Everyday he’s hustlin, husltin, hustlin! Welcome to my ninth blogger interview. I interviewed Tyler, the Dividend Hustler. The Dividend Hustler is a very inspiring blog. Tyler and his wife have done a fantastic job saving and investing. They’re well on their way to a happy and wealthy early retirement. Tyler and I both share a retirement vision of excess. He wants to have enough money to enjoy life and give back. I have no doubt that he will succeed in this goal.
You can find a list of all my blogger interviews and upcoming blogging interviews on my Blogger Interview Series page. I hope you enjoy my interview with the Dividend Hustler.
Dividend Hustler Interview
Where do you live?
I use to live in Vancouver B.C. Canada but now I live 20 minutes away from Vancouver in the suburbs. Port Coquitlam now.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy playing video games especially shooters / RPG’s and strategy. I enjoy reading about stocks and watching the business news network. I have been very busy but I always enjoy working out, lifting weights and a nice jog/cardio.
Which countries or major cities have you lived in or traveled to?
I’ve always lived in B.C. & I haven’t done much traveling but I’ve been back to Vietnam 4 times now. I am from there. It’s awesome there with the beautiful weather and it’s not so expensive. My grandparents are back there and tons of family.
When you were a child, what profession did you want to be?
When I was a child, I wanted to become a police officer. I’ve always wanted to be righteous and do the right thing.
What is your primary motivation to reach financial independence and retire early?
I want to reach FI so that I can enjoy the good life without the worries. I like nice things but I don’t want to pay for it from my hard-earned capital. I want to pay for them by interests and dividends. I want to live a stress free life and that’s with having a massive dividend income stream to help pay for life’s expenses.
At what age are you planning on retiring?
I don’t think I’ll ever retire. One of my idols is Warren Buffett. He’s 86 years old and he still goes to work and still hustling hard. He’s doing something he really enjoys and making good money. It’s obviously not about the money to someone that wealthy and successful. He’s just doing it out of pure enjoyment and love. Also, his work is just reading and keeping on top of the info on his holdings and life’s events and the current trends and disruptions… I like that as it’s not so labour intensive… just more of a mental kind of work. LOL… sorry… back to the question. I won’t retire but I’ll look after the portfolio full-time and become a full-time investor with the dividend income. If I don’t hit my goal of 120k in dividends a year, We’ll live on half and I’ll invest the other half and build it up more and more.
What’s the first thing you’ll do when you retire?
When I feel like we’ve finally made it. I’m gonna take my family on a trip to Mexico all-inclusive and just chill and enjoy the milestone. Then it’s just chilling out and taking it easy after that. I will look after my health first and foremost by working out and eating good food each and every day. Spend time with the love ones and work on my mental health by just living a peaceful and quiet life and staying away from toxic relations.
If money were no object, but you had to have a job what would you do for a living?
I would definitely be a doctor. My family doctor is Dr. S. I won’t say his name but he’s the best doctor. He would call you and see if you’re okay. He’ll come visit you at the hospital and work. He’s special as most doctors don’t do that. He’s very personal and still hustling it up at the age of 72. In a way, he’s very much like myself. I’m very caring and considerate and genuinely cared for people.
If you could go back in time, what investment advice would you give to your past self?
Honestly, my opinion is just that…. of a random person but if it’s to Myself, I would definitely say:
1. Work your ass off day and night and save every penny to invest.
2. Buy a property ASAP. Preferably a house and live in the basement while renting the upstairs or rent the house out and live at home with your parents. While you’re young, take some gambles and you won’t regret it buying a rental property.
3. Cut loose loser friends and unmotivating people. Network and learn from mentors and people who you’d like to emulate and learn from who are years ahead of yourself.
4. Always keep learning and have an open mind.
5. Find a partner who has integrity, honest and giving. Who shares the same path and plan as you and with an open mind willing to learn. With 2 incomes, you’re able to create more wealth faster.
6. Buy more rental properties
7. Invest in stocks early on and buy the best! Take advantage of Market Corrections.
8. Get some fun out-of-the-way so you don’t have a mid-life crisis later on…
If you could only use one metric to evaluate a stock, which one would you choose?
Tough one. Since I’m an Income Investor and can only choose 1, it would be payout ratio. The quality of the income stream is most important to me. I want reliability. I want the income for years to come. With a lower payout ratio… hopefully the dividend is intact and sustainable.
How do you stay the course when markets are down?
I remind myself that since I’m a Dividend Growth and Income Investor, the quality of the dividend income stream is most important. Markets up, markets are down, I’m still receiving dividends. Also, the best deals are when the markets are down anyways so I always love it when it’s fallen because I can pick up the best stocks at a greater discount. I don’t see a problem with down and bear markets. It’s all in your head anyways. Being mentally tough as myself, It doesn’t bother me 1 bit. I welcome it.
What’s your favorite aspect of blogging?
I like blogging first and foremost to log my journey and keep track of my financial life. At the end of the day… my posts are publish and my content is there for life. I can see my progress in real-time and hold myself accountable to future failures and successes. There is no one to blame but myself. I plan on blogging for life and will still be around 20 years from now. I promise you that. I’m glad that I’ve created my blog and feel great to have a source to share my life and have an outlet for my thoughts since I’m such a loner in real life. Not many people I come across in real life are open about their finances and so it’s difficult to find people with interest in Dividend Growth Investing / Income Investing.
Why should people read your blog?
My blog is not about trying to reach FI so I can quit the Rat race for good. It’s really more about investing and saving to build a Passive Income stream to help you live a more stress free life. I’ll always be working. If I work, it’s because I want to and not because I have to. I like collecting assets and love collecting stocks. I’m not really into cutting my expenses down to a tee and live like a monk… It’s more about being more on the offense making more money and never having a ceiling on your income while not being so wasteful and consume too much too soon.
I also share in the way of think of things which is blunt and straight to the point. I like to bottom line everything. Life’s too short to worry about what other people think of you but instead, work on yourself and live your life to the fullest.
Which 5 Blogs do you visit the most?
Obviously Investment Hunting. I wouldn’t say just 5 as I visit like 50. I’ll list a few which are my favs though:
My Dividend Pipeline
Passive Income Pursuit
Dividend Diplomats
FIFighter
Sure Dividend
Tawcan
Financial Samurai
Roadmap 2 Retire
Dividend Beginner
and many more.
What’s your best source of traffic to your blog?
Not sure as I haven’t really tried to get my blog to super greatness. It’s doing okay as I only have a little over 11k in pageviews a month. So far, it’s been Twitter and just commenting on other blogs.
Why do you blog?
I love blogging for pure enjoyment. I have met so many great people with similar interests who just want to better their lives. It’s life changing. I’m glad I started my blog and it’s truly another hobby of mine for life. Thank you all who support me.
What’s the name and URL of your blog or blogs?
Dividend Hustler – www.dividendhustler.com
Additional Info
Tyler, the Dividend Hustler is a great guy. There’s a lot to like about Tyler, but my favorite thing about him is his positive attitude. We’ve never met, but I imagine he is always in a good mood and has a smile on his face. He’s a big believer in the Law of Attraction and he lives his life in a way that attracts success. I especially like Tyler’s appreciation posts. The Dividend Hustler also has a very impressive portfolio and his monthly dividend income is very impressive. I’ve followed Dividend Hustler for a while now. Here’s a link to a Liebster Award I nominated him for a while back. Back then, I was Dividend Dreams, not Investment Hunting.