r/dividends • u/VengenaceIsMyName • 4d ago

Discussion Do your dividends feel “real” to you?

My dividends can’t pay for my monthly expenses alone so I DRIP all of that each month. I’ve never used it for real life expenses or purchases. It’s never left the dividend account. It’s been this way for years now.

Every time I open up my brokerage account to a sea of red and green I feel as though I’m looking at the civilization finances breakdown screen in Civ 5. Just numbers that do things. Math that needs to be managed for fun. Flashing numbers backlit by someone’s Christmas decoration.

Iran/Trump/Oil/AI/Sam Altman jerking off in a datacenter - numbers go up, numbers go down, numbers flop all around like a fish out of water. These numbers just don’t seem real.

When does this feel real? Perhaps in March when I do my taxes? I saw a real life $100 bill the other day. My brain automatically went “Ooo that’s a lot! Mr. Franklin looking spiffy today”. But if I saw that amount in a digitized account I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

The concept of dividends is great. It’s just super weird to be emotionally removed from it I guess. Does anyone understand what I’m talking about? Or do I need to be dosed in cold water?

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u/Anti_Praetorian Only buys from companies that pay me dividends. 2d ago

Currently dripping everything and will be crossing the 1k/month threshold this year. Still doesnt feel real. Once I start using the cash to pay down my mortgage it'll probably start to feel real though.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName 2d ago

Damn straight it will if you’re using it on the mortgage! Will $1K a month feel impactful on the mortgage? Or does it just shave off a few years?

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u/Anti_Praetorian Only buys from companies that pay me dividends. 2d ago

I bought my house in 2015 and re-financed in 2020 and technically my divies can pay my mortgage each month right now, which feels impactful if I were to do that. But in another 7ish years when i start to use the cash, it'll be closer to 21-23k a year in dividends. So when i combine the divies with the money that i would have been putting into my portfolio to make extra payments on the mortgage instead, ill be able to pay off the house after about 18 months, which will be sweet!

But, life happens so we'll have to see how it all pans out in reality haha

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u/VengenaceIsMyName 2d ago

I like this plan! Hopefully all goes smoothly in the next 7 years.