Uncategorized – Page 2 – Mr. Tako Escapes

December 2020 Dividend Income And Expenses

January 3, 2021January 5, 2021 Mr. Tako 32 Comments

Happy New Year! It’s no secret that I’ve had this blog on ‘pause’ for the past few weeks. I took some time off from writing to enjoy the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with the family. It’s been fun. I’ve spent a lot of time with the kids, playing board games, and ‘helping’ them test out their new toys. There’s also been plenty of socializing (virtually) with friends and family over Zoom.

It’s certainly been a very different Holiday season (to say the least), but we still managed to have a good one!

Investing Uncategorized

A Hope And A Dream

December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 Mr. Tako 25 Comments

With 2020 nearly wrapped up, I think we can all agree it’s been a very difficult year. As the old saying goes, “The only constant in life is change”, and that was certainly true in 2020! The world is a constantly changing place… this year especially!

Despite 2020 being one of the worst years economically in recent memory, the stock market was actually up in 2020. Which seems a bit strange at first…

Dividends Food Investing Kids Uncategorized

November 2020 Dividend Income And Expenses

December 6, 2020December 6, 2020 Mr. Tako 30 Comments

If I’m being perfectly honest, November is really NOT my favorite month. Where we live in the Pacific Northwest, November tends to be extremely wet, cold and dark. This is usually not very conducive to a positive mental attitude. With only the Thanksgiving holiday, there aren’t even many holiday’s to look forward to in November.

This November was especially difficult, because like many other people we mostly stayed home due to the pandemic. I was feeling a little down to be quite frank…

Saving Uncategorized

Finding Your Frugal Superpower

November 22, 2020November 23, 2020 Mr. Tako 8 Comments

There comes a time in everyone’s life when something truly amazing happens — they encounter the financial independence movement. You either love it or hate it.

While I think most people can get on board with the idea of achieving financial independence, it’s the getting to it that’s the big problem. A lot of folks balk at large savings rates over very long periods of time, suggesting “I could never save that much for a decade or more!!!”

Investing Uncategorized

The Bumpy Ride Isn’t Over

November 15, 2020 Mr. Tako 14 Comments

Last week seemed like a game changer. At least at first glance. On Monday morning (11/9) investors got news of a COVID-19 vaccine that had preliminary data from human trials, and was found to be 90% effective. This was welcome news, and many stocks skyrocketed in response.

The market optimism was so overwhelming I had several stocks up over 20%! By Friday afternoon I was even seeing a weekly gain in some positions over 30%. Absolutely incredible!

Dividends Investing Kids Saving Uncategorized

October 2020 Dividend Income And Expenses

November 8, 2020 Mr. Tako 21 Comments

It’s hard to believe that I’m already back here writing a monthly financial update for the blog so soon! It seemed like only yesterday that I was wrapping-up September, and now I’m doing it again for October.

Time flies when you’re stuck at home during a pandemic, with two kids! I do my best, but I think both kids would rather being going to school and seeing their friends instead of being stuck at home…

Build Food Investing Kids Recipes Saving Travel Uncategorized

5 Years Of Freedom

October 25, 2020October 26, 2020 Mr. Tako 39 Comments

While I’m not normally a nostalgic person, October marked something of a major milestone in the life of Mr. Tako. This was my fifth year of freedom from the corporate world!

Although my blog was started back in December of 2015, my last day of work at a “corporate” job was September 30th, 2015. It took me a few months of unemployment before I finally decided to start writing the blog you see here today.

It’s been an interesting 5-year journey to say the least. Filled with all the ups and downs, and strange fluids you might expect from raising two kids…

Investing Ideas Uncategorized

The Last Hurdle: Investing With Industry Trends

October 19, 2020October 19, 2020 Mr. Tako 16 Comments

As investors, we often hear the siren call of “being a contrarian” — The stories of bucking the trend, buying stocks at low prices, and then reaping incredible gains are the stuff that contrarian dreams are made of. As such, many investors like to fashion themselves as contrarians.

Unfortunately, real life isn’t quite as easy as in the stories — It takes a lot of guts to buy a stock when it’s down at the bottom of a dumpster. During the best of times, making these buy or sell decisions can be tricky…

Investing Uncategorized

The Wacky World Of Close-End Funds

October 11, 2020October 11, 2020 Mr. Tako 12 Comments

Imagine for a moment, you’re a carpenter. You build houses for a living. The tools in your toolkit are everything to your profession. These tools are used to shape, size, and fasten together all the raw materials needed to build a house.

But what if you restricted yourself to only a hand-saw, a hammer, and bunch of nails? (Perhaps you forgot the power-tools at home.) Suddenly, building that house just got a lot harder…