Has It Really Been Four Years Already?


Four years.  In early November I reached my 4 year "blogiversary".  I honestly don't know where the time went because it doesn't seem like it was 4 years ago that I was writing that horribly brutal post introducing myself to the finance/investing blog world.  Seriously, don't check it out.

So much has changed over that time.  For starters my portfolio has grown significantly.  My FI Portfolio's value was $0 with total investments of $48250.  Just 4 short years later and those numbers have grown tremendously.  My taxable accounts, FI Portfolio and Loyal3, totaled over $190k at the end of October with total investments worth over $360k.  My net worth has grown by a factor of 6 to just over $400k at the end of October.

Even more impressive, to me at least, is that those numbers include this year which has seen a considerable decline in investment capital.  I've only added a net of $7,500 to my FI Portfolio this year due to other demands for my cash.  Yet my portfolio has continued on churning out dividends that have already surpassed $5k for the year.  That's almost as much capital as I've added to my portfolio through dividends alone.

You'd think after 4 years and over 750 posts my ideas would be running low, but I can honestly say that the amount of post ideas just continue to grow.  Seriously, I don't want to share the number of posts in my drafts list.  Besides the normal monthly updates, roundups, and stock analyses I also want to delve into other topics such as tax planning because for some unknown reason that has really piqued my interest over the last couple months.

I also want to move into some more theory/concept related articles that don't necessarily rely on numbers.  I could honestly use at least another set of hands/brain to help me develop all of the posts and tools that I'd like to provide for all of you.  However, my time is limited and I'm just a one man show so it's difficult to get everything done, but at some point I will.

I also can't thank all of my readers enough.  I'd probably still keep the blog going with much less traffic to my little home of the internet, but being able to interact with all of you is what keeps me motivated to keep going, writing, and of course reading all of y'alls blogs.  At times it gets difficult to catch up on everything because I still remember 4 years ago when there was just a handful of blogs devoted to financial independence and dividend growth investing and now there's easily several hundred that I try and keep up with.  That makes for a lot of reading which is part of the reason why my drafts list is a mile long.

Earlier this year in June I was able to surpass 1 million lifetime pageviews so I can officially say that I'm a millionaire at something.    I'm also up to over 960 followers on Twitter@JC_PIP and I hope to start using that more to interact with all of you during the day.

Some of my favorite posts and most liked by you guys are:

I just want to say thanks again to all of you for following along.  As always if there's any topic, idea, company or pretty much anything you'd like for me to look into feel free to let me know and I'll give it my best shot.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Image provided by Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.net




Comments

  1. Congrats on the Anniversary! I've hit my one year mark... time flies when you are having fun!

    Keep up the great work over here.

    ADD

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    Replies
    1. ADD,

      Congrats on hitting the 1 year level! I've seen so many blogs start up and then peter out after 3 months so it's great to see the ones that stick around.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Good job on your 4th year JC. Here's a fun one for you to tackle. BDC, reits, common stock, preferred stock, CEF, etf, and MLP taxes and how to hide them

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    1. BDI,

      Thanks! It's been a crazy ride thus far. I'll try and tackle some of these in the future.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Congrats on your 4-year blogiversary, JC. Your posts have been amazing and it was one of blogs that I was following before I started mine. Its been an inspiration and a great ride to follow along.
    Some interesting topics in the works there - looking forward to reading each and every one of them when they are completed. Keep up the great work and heres to another 4 years of blog posts

    cheers
    R2R

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    Replies
    1. R2R,

      Thanks for the kind words. It's always great to hear that others are finding use in my writing.

      I've got lots and lots of ideas running around and I have no idea why the tax side/long term planning has come to the forefront. But as long as it is I might as well share my findings. It's funny because even though I have a job where I can write while on the clock there's still never enough time in the day in order to get all of my ideas out. Between post ideas, stock analyses, reading other blogs, tools I'd like to develop there's so much to do. One big one is hopefully to finally get swapped over to WP and self hosted in 2016. I think I might be tackling that at some point when I use one of my vacation weeks if we're not planning a trip.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. Congrats on the anniversary!

    Here is to another 4 years of successful blogging and investing!

    Dividend Growth Investor

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    Replies
    1. Dividend Growth Investor,

      Thanks. I can't wait to see what the next 4 years bring on both fronts. Hopefully a little bit more income on the blog side. While I don't ever really expect to be able to live off the blogging income any boost is welcomed because it puts me that much closer to FI!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. Congratulations and well done on 4 years of blogging. Your posts are very inspirational!
    D4s

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    1. Div4Son,

      Thanks. It's been difficult at times as expected after 4 years. But I can honestly say that right now my motivation/inspiration/ideas are running on a high.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Gratz on four! The theory posts sound like a lot of fun. I'm a spreadsheet monkey but even I get bored with straight numbers sometimes.

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  7. JC,

    Congrats on four years, bud!

    I've been writing in some form or another for going on five years now. It's just crazy how fast the time flies by. Just goes to show you why it's so important to save and invest as soon as possible and keep it going every single day. That time is going to pass you by either way, so it's obviously better to be in a great financial spot when it's all said and done. Can't imagine how bummed out I'd be right now if I had never started saving and investing back in early 09.

    Keep it up man. Excited for what's next for you guys.

    Cheers!

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  8. Thanks for the Blog JC. I come here every single day bud. Sometimes I comment, sometimes I don't. Congrats and keep up the great work. I'll be travelling alongside you for a long time. Hope all is well for you and your wife and cheers to many more years! Keep hustling it up and can't wait to witness you conquering new heights.
    Take care.

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  9. Congrats on 4 years JC! We've been following along for roughly a year and a half (since we started our blog) and plan to follow your journey for as long as you continue posting. Great to see and hear the success this blog has generated for you and your family. Very impressed with the huge growth to over $400K in investments!

    We'll be here when you reach the next milestone. Keep up the great work! Best wishes and continued success on your personal journey! AFFJ

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  10. Time sure flies by! Congrats on the milestones both for your blog and portfolio!

    Mike

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  11. That's awesome, congrats on the 4 year anniversary!

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  12. Congrats JC! I love reading your updates although I haven't been able to comment much lately. I hope to start posting again regularly in 2016. Keep up the good work and happy holidays!

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