Mr. Tako Escapes – Page 2 – Mr. Tako's Adventures in Early Retirement (with Kids)

January 2021 Dividend Income And Expenses

February 7, 2021February 7, 2021 Mr. Tako 19 Comments

Another month another dollar. That’s how I like to think about these regular monthly reports anyway. Every month we turn the crank one more time on the Wealth Machine. While our net worth actually increases a whole lot more than $1 in a single month, I like to think in simple terms — Dollars at a time.

It’s the KISS principle applied to wealth building!

Turning the crank means saving, investing those extra dollars, and then compounding any additional value…

Dividends Investing Uncategorized

Short Term Madness Vs. Long Term Winners

January 31, 2021January 31, 2021 Mr. Tako 12 Comments

“Making sense of market volatility.” This was the subject of an email I found in my Inbox on Friday afternoon. “What’s all this?” I wondered. Schwab was sending out emails to investors in order to soothe fears stoked by the madness and volatility in heavily shorted stocks last week.

Last week was crazy-town. A few select stocks rose or fell by over 100% in a single day! The volatility was extreme, and trading volumes were through the roof. Blood was in the water…

Investing Uncategorized

Earnings Calls: The Secret Stock Information Hidden In Plain Sight

January 24, 2021January 24, 2021 Mr. Tako 11 Comments

It’s that time again — it’s Earnings Season! What’s Earnings Season you ask? Earnings Season is the time when publicly traded corporations announce their earnings (or losses) in the prior quarter.

It happens like clockwork, four times a year, and the reported results tend to move markets… sometime wildly. Take for example Netflix’s recent meteoric 13% climb last week…

Dividends Investing Saving Uncategorized

Growing Passive Income In 2021

January 16, 2021January 17, 2021 Mr. Tako 12 Comments

Living off passive income is a bit like spotting a snow leopard in the wild. Snow leopards are (of course) one of the most rare and elusive creatures on the planet. They live in the Himalayas at significant altitude (9,800 to 14,800 ft), and it’s estimated there’s less than 10,000 of these extremely rare cats alive today.

Seeing a snow leopard in the wild is exceedingly difficult. Hardly anyone ever sees them. Naturalists can spend months in the Himalayas looking, and never actually see one. Despite this fabled difficulty, it is actually possible to see a snow leopard in the wild…

Dividends Investing Saving Uncategorized

2020 Year-End Net Worth Update

January 10, 2021January 10, 2021 Mr. Tako 26 Comments

Yes, it’s that time once again! Every year I make one of these “net worth” blog posts in January to add-up all the different accounts, and calculate my net worth. I do this only once per year, so it’s a complete surprise to me when I see the final numbers!

Honestly, I have no clue what my net worth is the other 364.25 days of the year…

Dividends Food Investing Kids Saving Uncategorized

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!

Build Saving

A Handmade Christmas

December 20, 2020December 20, 2020 Mr. Tako 22 Comments

It’s that time of year again — when the world gives-in to unbridled commerce and irrational overspending. Yep, that’s our modern holiday season!

While many people enjoy the ease and convenience of buying Christmas gifts for friends and family, I’ve actually come to dislike the practice…

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…