Dear DTA,
The politics in this country are driving me crazy. It’s starting to scare me. I’m worried something is going to happen to my money. What’s the best way to protect myself?
-Brenda H.
Hi, Brenda.
Thanks for writing in. It’s always so great to hear from our readership.
I understand your concerns.
The political rhetoric in the US is arguably more extreme than it’s ever been.
But I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
First, an investor should always focus on what they can control.
If it’s outside your control, it’s a waste of your precious and finite resources to think or worry about it.
You can’t control political rhetoric.
But there are many other things you can control.
As a voter, you can control who you vote for.
As a citizen, you can control where you live (i.e., you can vote with your feet).
And as an investor, you can control what you do with your capital.
This last point is particularly important.
And it’s the one that’s going to have an outsized effect on your entire life.
Politicans come and go. Political rhetoric heats up and cools down.
But money follows you everywhere you go, for your entire life.
I came to a simple realization a number of years ago.
If you take care of your money, your money takes care of you.
This realization occurred when I was at my lowest point in life.
I wasn’t taking care of my money. And my money certainly wasn’t taking care of me.
But I turned it all around, going from broke and in debt at 27 years old to financially free at 33.
I lay out exactly how I did that in my Early Retirement Blueprint.
The Blueprint is something almost anyone can follow to their early retirement dreams.
At the very least, the information contained in it can help you build a serious amount of wealth and passive income so that you can have more financial autonomy in your life.
But that kind of outcome does require you to take the necessary steps.
You have to execute.
And you have to ignore the noise.
That includes political noise. And stock market noise, too.
I can tell you, I’ve never once in my life worried about political rhetoric.
And that greatly helped me focus on my money and build my FIRE Fund.
The Fund generates the five-figure passive dividend income I live off of.
I worried about what I could control.
For example, living below my means is within my control.
And how I invest my money is something I can control.
How I’ve gone about investing is taking advantage of the long-term investment strategy of dividend growth investing.
This strategy advocates investing in high-quality companies that pay reliable and growing cash dividends to their shareholders.
Stocks like those you can find on the Dividend Champions, Contenders, and Challengers list.
You buy the stocks cheap. And you keep for the long haul.
Collect and reinvest growing dividends.
Voila.
Wealth and passive income.
Fellow contributor Dave Van Knapp put together an excellent series of Dividend Growth Investing Lessons in order to teach prospective investors exactly what this strategy is and how to effectively use it.
I know the political stuff can be scary.
Look, the truth of the matter is the stock market rises far more often than it falls.
That’s regardless of politics.
Just think about how much has happened over the last 20 years.
Not just politically, either.
I’m talking 9/11, multiple wars, the dot-com bubble, the Great Recession, etc.
And getting back to politics, we’ve had four different presidents presiding over the United States.
Not to mention the numerous changes across all other aspects of the government.
The S&P was cruising under 1,200 points in early July 1999.
It’s now sitting at just under 3,000 points.
That’s more than double. It’s on its way to tripling.
And that’s just the broader market.
Many high-quality companies have done far, far better.
Great businesses that sell the quality products and/or services the world demands will continue to make more money, in just about any political environment.
That’s just the way it is.
To help investors focus on those high-quality companies, I share compelling ideas every Sunday.
I filter the aforementioned CCC list into some of the highest-quality stocks.
That occurs through a quantitative and qualitative analysis.
And then I look at the valuation, including valuation estimates from professional analysts.
When I find high-quality dividend growth stocks trading at appealing valuations, I share them via the Undervalued Dividend Growth Stock of the Week series.
These are great ideas. And they’re free.
Investing (or not investing) in these companies is within your control, unlike political rhetoric.
And the amount of financial freedom you attain in your life, Brenda, is also within your control.
So make sure to take care of your money, so it can take care of you.
Better yet, start taking care of your money today.
I wish you luck and success.
Jason Fieber
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Disclaimer: Jason Fieber is not a licensed financial advisor, tax professional, or stock broker. Please consult with a licensed investment professional before investing any of your money. If your money is not FDIC insured, it may decline in value. To protect the privacy of our readers, any names published in this article are under aliases. In addition, text may be edited, omitted or paraphrased for grammar or length.