I Don't Want to Look Rich. I Want to Be Free.

For a long time, we're taught a pretty predictable version of success.

Make more money. Buy a nicer car. Get a bigger house. Upgrade everything. Wear the right things. Take expensive vacations. Let everybody see that you're doing well.

I'm increasingly convinced that's backwards.

I don't want to spend my life buying expensive stuff to impress people. I want freedom.

To me, financial success isn't about looking wealthy. It's about reaching the point where I don't have to work unless I choose to.

And the older I get, the simpler my approach has become.

Get Out of Debt

Before worrying about complicated investments, I think one of the most powerful things you can do is stop owing everybody money.

Debt takes away choices.

Every payment you eliminate reduces the amount of money you need every month just to exist. That means you need less income to become financially independent.

There's nothing glamorous about paying off debt. Nobody sees it.

That's exactly the point.

Save and Invest 20% of Everything

One rule I've adopted for myself is simple:

Save and invest 20% of everything I make.

Not what's left over after I've bought everything I want.

Twenty percent first.

I don't expect everyone else to follow my rule, and I'm not presenting this as financial advice. This site is about what I personally do and how I think about money.

For me, that 20% represents buying a little more freedom every time I get paid.

Most of My Investing Is Intentionally Boring

I'm going to start writing more about investing on AllenBauer.com, including the actual methods I use.

A big part of my long-term strategy is dividend-paying companies with histories of increasing their dividends year after year.

I particularly like looking at Dividend Champions, Contenders and Challengers—companies with established records of consecutive annual dividend increases.

It isn't exciting.

That's one of the things I like about it.

My goal isn't to find a stock I can brag about at dinner. I want to build an income-producing portfolio where the dividends have the potential to grow year after year.

Eventually, I'd like that dividend income to replace the income I currently have to work for.

But I Also Own Crypto

This is where my approach gets a little less boring.

I also invest part of my money in cryptocurrency.

I'm particularly interested in crypto projects that I believe have genuine utility and the possibility of substantial long-term appreciation.

That's a very different investment from an established dividend company. The potential reward can be dramatically higher—but so can the risk.

And I don't confuse the two.

My ultimate objective isn't necessarily to become a lifelong collector of speculative assets.

If one of those investments increases exponentially, my plan is to take portions of those profits and move them into the boring stuff.

• —More income-producing assets.
• —More growing dividends.
• —More financial independence.

In other words:

Use higher-risk growth to potentially accelerate the journey. Use boring assets to help preserve the destination.

The Goal Isn't More Stuff

This is probably the biggest change in the way I think.

I don't measure wealth by how much stuff I own anymore.

I measure it in time and freedom.

• —How much of my life belongs to me?
• —How many hours do I have to sell every week to maintain my lifestyle?
• —How much income would continue arriving if I stopped working tomorrow?

Those questions interest me far more than whether I drive an expensive car.

My goal is actually pretty simple:

• —Owe less.
• —Need less.
• —Save more.
• —Invest consistently.
• —Build income.
• —Own my time.

That's the kind of financial independence I'm pursuing.

I'm going to start sharing more of that journey here—the investments I own, how I evaluate dividend companies, why I own certain cryptocurrencies, mistakes I've made, things I've changed my mind about, and what I'm learning along the way.

No hype. No promises that anybody is going to get rich.

Just what I'm doing with my own money and why I'm doing it.

Because ultimately, I don't want to look rich.

I want to be free.

— Allen