months.

We have had now, officially, 4 U.S. Bank failures with First Republic, Silicon Valley, Silvergate and Signature Bank.  The most recent bank failure being First Republic.

Time to go over a few reasons why they failed AND what to look for when purchasing a bank stock! Continue reading →