Gary graduated with a degree that didn’t allow him to make the kind of money he wanted, so he got into nursing to make more money. And then, he made more doing travel nursing. Now, he’s growing his income again by becoming a nurse practitioner. Making more money at work is great, but he learned during COVID to make more money on the side as well, when his 403b (like a 401k) match was paused while at the same time he was working harder than ever. Lauren and Gary discussed the tax deferred benefits of 401k’s and what happens if you withdraw the money early. Then, they transition to discussing what stocks and dividends are. They talk about how to pick dividend paying stocks, dividend yield/payout, and dividend growth stocks. How does Gary pick stocks? For one thing, he likes to buy stock in companies whose products he uses, like P&G. Lauren also asks him if he’s ever been wrong about stocks, and thankfully, he admits he has been wrong. We wouldn’t have believed him if he said he was always right! Luckily, individual stocks aren’t the only way to invest. They also discuss index funds, mutual funds, and ETFs. Gary closes by reminding us that you can give yourself a raise by investing.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 115: Dividends with Dividend Dream and 143: Dividends with Dividend Dave from the Passive Income podcast.

About Gary:

Gary is Darth Dividend. A travel nurse, Gary has a degree is exercise psychology. He also completed an accelerated nursing program to become an RN in 2019. Now, he’s becoming a nurse practitioner. Gary is passionate about investing, in particular dividend-paying stocks. He shares this passion on Twitter X and YouTube, where he has about 15k followers/subscribers on each platform.

Connect with Gary:

https://twitter.com/DarthDividend23

https://www.youtube.com/DarthDividend

Connect with Lauren: https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy https://www.realadultingiseasy.com/ https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/