My Christmas Wish List

December 22, 2015

Wish list with pen

We are currently approaching one of my favorite times of the year; the Holidays!

I obviously like this period of the year because of the magic that surrounds my children. This year, we had to tell our oldest son (he is 10) that Santa is well… Mom & Dad! He kind of knew about it, but it was still fun to pretend

There is also another reason why I like the Holidays so much; it’s the time of the year where I put everything on hold and think about my future. Each year, I spend a few moments to just think. It could be a morning while my kids are playing around and I’m sitting alone with my coffee and a note pad or an entire day at the spa. I take the time to look back at the past 12 months and think of how I want the next 12 to happen. This year has been great;

I’ve finally built a real business on solid ground,

I’ve finished my year with a great bonus at work,

I’ve worked out on a regular basis (now working out 5 times a week!),

I’ve announced to my boss that I’m taking a sabbatical,

Not too bad, but I’m really looking forward to next year as I will start my RV trip! We work on this project pretty much every weekend. We try to do 2-3 hours per weekend so it doesn’t become too much of a burden. So far, we have done a great deal of things, and there is still lots to do! There are a few things that could happen in the next 12 months to make my life easier. These are on my Christmas Wish list:

One Website

This year, we bought Dividend Monk in March. This was a great addition to our website portfolio as it integrates perfectly into our business model with our other investing website. On top of it, we now own the copyrights to one of the best dividend investing books; The Dividend Toolkit. Dividend Monk has been a great cash flow generating machine, similar to a dividend paying stock ;-).

I wish I could buy another website before heading out on my RV trip. This would solidify my cash flow while I’m the road. I wish I had been aware that Jason wanted to sell his blog; Dividend Mantra. The site has been sold to some “marketing professionals” and they have yet to “restart” the blog. I’ve enquired about the possibility of buying it back from them but I haven’t heard anything back yet. This is why it is still on my wish list!

One Tenant

A few months ago, we decided not to sell our house. The market is very slow right now and I would not make much money out of the sale. Plus, once I come back, I would be stuck with no house and very limited financing options since I would be left with no proof of income for 2016-17. If I rent my house, this will support a part of its cost and free up more money for our trip. We will be putting the house for rent early in 2016, probably even in January.

Free Cash Flow

To use financial terms, I’d like to generate some free cash flow towards the end of 2016. The idea once we start travelling is to cover our expenses from our website. The worst case scenario implies I take money out from my retirement investment account. However, the best case scenario is the opposite. There is a possibility where I could generate extra cash flow and would then be able to invest this money in dividend stocks. I’m far from this reality today, but it’s not impossible that my hard work leads me to a situation where the company generates between $8,000 and $10,000 per month. In this situation, I would be able to invest in the stock market and secure my financial independence.

A Family

My last wish and most important is not something I want, but something I want to keep. I want to keep my incredible wife by my side and my three awesome kids. I have so much fun with them that I would like to spend each hour of my life surrounded by them. This is another reason why we have decided to put our busy lives on pause in order to spend more time as a family. I hope we will be all safe and sound so we can appreciate this trip.