Three Years of Investing, and Many More to Go

Three years ago I really started on my investing journey. Prior to that time I had no idea how I was going to retire. I figured I would have to work as long as I physically could and hope for the best. I decided this was not a good plan and decided to take charge of my financial life. Let’s take a quick look at the progress I have made over the past three years.

On March 24, 2020 the funds from my previous employer’s retirement plan were rolled over into my IRA. This gave me almost $70,000 in my IRA to begin my investing journey. I began investing in various funds and single stocks while learning about investing. I became very interested in dividend investing then later learned about options trading. Today, my investing accounts total about $136,000. That’s a lot of progress in a short amount of time.

For the year 2020 I received $1,877.71 in dividends. On the options trading side I made $2,157.58. For the year, I made $4,035.29 in income from my investing accounts. This was motivating to me, seeing my money making money and I have been hooked on investing ever since.

In 2021 I saw a big increase in dividend income. For the year I received $3652.26 in dividends. The income I received from trading options also increased, up $3,994.13. The total income I received from dividends, options and interest totaled $7,736.68 for the year. This fast growth in income over the previous year was very exciting and made me want to invest more.

The year 2022 seen more growth in income but at a much slower pace. For the year, I received $4,162.64 in dividends. Options trading produced $4,594.52 of income. The total income received for the year, including interest, was $8,894.72. While the income growth slowed, I am committed to my investing plan and look forward to more growth in the future.

While the income I receive from my accounts is not enough to live on, I keep reinvesting this income to grow my future income. This is in addition to making regular contributions to my accounts. In 2023 I plan on producing more than $10,000 of income from accounts.

In just 3 short years, I have gone from not have a real plan for retirement to planning to retire at age 59 1/2 with the income my accounts. I plan to keep investing and will continue to learn more about investing to hone my investing skills. I appreciate everyone who follows along on my journey. If a factory worker like my self can invest to create a better future than anyone can invest and build a better future too!