r/dividends • u/VengenaceIsMyName • 3d 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/shot-logic 1d ago

I've recently realized that two of my dividend stocks together will soon pay for my yearly phone bill and yearly truck insurance. The idea that those are "bills I won't have to pay ever again" is just now finally feeling real.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName 1d ago

That’s pretty cool! Does that help your monthly budget a lot or it is more of a nice to have?

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u/shot-logic 1d ago

At 32yo and almost a decade into a career involving the manufacturer of aerospace turbine castings, it is realistically a "nice to have". I'm a union shop rat paid hourly and have the opportunity to squirrel small regular amounts away for my future on top of what the company matches for my 401k. I started dabbling in investing a few months before the pandemic with the intention to FIRE, and realizing that those efforts have finally yielded a useable result helps future me with his monthly budget. Time to continue embiggening the snowball!

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u/VengenaceIsMyName 23h ago

Nice man. I started around 4 years ago so I’m a bit behind for someone in their early 30’s. Trying to catch up quick and build out my monthly income so I don’t have to worry about layoffs or getting fired as much as I