Note from Daily Trade Alert: Today we’re starting a new series of articles from Jason Fieber. We’ve run a number of his essays over the last few weeks, but this new series — commissioned by DTA — aims to show our readers exactly how this 30-year old (with a $50k salary) plans to retire in just 10 short years from now. As a reminder, unlike the majority of analysts we cover here at Daily Trade Alert, Jason is NOT a professional (and he doesn’t claim to be). Nevertheless, we’re fascinated by his story and we’re confident our readers will benefit from his approach to generating a lifetime of steadily rising income…

I’m 30 years old right now and I make about $50,000 a year from my full time job.

I know it sounds crazy, but I realistically plan on retiring by the time I’m 40.

I say that in all seriousness.

I realize that’s just 10 years from now.

For many people with a similar salary, the idea of taking such an early retirement doesn’t just sound like a pipe dream… it sounds downright delusional.

But over the next few weeks I’m going to show you exactly how I plan to fund my early retirement.

I think you’ll be surprised at how simple, yet realistic, my approach is… and how easy it’d be for anyone to simply copy my strategy.

Of course, it takes some discipline and possibly even a lifestyle change that may take some getting used to.

For example, I watch my expenses like a hawk… and as a result, on average I’m able to save about 50% of my net income each month.

But I’m not stuffing all my hard-earned cash under the mattress… and I’m not gambling it away on the next “hot” investment idea.

Instead, I’m using almost every cent I save to buy shares of one very special set of stocks.

So special, in fact, that I expect to generate enough income from these stocks to comfortably retire on in just 10 short years from now… without eating into ANY of my principal.

In short, I’m putting my money into high quality companies that have been around for years and that regularly grow their revenue streams, profits, earnings and most importantly, their distributions to loyal shareholders like me.

To be clear, by “distributions” I’m talking about cash dividends. And not just cash dividends, but cash dividends that are often increasing significantly faster than the rate of inflation.

In other words, I plan on funding my retirement with a healthy and well-diversified portfolio of dividend growth stocks.

Several of my favorites — like McDonald’s (MCD), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Coca-Cola (KO) — have grown their dividends each and every year for over 25 years in a row!

By their very nature, “boring” companies like these have the potential to generate enough cash to pay shareholders throughout practically any kind of market environment.

That’s because they sell the kinds of products that people use every single day.

They sell the food you eat at lunch, the beverage you use to wash down that lunch, the toothpaste you use to clean your teeth, the gas you put in your car, the power you use to light up your home and the computer chip in the device you’re using to read this article.

Selling products and services that people use everyday are precisely what protects these businesses from recessions and allows them to expand even in times of distress. Even if you’re unemployed you’re still going to eat, drink and brush your teeth!

In the coming days I’ll give you the names and ticker symbols of the 28 dividend growth stocks that I personally have over $75,000 in right now.

For a 30-year old guy that only made $50k last year, that’s a lot of money for me.

But, I’m so confident in these companies and their futures, that I’m banking my early retirement on them and the ever-growing dividend income stream that they could pay me.

Stay tuned.

— Jason Fieber