First new member post since 2022 - Nice

[jbuzz]

I'm a 'mostly' retired software engineer, and in true engineer form, i'm going to provide a small bullet list of info about me.

* I'm level 55 this year - a new personal best!
* From Seattle - no, it does not rain ALL the time.  There are a couple months during the summer when its nice.
* I've been investing since I was in my early 20s, I had no idea what i was doing.
* I've been dividend investing for the past 10 years - Still not an expert by any measure.
* I'm actually currently more focused on dividend income than dividend growth - the realities of early retirement to span the 'gap' 


Since this is an investment community - my investment goals are: 
* Be able to live off of dividends while still growing enough to meet or beat inflation. I imagine that is pretty much everyone's goals though eh?


Why am I here?
* Its a much smaller forum than the crazy big reddit subs.
* I write software - Its a curse actually.  I, of course, have my own set of software tools - like I imagine most of you do. I want to learn how to make mine better by finding pearls of wisdom.  I'm not a data or math wonk. No offense to those who are! (envy), I just don't have the temperament - thus my need for software tools to do it for me.  Maybe there are other folks here with similar interest?

Its Friday of a 3-day weekend here, i'm off to the back porch for a beer - take it easy!

[Dividend Watcher]

jbuzz, welcome to the forum!!

You and I are the most active users lately.

The forum was pretty busy for a while -- died out when the original posters seemed to have moved on -- and then got lively again with a lot people who did more trading than investing and then died out again. Nowadays, it's just me and Kerim (the owner/administrator). Occasionally, RayRay, EricLandis, or Crimsonghost pops in for a quick update and that's all.

I agree, Reddit is chaotic and crowded. SeekingAlpha used to be good years ago but everyone I've talked to said it is totally changed since the 2010-era sages of dividend growth investors either died, joined the crowd trying to make an extra buck on everything, or lost interest. I suspect the popularity and commercialization of the site turned some off (such as myself) also.

About me ...

I'm 67, retired for a year and a half, and trying NOT to be like Dr. Rick in the Progressive insurance ads. Sometimes I fail. In short, I'm living the life of "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin.

I started my adult life as a submarine Reactor Operator in the Navy. When I got out, I went to work for a commercial nuclear plant as an instrument technician. After a decade, they created a new department for machinery analysis using vibration, infrared thermography, and ultrasound to test machinery and electrical switchgear for incipient failures. I loved that field as I was constantly learning new things. After 13 years, I'd become bored since we had fixed all the issues that I was finding and things were running smoothly. I then quit the power plant job and started my own business doing networking and technical support for small businesses. I had been doing that for last 5 years with the power company in my off hours (today they call it 'side hustle' or 'side gig') as I had become enamored with the capabilities offered by the PC. The Great Recession of 2007-2008 taught me two things: 1.) small businesses quickly dropped outside support when things became tight and 2.) that I was a know-nothing investor. That's when I learned about dividend growth investing at the fledgling Seeking Alpha. By 2015, I ended up shutting down my business and found a job back in my old field of machinery analysis and spent the last 9 years of my working life doing that.

I'm now living off my Social Security, luckily, and tending to my portfolio. I haven't needed to draw much so far and have spent the last year and a half getting more serious about tending to analysis. For me, DGI works very well. Sure, I missed the massive growth with the tech field but I'll be OK even if they let Social Security cut benefits because of the funding mismatch.

I'm beginning to think this is the last place on the internet that offers a space to share information on dividend growth investing without trying to commercialize the relationship. Look through some of the old threads -- especially the 'Individual Growth Stocks' and the 'Resources for Dividend Growth Investors' sections. If interested, take a look at the some of my analysis spreadsheets I've been posting lately and offer a critique. I'm trying to refine them. I'm also trying to resurrect the "CCC List" as originally maintained by David Fish but the task takes a lot of time to compile all the data.

Kerim has/had a very hectic life for the last few years and doesn't show up much. He's been thinking about what to do with this forum but, thankfully, hasn't cut the cord yet. In the meantime, I'm going to keep posting even if no one reads what I write.

I hope you stick around and decide to share as you want here.

And again, welcome!

Dividend Watcher (Ed)

[jbuzz]

Am old family relation was a 'nuclear submarine guy' ... I could never get him to tell me anything about it, lol - secret stuff.

Sounds like you've had some interesting career shifts! Software guys like me seem to get pigeon holed - its tough to get out. I havn't really re-focused on anything after my last layoff a few years back - coding burnout is indeed a thing - at least for coding on other people's schedules and stuff you don't care about. I can't seem to stop though - I just don't get paid for now, heh. Maybe its just a thing that happens to folks in their 50s regardless of the job... lots of folks in my age group I know all hate their jobs. All the new AI stuff is turning the software industry on its head lately - and people who like 'the craft' and the process of creating are finding it difficult - I suppose its much like the industrial revolution when individually hand crafted stuff was replaced by machines and assembly line.

What is the "CCC List" ? I don't recall running across that yet.

[Dividend Watcher]

The CCC List was a list of all dividend growth stocks on U.S. markets that were able to increase their dividends for 5 consecutive years or more. There is better description here. I used to print it out every month or so and sit at the dinner table going through it looking for interesting prospects.

I was planning to attach the last spreadsheet produced by David Fish to this thread so you can see what I was talking about but, even Zip'd, it's too big to post. I don't have an online drive to link to so I'll need to do a little research on this. Give me a couple days.

There are a few websites/blogs that mention they've got the latest version on their site but all require you to sign up or pay to get access. David Fish NEVER charged for the enormous work he did maintaining it and it was always available on the web without any type of gateway.

Justin Law's website took over for a few more years but he made so many changes and omissions that it became much less useful to me. Then he gave up.

This is what I'd like to get back to and post them here even if no one else will look at it. I never realized the work involved incorporating all that data. Of course, I don't have a Quotron or whatever Dave was using at the time to help simplify the task.

Sorry to be so wordy. I love talking about dividend growth investing, stocks, and personal finance. If only I wasn't so tied up in major maintenance and upgrades around the home and the sailboat I bought when I retired.