About me


Well after a year of blogging, I finally have decided to create an about page.

Early Years

I was born in Chicago, but moved to Houston at the age of 6 with my mom and stepfather. I had a normal lower middle class childhood that I look back fondly upon.  In the late 70s and early 80s kids didn't spend the day playing with iphones and videos games, we rode bikes and shot BB guns. Money was in short supply, but I never knew it as a kid. Unfortunately my ambitions were underwhelming as a child and would develop only after I entered into the workforce many years later.

College Years

I enrolled in the University of  Texas at Austin and entered the Mechanical Engineering program. The first year was great and the second year a total disaster. Courses like Thermodynamics, Mechanics of Solids, and a few other nightmare Physics-type courses were the death of me. Making C's were unheard of for me, so when I received a D and an F, I realized I was in over my head. I never had trouble excelling at school until that second year of engineering. Sometimes I wish I had applied myself more, but usually I am glad I got out of engineering relatively early.

I really wasn't passionate about engineering so the dropoff in grades wasn't that much of a surprise. I completely understand why so many engineers are looking to reach FI and get the hell out of the Rat Race. At the time, the competition for grades and the stress level was unbearable for me. Later on in life, in the workforce, I would understand what real competition was and I would have to up my game in order to advance in life.

Anyway I graduated with a degree in Finance, but also took 30 hours of Accounting, because I thought it would come in handy later in life. So far it has not. I could have gotten a job at large accounting firm, but I really didn't want to go down that path either. Strangely enough I wanted to stay away from what I thought might be overly constrictive careers which confined me to cubicles.

1994-2000

After graduating college, I decided that the best path to success for me would involve sales. I jumped into a field that was totally unrelated to my degree and made $50,000 in 1995 at 23 years old. In 1995 there weren't many 23 year olds making that kind of money college grad or not. Sales typically involves very fierce competition and can be very Darwinian in nature. Many people get freaked out about this type of environment, but I thrived in it.

Within a few years I was married with a mortgage, two car payments, wave runners, new furniture, etc. So in other words, I was strapped in tight to the American dream.

By 2000 I was 28 years old with $35,000 in credit card debt, payments coming out of my ass and a bleak future staring me in the face. Something had to change or I was going to have a pretty shitty rest of my life. The next five years would be an about face from the previous five

2001-2006 The Gauntlet

Driving a new car each year, buying expensive clothes, and blowing all kinds of money eating out all the time had to stop. It's difficult to make radical changes cold turkey, especially when you are married. These were not fun times, but we finally made great progress.

 I'm not going to lie there were many six day work weeks and a lot of mental drain during this period. It was in my opinion extreme sacrifice, but well worth our efforts as you can see below. What got me out of this mess was the combination of higher income and much lower expenses. I don't think I could have made much progress without achieving both...or at least the progress would have taken many more years.

2001 Debt-con 5
  • $75,000 mortgage --- payment $915
  • $37000 credit card --- payments $750
  • $42,000 auto loans --- payments $950
  • $6,000 student loan --- payment $250
2006 Debt-con 1
  • $71,000 mortgage --- payment $915

I am pleased to say that once the credit card debt was eliminated back in 2006, I have never paid one penny in interest to a credit card company since. The years between 2001 and 2006 were pivotal for me and laid the framework for bigger and better financial progress. I still was not thinking about early retirement or FI, but I was determined to get on the fast train to extreme savings and wealth accumulation.


2007-Present

After having made many disastrous decisions until age 30, I finally was gaining some traction and had reached a net worth of $100,000 by 35. I was way behind many of my peers, but I was about to push the turbo button and not only catch the rest of the pack, but create some massive separation from them. During the next eight years, my net worth number would increase by sevenfold.

I wrote a somewhat lengthy post (lengthy for me at least) in November which explains more about my recent activities in my quest of FI.

2015 Divorce

In late 2015 I went through a divorce and liquidated 90% of my portfolio. It's time to start climbing the mountain once again. I've done it before and will do it again. I have no doubts in my mind!!!

This post summarizes my last few years activities.

I'll update this page as anything new and exciting develops.


20 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this page. To see someone drastically change their life for the better is an amazing thing. Congrats from breaking free from keeping up with the Joneses!

    I had this epiphany much earlier in life than you did and for that I am truly blessed. My parents always taught me saving and paying for cash in everything growing up. I did not even have a credit card until college and I paid for my first truck in cash.

    Thing was, as I continue to save, my parents continue to spend and now they are severely in trouble. My biggest fear is that I will end up like them one day so I'm trying to do everything now to not repeat their mistakes. Blogging only makes it easier to keep track of your progress.

    Thank you for sharing your story.

    ADD

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  2. Nice story Dividend Pipeline! I can totally relate. You have really turn the table. Props to you. I will come back and check out your progress.

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  3. drastic change from 2001 to 2006. But looking at the dividend number that your portfolio spit out each month, I thought you've been saving since 1995 to put out such high figure.

    It is good to see your progress, so I know I can make it too, if I continue to save religiously.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Totally digging your story man. Hope to achieve the same one day. Thanks so much for sharing - blogs like this got me started on this whole freedom journey.

    Cheers,
    Josh

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  5. I love your story dude, great turnaround and I'm sure you will keep chugging along swimmingly!

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  6. This is very compelling story. I agree that university might seem like a hard time back then, reality is it was the easiest time in the life.
    I am so glad that your shared the story. Thank you.

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  7. You are luck born in America. Many Chinese people as me screwed up wealth in China Stock market. The equity investment environment is much more tough in China than U.S.A. My major in University is thermal power engineering ( it is mechanical engineer in America, feel so genial with 'Thermodynamics'...

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  10. I've done it before and will do it again.

    That's what makes a winner. Good luck DP!

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  11. Hi dividend pipeline,

    We would like to introduce you our new website dividendsranking.com where you can find highest dividend stocks from all around the world.

    Its rankings are updated every two months, and you can find the data ordered by country, industry, sector or index. Please take a look, we are sure the site won't disappoint you.

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    ReplyDelete
  12. hi,
    how do you value the different companies ? do you have a page where you explain ?
    thanks

    mat

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  13. Hejsan, går det annonsera hos er? Mvh Johan Larsson , Savelend.se

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  14. Great story.

    Sorry to read about the divorce that made you liquidate but it sounds like your well underway to getting yourself back to the top of that mountain.

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  15. Hi My Dividend Pipeline Team,

    My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.

    I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog My Dividend Pipeline has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Dividend Blogs on the web.

    https://blog.feedspot.com/dividend_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 Dividend 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.

    Best,
    Anuj

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  16. Hello My Dividend Pipeline

    I have been an active user of your blog for sometime now! It was you that encouraged me to start my journey to begin investing and blogging as I progressed. I have just launched my blog and would be honored if you could add me to your blogroll? This would mean the world to me. I would also like to thank you for all that you have done for me in regards to getting me started and encouraging me along the way through your posts.

    You can check out my blog below
    https://driptilrich.com

    Thanks and regards,
    Dr. Dividend

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  17. You have definitely been through it all in life! Thumbs up for getting up and improving your situation, most will just sit and complain about the cards they were dealt. I am also a fellow dividend income investor, starting a bit earlier.

    After graduating university naively, entering the real world with nothing in my name, and the fear of having no home or food when excrement hits the fan really freaked me out and got me to grow up and take control of my life.

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  18. great ideas!! Thanks for your help on this!

    https://jobapp15.blogspot.com

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  19. Hi,

    Henry from Finimize here - we are interested in partnering with you. My colleague Nik recommended your blog earlier today, and after having a closer look I believe your work very much aligns with what we do.

    Finimize specialises in bitesize financial education for young professionals with savings (helping them to get invested). We have more than 400k global users with a strong interest in finance, economics, and investing.

    I believe your readers would benefit highly from our daily markets newsletter (2 major financial stories of the day, 3min read, no jargon) and vice versa. In this context I'd be keen to explore affiliate opportunities - we pay $1 for a sign-up to our free newsletter or we could introduce my Dividend Pipeline to our audience.

    Let me know if you are interested - happy to jump on a quick call / discuss via email.

    Best wishes,
    Henry

    henry@finimize.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey man looking forward to hearing more about what you are up too?

    ReplyDelete