While I was outside yesterday ripping apart one of our flower gardens to make room for an extension on our deck. I started to think about how I got to where I am right now. What had happened in my life that brought me to this point. I wasn't thinking this because of any negative thoughts, but merely out of curiosity, how did I become who I am today, and for that matter, who will I be 5 years from now, how about 10 years from now? Is there something I can do to set myself on what I currently think is the right path, or will that path most likely change with time? Maybe it was from the heat but I had to sit down and think about this, I poured myself a nice cold glass of water and started to pet my dog on his head while I started to ponder this.

Getting into financial shape does not have to be complicated. It really is not, and it takes more discipline than anything. I wrote this post to show what I did to get on the road to becoming wealthy and stop wasting money and living check to check. I found that the most important thing is motivation and determination. Once you have that and you follow these steps you will be on the road in no time.

1. Organize Your Finances.
You need to know exactly what you have and don’t have. Don’t think you have to buy some expensive software to do this. You can simply use an Excel Spreadsheet. I started with Microsoft Money and found that it is way to complicated for what I was doing. There are only certain things you need to keep track of and a simple spreadsheet is all you need.

Well, You may have noticed that I have not posted any investing articles in a while, yes, I still love investing and everything that has to do with it. The reason is because I have created a new site dedicated to investing. The site is TradersCorner.ca, and my name on that site is Bullish Dividends. I have started this site with a couple friends that are both very experienced in the markets. I decided it is best to concentrate all my investing articles on that one site, and leave this one for everything else that has to do with Improving Life.

A recent unfortunate turn of events at work has made me question where our society is going. Companies don't seem to have any loyalty left for their employees. It doesn't seem to matter anymore about what you have contributed to a company or for how long you have been with a company. This is the very reason why I believe it is so important to be able to leave the work force as quickly as possible. It may be in the form of early retirement or starting your own business and working for yourself because the only thing you can really be sure of is that you will be loyal to yourself.

I have received some questions regarding where to begin investing so I hope to answer some of them here.

First and foremost you must realize that I am NOT a financial advisor, and anything I say here on in should not be taken as advice in any way. Do your own research and any investments you do make, you do so at your own risk and I cannot be held liable for any profits or losses that you incur. Investing in stocks is risky and if you are not sure of what you are doing you should always consult a professional before entering into any trades.

Where do I find info on companies that do pay dividends as well as their history (do they tend to pay dividends every year)?

I thought that I would share some of the resources that I like to use when looking for solid dividend based investments. If you want to know why I like dividend paying stocks, check out my article Why Dividends?. Please note that most of the links I provide here, will be based more on Canadian investments since I personally prefer to concentrate on the Canadian markets. Regardless of what market you are planning on investing in, most of the information contained in these sites (other then individual stocks) are beneficial to all dividend based investors, and are definitely worth spending a bit of time to read.

Like most people you probably have any of your savings being managed by a financial planner of some sort. Are you getting the returns that you want? If you are, then there is no need to read on, but if not, or if you are just starting out, please read on and I will try to detail why I believe that taking financial planning into your own hands is one of the best things you can do for your future.

Dividends are the backbone to my retirement plan, and I believe that they should be a part of everyones retirement strategy. By investing in dividends an investor can rely on a steady steam of passive income as well as tax benefits on this income. It is not enough to invest in just any company that gives out a dividend, there are a few key things to look for in companies when you are looking for long term dividend stars. I hope to provide some insight on how to find good solid dividend paying companies as well as teach you a few things about why you should consider adding dividends to your retirement plan.