BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

Red Carpet

So, last night I went to Science After Hours... Hollywood theme.

It was a ton of fun!  I got to speak with a couple of people who do things here in Philly related to the industry.

My thing is, I would LOVE to change jobs and work in Hollywood.  Like, make movies, and TV shows.

But, there are bills to pay.

Unless you're REALLY good.  It's impossible to get into.  I mean, most things are like that, that's what interviewing is... Unless you're REALLY good... It's hard to get anywhere in life.

Well... Almost anywhere.

My investing thing is working out well.  It's just slowly/moderately continuing in the direction that I want.

And once it gets where I want it to be, I'll just use that income pay to replace my current pay and just basically go after the things I really want to do in life.

No one likes it.  My boss hates that I have side money, all of my friends hate it.  Haters gonna hate I guess.

The thing is, I own shares, and I'll just keep owning more, and more.  The only thing I can suggest to anyone is buying shares in publicly traded companies that pay solid dividends and increase their dividends on an annual basis.  And then use that dividend to buy more shares in new companies, not the same company.  Reinvest, but in a new company, not the same one.

I'll keep tossing out physical belongings, I'll keep getting rid of stuff in my life that I don't need that costs me money, and keep buying into things that produce income.

Eventually I want stakes in businesses, and rental income... Build my own studio... Etc. etc.

Just keep at it.

I'm already making double this year what I was making last year in income from investments.  And the thing about investment income is, I don't have to do anything, it just keeps coming.

Today, I got 9 bucks from the UPS shares I own.

I don't work for UPS.  I don't drive a truck around.  I don't deliver packages.  I don't do IT support for UPS... I don't make any decisions, get up and clock in, or clock out... I don't do squat for UPS.  I don't handle payroll, or benefits administration.  I don't sit in meetings...

Nada.  Nothing.

But today, I got 9 bucks.  And 3 months from now... I'll get another 9 bucks.  3 months ago I got 9 bucks.

Tomorrow I get a dividend from Simon Property Group.

They own things.  I own shares.  I get part of the rental income that they get for owning things and charging people rent.

It's marvelous.

I'll get like 20 bucks tomorrow.  I didn't do squat.

Guess what I did at work today?  SOOOOOOOO much stuff... So the dollar to doing stuff ratio is much higher at my day job.

Now, here's the thing, any one of these companies can go bust.

Companies go out of business all the time.

And that's why, when I buy shares in a company, with the exception of Realty Income Corp.... I don't buy or sell anymore.

Well, that's not exactly true.  If one of my investments goes over 100 percent in price appreciation, I sometimes sell half my shares.

Now I'm playing with house money.  I originally put 1500 in, the value appreciated to 3000, I sell half... My investment is back to 1500, and I now have 1500 in cash.

That 1500 goes into a new investment.

I now have 2 stocks.

Let's say stock one goes bankrupt.

Because of this leapfrog esk thing with money, I'm still in the game.

It's an investing basic.  Diversify your winners.  If it keeps going up further, great... I still get more investment unrealized gain.

If it falls... I collect the dividend out, and diversify with that.

But now I have 2 dividend paying stocks.

And on top of that, they keep increasing the dividend.  Not all, but most do this... Again, diversify because maybe some will cut or lower their dividend, or scrap it all together... The more you own, the less you even notice that one of the stocks cut it's dividend.

UPS used to pay me only 8 dollars in dividend income.  Guess how much work I did to get a dividend hike that is more this year than last year?

Squat.

See most people don't know what they would do with their lives if they didn't work.  Most people don't really have like set dreams.

From the day I was born, all I can remember is wanting to do music... Wanting to make things... To create things...

And my entire life I've just had things in my way...

Right now, it's a day job, and cats, and house duties...

etc. etc.

Cutting up a white carpet that is falling apart.

But on the way to the red carpet, you have to figure out a way out of the labrynth of crap in your way to get to the red carpet.

That's what investments and dividends are today.

Most people say.... "money can't make you happy".

If I had sustainable income enough to replace my current 9-5 salary, I could make music all day.  Which is my dream.  And what I really want to do, and would make me happy.

In this case... Money = happiness.

For people who have no passionate dreams and goals in life... Yes, money is useless.

Without a dream... Money is useless.

Anyway, so, my dream is the red carpet.

Throw away all these white carpets in my life that are holding me back, and get into red carpet.

A lot of life is risky, but there are things you can do to hedge against that risk.  A lot of people will try to control your life, and make you do stuff you don't want to do.

When you work FOR someone to make money, you are at their will, they control you.... Because you basically are begging for every dollar that gets paid to you...

When you are the owner?

You're the owner.  Right now I own shares in stock.  The risk with that, is that one company could go belly up...

So?

As I make more income, or as those shares appreciate in value, I sell off winners to diversify into new investments... And as the income comes in, I take half that income and set it aside and reinvest it into new things.

It's creating, like, a book or a song, or a movie... You make money from a book, or a movie, or a song....

And use that money to make new songs, new books, new movies.

Same with rental property.  When I go to buy my first rental property and start receiving income... Some will go for taxes, and maintenance, and such...

The income coming in?

Goes to buy the next property.

Or maybe more shares in stocks.

Or write music, and books, and make movies.

The money coming in from any of those, goes again, into more... Diversified things.

Incorporate a diversified holding company like Richard Branson....

Create new products, new departments...

You're the owner.  So you can do what you want.

 

Meanwhile, all my peers be like: "So, I'm saving for my next vacation."

And I'll be like... "I own vacation property all over the world, I rent it out when I'm not there, I use the income to pay for my vacation... Saving?  What's that?  I travel on my own companies dime because I travel for business and write it off as a tax expense.  My holdings pay for me to travel.  I don't need to save to travel."

That's my plan anyway.

 

Who knows, there may be something else that gets in the way to stop it.  The key though is figuring out better ways to get better tools to make things more efficient and get where you want to get.  But owning is a big key.  When you own, you sit on the other side of the table.  You make decisions.  You collect rent checks.

Right now I own shares and collect dividend checks that go towards buying and owning even more shares in even more companies.

Then use that to make music...

Use money from music making to buy more shares...

More share income goes to buy more music equipment...

Write books with that money...

Use all income coming in to put into new income generating investments...

THEN hit up the red carpet.

Why work REALLY hard and beg for someone else in charge at an organization to decide you are good enough and open the gate to let you in, or give you the time of day, or prove that you're worthy by their standards... just to walk down their red carpet?

When you can do squat and just slowly buy up the joint.  And walk down a red carpet that you now own.