How Much Money Do You Need to Retire Comfortably

Everyone has a dream to be able to stop working one day in their career life and retire comfortably. Retirement can be an endless summer that anyone can get to enjoy during their golden age. However, they know to retire comfortably require to save a substantial sum amount of money from sustaining their everyday living expenses without having to work again. Just by relying upon and living off from Social Security (which millions of people do it) in your older age won’t be very enjoyable. Some studies show that the average monthly payout that social security will provide these days is around $1,300 per month. Many of you readers and I know that this number is impossible for someone to retire comfortably, especially if you are living in developed countries such as the United States. I’m not an American citizen, so I won’t even get the benefit of having Social Security to aid me when I’m old. I have to find my solution to achieve this dream. However, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to fulfill my retirement dream. I dream of being able to retire comfortably without having to worry about money problems. Moreover, I want to enjoy my old age, being able to spend quality time with my loved ones and family members. I mean, don’t you readers dream of having the ability to not worry about money again and getting out of the nine to five lifestyle (rat race). But how much do you need to save up to achieve this lucrative goal? Furthermore, how do you know if you meet the desired amount? Different people have different expectations of how their retirement life is going to look like. I have my own expectations on the way I want to retire, and my standard can be quite high compared to others. But to achieve that dream, I am required to have a certain amount of money and an excellent strategy to achieve that goal. In this article, I will discuss how much money you need to retire and how to check if you are qualified to do so.

Altria: A Great Value Dividend Stock to Buy Now

Altria Group, Inc. (Ticker: MO) is a company that has been established for a long time. This company has been paying dividends to its shareholders for a long period of time and is considered to be Dividend Aristocrat Stock. Altria Group, Inc. is a well-known American company that produces and market tobacco, such as cigarettes and related products. The company headquarter is in Henrico County, Virginia, close to the city of Richmond and was founded by Philip Morris in 1847. The company sells the Marlboro brand cigarettes in the United States. They also sell non-smokeable products such as Skoal, Copenhagen, and the Ste. Michelle brand of wine. Moreover, they also have 10% ownership in global beer giant Anheuser Busch InBev. 

The stock has been going down in price due to the pessimism of the market. Most of the current worries are due to the declining volume of cigarette sales. The outcome has inevitably caused the stock value at the current price. Investors should ignore the noise surrounding their holdings and, instead, focus on the fundamentals of the company. I had been purchasing this stock since the beginning of 2018 and had been adding more additional purchases that make Altria (Ticker: MO) my 4th largest position in my portfolio. By adding more shares to my portfolio, my cost basis of Altria is currently at $52 per share. This also means that I am currently losing on this particular stock pick; however, the generous dividend multiple, steady earnings, dividend growth, and historically low valuation make it impossible for me to ignore this opportunity to add more shares into my portfolio. I believe Altria is a great dividend growth stock to purchase now despite many warning signs. Altria's current low valuation is too attractive to be ignored. This pessimism is the perfect time for value investors to initiate the purchase of this stock at the current price.

8 Reasons to Drive a Beater Car

First of all, before I start writing this article, let me explain what a beater car is. A Beater Car is a car that is generally more than ten years old and one that is typically cheap to be purchase. Many people believe that driving a used old car such as a beater car is embarrassing and shows a symbol that you are not successful in life. Used cars are usually not as comfortable as brand new cars that are out in the market. A person tends to want to drive a vehicle that is new and have up to date equipment system that comes along with it. I personally like new cars that out there available in the market. However, owning a new car can cost you to slow down your journey to financial freedom and early retirement since vehicles are assets that depreciate over time. 

I am driving a beater car at the moment. The brand and model of the vehicle is Mitsubishi Pajero 2009, and it was first purchased by my dad for my brother to use in the year 2009 when my brother returned from the United States. When I came back from my education in the United States in the year 2013, my brother gave me the car and decided to purchase a new car himself. The car which he gave me to use is currently ten years old and is considered to be a beater car. The mileage on my car is approximately 85,120 mileages (137,000 kilometers), which shows that the vehicle has been driven a lot. However, I'm still driving it to this day and planning to stick with it for another 5 to 10 years. I have seen many of my friends have newer and nicer cars than mine, but I'm still content with the car my brother gave me. Despite the vehicle for being old, I feel this beater car is the right car for me to use while walking the journey to my financial goal. It is interesting to note that the reasons for and benefits of driving a beater car.

11 Basic Financial Metrics to Value a Stock

Value investors often try to find a stock in the market that is trading in a undervalue territory. Investors usually use financial metrics to evaluate a stock whether the market overreacts to good or bad news. We can see a stock price movement that doesn’t correspond with the stock company financial fundamental. There are many successful and well known value investors out there such as Warren E. Buffett, Peter Lynch, and many others that use this strategy to analyze a stock. Looking at financial metrics gives the ability for a value investor to see whether the stock is overpriced or oversold. Also, they can use these metrics to see whether the stock is trading at a fair value or not. It is fine to buy great companies that have long term business potential at a fair price as mentioned by Warren E. Buffett himself. He also mentioned that it’s better to purchase a great company at fair price rather than a low quality company at an undervalue price. It’s great when you have this financial knowledge to evaluate whether a company is a potential buy or something that you want to avoid investing. Having the knowledge of utilizing financial metrics when investing give investors a more understanding of what’s going on with the company. People that have been following my blog know that I am a dividend growth investor who adopts value investing techniques. I’ve been using this technique since I initiated this blog to find great dividend growth stocks. It has a long term potential of increasing the companies’ dividend payout as well as capital appreciation to the stock price. I’m here now to share my experience on 11 basic financial metrics I use to find great dividend paying stocks.