If you're still in the early stages, keep going.

That first bill might feel small when it happens.

But it's proof that you're building something real.

Assets that work for you. Income that doesn't require your time.

That's worth more than $60.

The path from $60 to financial independence is long.

But seeing that first bill covered by dividends changes how you think.

You stop asking "does this work?"

You start asking "which bill is next?"

That's when I realized what I was really building:

Freedom.

Not overnight. Not next year.

But someday, my assets could cover all my expenses.

I wouldn't have to trade time for money anymore.

$60 a month isn't life-changing money.

But the proof of concept was everything.

This wasn't just theory anymore. This actually worked.

If dividends could cover one bill, they could eventually cover them all.

Here's what clicked:

For my entire life, I had to sell hours of my time to cover my bills.

But now? My assets were doing it for me.

The internet bill wasn't coming out of my paycheck anymore. It was paid by the companies I owned.

After years of consistently investing, I had finally hit a milestone that felt real.

My dividends paid for something tangible.

No longer just numbers on a screen compounding in the background.

This was actual income replacing an actual expense.

Don't let panic force you to sell your investments at the worst time.

If you found these 7 things useful for your mental game:
• Give it a like
• Retweet this thread to help a friend prepare.
• Follow me @tj-terwilliger.bsky.social for more.

TL;DR on surviving the next market crash:

1. Bear markets feel awful but are the biggest opportunity.
2. The media will always panic (that's your buy signal).
3. You make more in bull markets than you lose in bear markets.

7. Bear markets are opportunities.

Warren Buffett in the middle of the 2008 crisis:
"I feel like an oversexed man in a harem."

6. Preparing for corrections is more expensive than the actual correction