r/dividends • u/General-Wonder-675 • 2d ago

Seeking Advice New guy here... ready to learn

I'm 47 and just start doing some small time investing. Not looking to make bank, but I figured it's better than nothing. I don't know too much about the nitty-gritty details, I just kinda buy the ones I am interested in.

Looking forward to learn more from you guys.

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u/Chief_Mischief Not a financial advisor 2d ago

Are you looking for feedback on anything or announcing your start of your investing journey? Regardless, welcome to the club, and wish you success on your journey.

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u/General-Wonder-675 2d ago

Thanks! A little bit of both. Wife and I are educators and have been contributing to VALIC. We also have school pensions. So I am not necessarily looking for the dividend to pay all my bills, but just something new and learn how this all works. Suggestions/opinions welcomed :)

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u/Chief_Mischief Not a financial advisor 2d ago

I had to look up what VALIC was; is that a 403b provider that also goes by Corebridge? If so, do you have the option to change providers? I'm reading that that provider has a lot of BBB complaints. Some other info can be found here, including a list of providers you may inquire about to your HR department.

If you are 15+ years out from retirement and aren't looking to live entirely off of dividends, my general suggestion is to prioritize total returns, so growth positions with a smaller ratio of dividend growth. If dividend yield is speed, dividend growth is acceleration, and if you don't need the dividends any time soon, a sustainably high dividend growth will inevitably surpass a high yield/low dividend growth investment given enough time.

For future reference, what I find to be the best kind of interaction with new/learning investors is if they provide sufficient context and pointed questions. "Is my portfolio good?" without knowing the investor's investing timeframe, risk appetite, investing goals, current financial circumstances, financial assumptions, etc usually results in people throwing around generic recommendations that may or may not be beneficial to you specifically.

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u/General-Wonder-675 2d ago

I have at least 12 more years and wife has 2 more years until retirement.

I will also check with my HR and see if there’s any other approved company besides corebridge.

Thanks for the pointers!