Today we are doing an interview to get to know Tanner who runs the website dividollars.com  He is a down to earth guy who works used to work in the aerospace industry (just like me), but now works in banking.

Over at  dividollars.com  he is tracking his portfolio progress from zero.  Weekly/monthly market updates, individual stock analysis, and articles about investment strategies.   

 If you haven’t done so already check him out dividollars.com and over on twitter @DivDollars

 Now the introductions are done let’s kick off the interview!

Blind Luck Project (BLP): Hey Tanner, I really like your website where you are sharing your journey to Financial Freedom from the very beginning.  Many people don’t start sharing until after they have spent years investing.  I think it’s important for people to see that every portfolio has a beginning, and that it grows faster than you think!

 What inspired you to document your investment journey on your website?

Dividend Dollars (DD): I think my first inspiration for starting to document and be fully transparent with all my investments happened when I initially got into the dividend investing space. I started following various dividend investors on Twitter and reading their websites and was amazed at seeing these guys pull 5 figure and even some 6 figure incomes just from dividends. Unfortunately, though, when you dive into what they do, there is no clear message on how they got started or how long they’ve been at it. I want to get to that level of dividend income and have a 100% clear and traceable path to how I got there with the hopes that it can make other prospective dividend investors get started on a better foot.

BLP: What is your ultimate cashflow goal from dividends? Do you have a net worth goal as well?

DD: think a reasonable goal for me is to shoot for $20,000 in dividend income by the time I am 40 (about 16 years to go). However, the ultimate goal is to be fully financially independent, have all of my living expenses and leisure expenses be paid for by income producing assets. As for net worth, I do not have a specific goal for that. Whatever my net worth is at when I hit financial freedom goal is the answer.

BLP: What do you want to do when you retire? You’ll have lots of time to enjoy yourself since you’re on track to be there well before the typical age of 65!

DD: That is a very tough question! I have many hobbies and would love to pursue all of them in retirement. I would love to open a business in retirement, mostly for fun and passion. I’m on the edge between two businesses, one is a bookstore and the other is a high-class whiskey bar (I also think doing both in the same facility could be cool). I am also a bit of a gamer and would like to pursue streaming during retirement. Lastly, I also would put efforts towards getting back into day trading. I would treat all these things as passion projects, but also a way to continue to build wealth within reason during retirement.

BLP: Oh Whiskey!  What’s your favorite one?

DD: Oh that’s a hard one….. Probably High West Bourbon

BLP: There are a lot of personal finance websites out there what makes yours different and what do you hope people take away from it?

DD: That’s a great question. I think what makes my website different is the wide array of information. I post weekly dividend portfolio updates which is the bread-and-butter of any dividend website. But I also offer a lot of value added through other articles that other websites don’t. As you mentioned, I write the occasional stock analysis which brings in depth due diligence on the dividend stocks that I have my eyes on. That’s not uncommon by any means, but this next one is: I also write about the economy on a weekly basis. I pick apart the economic data we had for the week, I discuss market movement, and I bring attention to what’s coming next week and how it might affect the economy. I work in banking, so I am more in tune with macro-economic environment than most and I firmly believe that that knowledge has helped me become a better investor.

BLP: Your weekly updates on the economy are great and easy to digest! I enjoy reading them!

BLP: Since you’re not currently retired what is your 9-5 job/ industry?  Would you recommend it to others 

DD: I currently work in banking as a loan portfolio manager for a private bank with $5 billion in assets. I love my job and the opportunities it offers me. Because I work for a private bank, my work and opportunities are quite unlike what would be offered to someone in a similar position at Bank of America or JPMorgan, so for that reason it’s hard to recommend it to others. I am extremely lucky to have landed in the position I am in. In general, finance is a great industry to work in and I would recommend it, just know what you to expect.

BLP: In past conversations you’ve mentioned you have a few roommates, how did that arrangement come about? Would you say you’re “house hacking” or just bringing in some extra cash?  Also, any advice for people considering roommates to lower their monthly costs?

DD: I don’t think I am house hacking per se, but I guess that depends on your definition. I bought my four-bedroom house in February 2021 when I was 23. I currently have two roommates living with my girlfriend and me. I used to work with my two roommates when I worked part time in a call center while attending college. We became great friends and through some lucky timing via issues with their own leases and the timing of my home purchase, it just made sense for them to move in! Roommates are a great way to save some money, the main piece of advice I would offer to people considering roommates is to make sure you get to know your roommates beforehand and establish a set of cleaning rules/tasks. This helps keeps things fun, civil, clean, and avoids confusion or accusation when certain things don’t get done.

BLP: I often share some of my personal failures with people to encourage others, and show setbacks are normal and just part of the process.  What’s the biggest financial setback you’ve experienced?

DD: My biggest financial setback was COVID-19. I graduated from college in the summer of 2020, right as COVID was kicking off. I had signed a contract with Boeing and join their three-year Business Skills Rotation Program after completing my internship with them in Everette the year before. Boeing delayed the program start date to August of 2020 and then later canceled it entirely. I had been unemployed and crunched on cash for some time and was heavily relying on this job to start with Boeing. So, when they canceled, I had to move back home with my parents. I spent the summer of 2020 with them before I finally locked down a job for myself in the middle of the pandemic, bought my house about 9 months later and that was that!

BLP: if you were to do something different when you were just starting out what would it be?

DD: When just starting out I would pay more attention to the financials of the company. When I started, I mostly looked at yields and payout ratios. While those are good things to look at, you still need to dive into a company and see how profitable they are, what’s the future outlook of that profitability, how much cash do they have to continue payouts, what’s the outlook of the industry they are in, etc. Early on, I tried to build up my dividend cashflow as quickly as possible by buying into companies with high yields and/or monthly payouts. Now, I see that my initial approach was wrong.

BLP: What is the biggest financial mistake you see people around you making?

DD: Not saving money. Just recently, two of my friends had health emergencies that their finances were not prepared to handle. Now they are cutting every cost they can and living miserably in order to try and make their bills. You need to have a plan for how you handle unanticipated expenses.

BLP: what books have inspired you that you’d recommend to someone looking to get started on their FIRE journey?

DD: Good Profits by Charles Koch, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A Fisher, and The Profiteers by Sally Denton.

If you weren’t a dividend investor what would be your next choice for investment vehicle? Ie. Growth stocks, real-estate, a small business?

 DD: If you consider day-trading investing, then I would get into that! If not, then my answer is growth stocks.

BLP: What did you want to do for a living when you were a kid?

DD: I have the sexiest answer for this. I wanted to be an actuary when I was a kid!

BLP: When your not working on your website, working, or researching investments what do you like to do? Any interesting hobbies? 

DD: I go the gym pretty regularly, I am a huge movie buff, a book nerd, and a gamer!

BLP: How do you stay so driven? A lot of people have dreams but I find you need a strong “why factor” that translates into action toward your goals. 

DD: I’ve always hated staying idle. I’m always working towards something I believe that’s because of good parenting from my mother. The goal of reaching financial freedom is what keeps me pushing forward.

BLP: What’s something people don’t about you? A weird talent or something you’ve done?

DD: This goes back to the gamer side of me! I once played for competitive Halo team. It was the real deal with an owner and coach. We played in a tournament and got put against TOX gaming for our first match. This was back in early 2018 when the team had Frosty, SnakeBite, Royal1, and Lethul. We got destroyed immediately, but back then those guys were Halo celebrities so it was still pretty cool.

BLP: If people have never been to your website what article are you most proud of? Why do you think they should check it out?

DD: My favorite post is my last stock analysis on Activision. Activision is currently a pretty attractive merger arbitrage opportunity with it sitting about 15% underneath the $95 per share purchase agreement they have with Microsoft. I analyzed the deal, the potential outcomes, and explain why I think it is a good investment with and without the deal.

BLP: if you were to retire but couldn’t stay in United States where would you go? 

DD: I would go to Switzerland! I traveled there in March of 2020 and had to cut that trip short on account of President Trump announcing lockdowns in the middle of my trip. The time I spent there was amazing and it is a beautiful place that I could see myself living in.

BLP: what’s something you splurge on or feel spending extra money is worth it?

DD: Technology. I just upgraded my WiFi to a high-speed mesh system and it was well worth the investment. Next will splurging on parts to build a PC to help run my website and facilitate some gaming activities!

BLP: What advise would you give your 16 year old self?

DD: I would tell myself to start investing! The sooner you get your money in a dividend portfolio, the sooner your income starts to compound!

BLP: Where can people find you?

DD: They can find me at my website https://dividollars.com/, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DivDollars, and on CommonStock at  https://commonstock.com/! Thank you for the fun conversation!

BLP: Been fun catching up with you and getting to know you better!  I have a feeling no matter what life throws at you, you’re the type of person that will end up on top!

-Cheers!

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