I am a 40 something personal investor. I work in the Internet space for a very well know company by day. At night I research and invest in the stock market; particularly options and dividend stocks. My day and night life do not intersect and this is why unlike some personal blogs about investing ...more

I am a 40 something personal investor. I work in the Internet space for a very well know company by day. At night I research and invest in the stock market; particularly options and dividend stocks. My day and night life do not intersect and this is why unlike some personal blogs about investing and dividends that put a face to the URL, I am simply Investment Hunting. I was raised in a low-income household. My parents had limited financial skills and no college educations. Education, school and financial, were simply not discussed in my family. My brother and I decided to write our own stories; he was the first in our family to graduate college, 5 years later I followed in his footsteps. Three years after that I obtained a masters degree. I have to say, my brother was and still is a key influence in my life. We both came from nothing and today we are both executives at Bay Area Tech companies. My financial history is rocky, think boom and bust (I'll tell stories about both in later posts). The short story - In the 2000s I was heavy into Internet Stocks and didn't get out early enough = bust. Later on I invested in real estate and owned several properties. At this time I also put my money to work in private investments (PPMs), and bridge loans = Boom. I was killing it, making more money on a monthly basis than I ever imagined possible. My monthly ROI was in the double digits. 2008 hit me like a hurricane. My tenants stopped paying rent, my borrows filed bankruptcy and stopped paying their loans, and worst of all most of my liquid income was invested into a few Ponzi Schemes = major bust. It is fair to say that 2008 was the worst year of my life. I was in a very bad mental state, honestly I considered throwing in the towel. I thought about giving up, but quitting is for losers. Winners get knocked down, but they get up. I've been knocked down a few times, but I always get up, and when I do I am a better than before. To use boxing analogies, I've been knocked down twice. I've seen two of my opponents punches - jab and hook, those punches don't concern me anymore as I have implemented a defense for these. I just need to watch out for his cross and uppercut. It took me several years to get back on my feet. Starting over with no assets is difficult and very humbling. It's hard letting go of all your assets and moving back in with your parents (and bringing a wife and two kids with you). I did get back on my feet though and today my family is a stronger unit. About 2-years ago and after self-educating on investing, I decided to re-enter the stock market. I read many books and experimented with stocks. I decided that investing in dividend paying stocks was the best option for me. I have been inspired by the number of quality blogs about dividend investing. I have learned so much from the blogging community, much more than I could have learned on my own. There are hundreds of investing blogs I visit on a regular basis, some can be found on my Blogroll. I enjoy researching and finding companies who fit into my system of evaluation. I love finding diamonds in the rough. I am passionate about dividends as a source of sustained income. I am especially interested in building a legacy with dividends. When my dream is realized, I will retire on dividends. The best part is the stock positions I have amassed will continue paying dividends long after I leave this world, and if properly maintained, fund my family for generations to come.less