… Ah, that brings back memories of my first computer science course! Hey everybody, I’m the Dividend Developer, and this is my new site!
A little bit about me: I recently turned 23, and live in Wisconsin, USA. I’ve been investing since I was about 14 years old. Back when my interest in finance started to manifest, my parents were kind and wise enough to set me up an IRA at their brokerage. I’ll always thank them for truly igniting the spark in me to learn and love investing, and for setting me down the path to FIRE. Time went on, and after some investing mishaps (which’ll get a blog post of their own in due course), I recently decided to strike out on my own and invest by myself.
That decision came at a rather fortuitous time in my life, come to think of it. I got my master’s degree in computer science less than a year ago, and soon after accepted a software development job which thankfully pays very, very well. Since I consider myself a relative minimalist as well, I don’t buy too much; my expenses are generally very low month-to-month. I realized that I could invest a huge portion of my income (50-70%!), and I wanted to figure out the best way to handle that.
Now, I’m a fundamentally lazy creature. I like getting things for free, or doing things with minimal effort. Hey, I know I’m certainly not alone in that! To me, the idea of just sitting back and cashing checks is heaven, and that basically is what I feel dividend growth investing offers me. I do a decent amount of research up front, invest in attractively valued stocks with a long history of dividend payments (and, better, increases), then sit back and cash the dividend checks forever! Now, obviously I know it’s a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea, I’m sure. Dividend growth investing, simply put, offered me something that very few other investing methodologies could. Investing in growth stocks is riskier and requires more careful, active monitoring on my part. Index investing, while appealing on some level, doesn’t guarantee the income security I desire when I retire – too many fluctuations in the payout amount for me to be truly happy. I feel that DGI would best put me on the right track to financial independence, and here we are!
I do have a bit of a confession to make, however: I don’t solely invest in dividend growth stocks. I do have a very small portion of my portfolio in non-dividend-paying technology stocks. I feel I understand this sector; I’ve worked in it for a long time (since high school), and I know what separates the good companies from the bad. It just seems like a waste to me otherwise; I mean, I’ve spent so much time and energy understanding computer science and the industry, it would be a waste not to put some of my knowledge to work. However, this speculative part of my portfolio will always be a very small part of my net worth, and still has very stringent criteria for entry.
As to why I started a blog? For one thing, I want to track my progress in an easy-to-read and -review format. Another thing is accountability. If I have to explain every investment decision to the Internet, and essentially be forced to logically defend my choice, I am certain to avoid the stupid decisions that could and have set me back in my financial goals. Finally, seeing how others have progressed in their journeys to financial independence has been a really inspirational and educational experience. Following wonderful and experienced bloggers like Jason at Dividend Mantra and Dividend Growth Investor really helped shape my investment philosophy and taught me a lot about how a good investor goes about his work. I’m grateful to them for their wise guidance, and in all honesty, I want to repay that favor. If I can someday inspire and teach like I’ve been inspired and taught, I’ll consider this project a success.
And some adminstrivia: If you have a blog of your own and want to exchange links, feel free to send me an email at dividend (dot) developer (at) gmail (dot) com. I’ll be happy to put you on my blogroll, if you do the same, of course. 
I’m always happy to meet new people with similar interests and goals! Also, this site is strictly speaking still in beta, so expect changes here and there for a while.
Well, that’s all for now. I look forward to sharing my journey to financial independence with you; stop by anytime!
24 Comments
Welcome to the blogging world Developer! It is good to be where you are at 23, with a set goal in mind (FI) and the path laid out for you to follow. I wish you the best of luck and look forward to following along!
Thank you for the well wishes! Best of luck to you as well!
Welcome aboard! Wishing you nothing but success as you take on this new venture. Best advice I can give you, which I heard from another blogger, is to be sincere and be you and everything else will fall into place. Your followers will grow as your relationships within the blogging community grows. AFFJ
BTW…I’ve added you to our blogroll to help you along.
That’s some really good advice, not just in blogging, but in life as well. I appreciate that a lot; thanks! I’ll be sure to reciprocate.
Welcome to the world of blogging! And thanks for commenting on my blog — that’s how I found your blog. Good luck with your investments; you’ve gotten a great start! I wish I could turn back time and be 23 again (of course with the knowledge I have now!) Keep up the good work!
No problem, glad to do so. I’ll be back again for sure! Thanks for stopping by!
BTW, I added your blog to my blogroll. Stick around, OK!
Thank you very much! I’ll return the favor.
Welcome to the blogging world. I found your website through DividendMantra. I too am on the same journey as you. I’m 25 and starting to look for ways to replace my primary income from my job. Maybe we can race and see who gets to financial independence first haha. A good way to stay motivated.
Where are you in Wisconsin? I spent about 3 years in Wauwatosa/Milwaukee area for work after I graduated.
That’s great! It’s always nice to see someone close to my age. I sometimes feel a little out of place, being so young. Hahaha, you have a deal. Friendly competition is always fun, especially here. Even if you ‘lose’, you’re still better off than most! Sorry, but I don’t really want to say my exact location. Nothing personal; I’m just not willing to be that open yet. See you around!
Dividend Developer,
Congrats on your own blog, I hope you’ll enjoy writing and the personal finance community!
Saving 50-70% of your income is awesome, it’ll make you FIRE in no time. From your current portfolio I can see you have quite the taste for high quality and dividend paying companies, so don’t worry about the tech stocks. Yes, they’re more volatile and often overrated, but some offer great long-term value too.
Looking forward to your first income/expenses report!
Good luck,
NMW
Yeah, I love the community so far; you all are extremely smart, motivated, and supportive people. Thanks for the support and for stopping by; hope to see you again soon!
Welcome to the world of investing and blogging about it
Stay in touch, thanks for the recent comments on my site.
BTW – here is a recent post about some dividend income. I’d rather have my money at work than me working for it – eventually…
[Link removed (too ad-like for me), put it in your title when you submit a comment. Nothing personal.]
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks for stopping by!
Dividend Developer,
Congrats on starting your blog. I am also just starting out and saw your post on Passive Income Pursuit. What caught my eye was the title, “Hello, World”. I started my blog exactly the same way. I’ll be sure to add you as soon as I get a chance to update my blogroll. I’d also love to compare notes about starting out on a new blog.
Thanks,
-Nick
Thank you, and thanks for telling me where you found me! Haha, as a software dev, there’s no better way to start out than with a title like that. Congrats on starting your own blog; I look forward to reading it! Send me an email any time; it’s always great to have someone to talk with about that. See you around!
Hi DividendDevelopper,
Ahah I like the “Hello world” title. That was my first program in Basic when I was 6 years old
… a long time ago in the ’80s… back in the days we used to program on a keyboard computer connected to the family television. My computer was a COCO III from Radio Shack. I think I still have it somewhere lol
Anyway, Welcome in this dividend growth investors and bloggers community!
Your net worth is really impressive for a 23 years old guy. And you also net some great income. It’ll be fun to see your progress here. I wish I would have known that strategy at your age but at 23 my financial freedom was not in my mind… I thought I would love working back then… until I realized that I didn’t like it that much ahah I’m 33 and my net worth is not even a 100k yet but now that I have a goal and a plan, I know it’s gonna grow pretty fast.
I already added you to my blogroll. Feel free to add my blog to yours if you wish. It would be appreciated.
Good luck with your investments!
Thanks for the welcome! Good to see another person with dev experience around
Thanks for adding me; I returned the favor. All the best!
Hi and welcome! I just started my blog today and I will be following your progress
You are very lucky having a parents that guides you and have you start early in investing at 14 years old, most kids play xbox and playstation at that age, I know I was.
Best of luck!
Heh, I loved Playstation back then too (Spyro ftw!); I definitely owe my parents a lot though. Congrats on the new blog; I’ll be stopping by from time to time as well. See you around!
Hi, Dividend Developer.
I’m a fellow Wisconsinite and, like you, am not 100% invested in DGI companies because there are certainly some good opportunities available that are a bit outside of the box. Congrats on your journey thus far!
Goosemann Jones
Flight to Dividends Blog
Thanks, and thanks for stopping by! It’s always cool to see people who don’t fit solidly in the dividend-growth-only box. Good luck on the new blog!
Welcome, DividendDeveloper! Considering you are a software developer, I really like the play on words with the blog title (and the title of this post). And, it is great to welcome another dividend investor from Wisconsin! In fact, you’re the second dividend investing blogger from Wisconsin that I came across just today! (First I found, or rather, Flight to Dividends found me.)
Amazing portfolio, especially for someone that is only 23. I can’t believe that you are over $100K already in net worth. I’m 31 and just recently got over the $100K mark. Keep up the great work and I look forward to reading more. (I just added you to my blogroll.)
Scatt recently posted…Purchase of More BP
Thanks for stopping by! Always nice to see another WI investor!
Yeah, I am lucky. Took a lot of hard work to get there too. But as long as you get started investing at all, that’s the important part! See you around!