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Happy Monday!

I just shared a major milestone in my latest video: my stock portfolio has now grown to over $308,000 at just 25 years old.

Along the way, I made plenty of mistakes, but each one taught me a valuable lesson that ultimately helped me grow faster.

Here is Everything I Learned…

The Key Story

Everything I Learned From $0 to $308k

1. Earn and Save Aggressively
   Before investing, I needed cash. In high school and college, I worked side jobs and kept expenses low, which let me set aside money to invest. The key was living below my means and growing my income—two steps anyone can adopt.

2. Choose The Right Strategy
   If you’re not prepared to analyze individual stocks, an ETF approach can be very effective (like the S&P 500 or SCHD for dividends). But if you enjoy digging into financials and business models, consider individual stocks. I found that dividend growth investing helped me focus on real businesses rather than just stock prices.

3. Focus on the Right Metrics
   Tracking things like earnings, free cash flow, and dividend payout ratios kept me grounded. A strong dividend strategy naturally pushes you to evaluate a company’s fundamentals—helping avoid pitfalls like speculative day trading or hype investments.

4. Think in Decades, Not Days
   Markets swing wildly. I’ve seen my portfolio jump or drop by thousands in a single day. By holding a long-term mindset, you can ride out short-term noise without panic selling.

5. Don’t Fear Mistakes—Just Learn
   I made plenty of them: from buying stagnant “no-growth” companies to attempting turnarounds that never turned. Mistakes will happen, and that’s okay—each one can refine your strategy.

6. Go Big on Your Best Ideas
   When you identify a high-conviction opportunity, allocate accordingly. Some of my best gains came from building a substantial stake in companies I truly understood.

7. Avoid ‘Mistakes of Omission’
   Sometimes the biggest error isn’t buying a loser—it’s not buying a stock you knew was a solid opportunity. I missed out on expanding my Tesla position in 2019 despite understanding the upside, costing me potentially huge gains.

8. Value the Business, Not the Stock Price
   Don’t let share prices dictate your thinking. A dip might mean a good company is trading at a discount. Judge the fundamentals rather than market swings.

9. Start Investing Now
   Compound interest thrives on time. The earlier you invest, the more your gains can snowball. Even if you don’t beat the market every year, you’ll build a robust financial future simply by staying invested.

January 2025 Update

My 3 Stock Portfolios: Dividend, Non-Dividend, Roth IRA

I currently hold 14 stocks across multiple accounts. Key names include Tesla, Visa, Microsoft, Altria, ExxonMobil, Alphabet, Salesforce, and Berkshire Hathaway.

My dividend growth-focused account alone pays me over $4,400 a year in dividends—income I reinvest to grow my positions even more.

If you want a deeper look at my holdings and the metrics I track, you can check out DividendData.com, where I also offer tools to analyze dividend stocks, track your own portfolio, and consult our new AI investment analyst.

Thanks for following my journey. No matter where you are, remember: start investing now, stay patient, and focus on owning great businesses for the long haul.

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Thanks for the read! Let me know what you thought by replying back to this email.

— Zach

Disclaimer: Dividend Dividend (Dividend Data LLC) is not a professional financial service. All materials released from Dividend Data (Dividend Data LLC) are for educational and entertainment purposes. Dividend Data (Dividend Data LLC) is not a replacement for a professional's opinion. Contributors to the Dividend Data (Dividend Data LLC) might have equities mentioned in the newsletter