The Dividend Mantra Way - Book Review

     Recently, a fellow blogger, Dividend Mantra, published an eBook titled The Dividend Mantra Way. Dividend Mantra, whose real name is Jason Fieber, started on his journey of dividend growth investing  to attain financial freedom at 40 years of age. Like most of us, Jason didn't start investing until later in life. His journey his a 12 year journey in which he plans to save as much money as he can and invest it in dividend growth stocks. Currently as of this writing, Jason has a portfolio of over 55 companies that pay dividends or distributions. The companies that pay distributions are REITs, or Real Estate Investment Trusts. The REITs are a small percentage of his portfolio, which he updates on his blog shortly after a new month begins.

    I recently purchased Jason's eBook and it was a great read. Jason started the book off about what he has been though in his life.  His parents had 4 children before 30 years of age.  Jason's life has been anything but easy when he was a young lad.  At 8 years old his father left, which lead to him and his older sister forming a strong bond.  After his father left, his mother's drug use became more and more as time went by.  His mother gave up custody of the 4 children to his mother's sister and husband when Jason was 11 years old.

      As time went by, Jason made some choices like blowing approximately $60000 inheritance in less than 2 years and dropping out of college.  Jason started working in the auto industry in Michigan, in which he worked his way up to being a service advisor. In 2009, during the great recession , Jason was laid off from his job as the automotive BIG 3 companies where not doing well.
     
     A short time after this, Jason decided he had to make major changes in his life. Jason decided to move to Florida for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons, which he states in the book and on the blog, include no state income tax in Florida, better weather and a better economy. The warmer weather means Jason could get rid of the car and walk and take the bus to save on transportation costs. Jason found a job in Florida, also in the automotive industry and the same position being a service advisor. This was at a luxury car dealership that paid more money.  Jason was now making more money, not paying any state income tax, and had all the benefits of western Florida weather to his advantage. Jason soon after started on his plan by investing. He started off in mutual funds at first, but quickly realized this will not get him to where he wants to be. Jason then discovered dividend growth investing and took action.
  
     In 2011, Jason started his blog www.dividendmantra.com to hold himself accountable and to inspire the change he wants to see.  Jason cuts his expenses by moving to a cheaper apartment and closer to the bus line and doing other things more frugally.  As time went buy Jason started to be  featured on the news, which basically made him a celebrity in the personal finance arena.  This drove even more and more traffic to his blog.
 
    In May 2014, Jason decided to resign from his job at the auto dealership to focus on writing more. So Jason did a self-experiment on himself for 3 months, so see if can make a living writing and inspiring people through his words. The 3 months was a success and the rest is history. Jason has now been out of his job for a year and continues to write and inspire people. He makes enough money through his writing and some small other sources of revenue to pay all his monthly expenses and still able to save and invest a lot of money.

    The book also talks about some of Jason's most popular and beneficial blog posts such as Live Below Your Means, You Only Live Once (YOLO), and a post about what we can learn from his dog.

  My Favorite Section of the Book

    My favorite section of the book, was Jason describing in detail how he chooses his stocks and the steps he does in order when deciding if a company is worthy of an investment at the given time. The steps can take a good amount of time, but when it possibly lead  to getting a better return on your investment it is all worth it.  Why overpay for a company when you do not have to?  By being better able to buy a stock below its intrinsic value, you have a large margin of safety.

Conclusion

     Jason continues to write on his blog and increased his frequency of freelancing. Jason shows you what it is like in real time pursuing financial independence. He writes about his investments in detail shortly after they occur. His most recent investment was Union Pacific Railroad (UNP).  Jason gets lots of comments on every single post on his blog and his answers 99 % of the comments, which he actually enjoys quite of bit interacting with his readers.
 
    You think with the life Jason lived prior to his aunt and uncle becoming his legal guardians, he would be "mad at the world" and "pour me" attitude. Jason is the complete opposite with a great attitude and appreciation for what he has in his life right now. Jason is on pace to make $7200 in passive dividend income this year, which is one of his goals that he stated on his blog. I believe Jason would have been featured on Oprah, if Oprah was still doing talk shows.
   
     I highly recommend checking out his blog and purchasing his book, The Dividend Mantra Way. Jason also started Coaching recently when he published his eBook. Jason's site as a huge following and rightfully so as he pours his heart into his writing. 

DISCLAIMER:
I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.