Most people chasing "the number" are picturing the same day. The day they hit it, they stop. They quit. They walk off into the sunset and never work again.
I'm chasing a number too. When I hit it, I'm not stopping.
That probably sounds crazy, so let me explain — because the number that actually matters isn't the one that lets you quit. It's the one that lets you sleep. And almost nobody talks about it.
Quick note before we go further: I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice. I'm a guy who's been building businesses and investing for a long time, showing you how I think about my own money. You're a grown adult. Do your own research. Full disclaimer at the bottom.
My number is $10,000 a month — and it's a floor, not a finish line
Ten grand a month, passive, from dividends. Money that shows up whether I'm working or not.
But watch what I just said: passive. Because for me this was never about retiring. I'm not built to retire. I've worked hard my entire life. I love to build. I love to create. That's not a phase, that's who I am. If I sold everything tomorrow and moved to a beach, I'd be starting a business on that beach by the end of the week.
So the number isn't a stop sign. It's a floor. It's the level where my mind goes quiet, where I know the baseline is handled no matter what happens with everything else I'm doing.
That's what $10,000 a month in dividends buys me. Not a retirement. Peace.
Most "passive income" is a job wearing a costume
Here's the part nobody tells you: most passive income isn't passive.
You might be thinking — Mikey, you've got businesses, you've got real estate, don't those already pay you? They do. But let me give you a real example.
I own a villa on the coast of the Dominican Republic with a business partner. On paper that sounds like a dream. In reality it's a maintenance bill with an ocean view. That salt air eats everything. It chews through the property and the repairs never stop. We run it as an Airbnb, and most months that income covers the cost — honestly, not even all of them. Right now it takes more out of my pocket than it puts in.
One day, when it's paid off, it turns into a cash cow. I know that. But today it isn't passive income. It's a job with a beautiful view.
My businesses are the same. They pay me, but only because I show up and run them.
Dividends are the only money in my whole life that shows up without me doing a single thing. I don't fix anything. I don't manage anyone. I don't answer an email. The money just hits. That's why the number I actually care about is the dividend number — it's the only income I have that's truly 100% hands-off.
Where I actually am right now
Transparency time, because that's the whole point of this series.
I am nowhere near my number. My dividends cover a small fraction of that $10,000 goal. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm living off my portfolio, because I'm not. If you want to see what that climb actually looks like in numbers instead of vibes, I ran it here: The $1,000/Month Dividend Myth: Here's the Real Math.
I put money in every single week, like clockwork. But at the same time I'm pouring cash into building GLZD, a physical product brand — and physical products eat money alive. My house isn't paid off. That villa needs what it needs. Every dollar I've got is being pulled in five directions at once.
I'm not writing this from the finish line. I'm writing it from the middle of the climb, sweating, with a long way to go.
And I think that's exactly why you should listen. Everybody else who makes this video already made it. I'm telling you what it looks like while you're still in it.
Here's where I split from everyone else: saving isn't the lever
Every "hit your number" video tells you the same thing. Save harder. Cut your expenses. Skip the coffee. Grind your budget down to the bone and shovel every spare dollar into the market.
Saving matters. But for me, that is not the lever. Not even close.
After 20 years as an entrepreneur, I've learned that the fastest thing I can do to hit my number is grow my businesses. One or two good years — the kind a growing business can actually produce — could move me closer than a decade of pinching pennies ever would.
The best investment I've ever made isn't a stock. It's me. At this point, betting on myself isn't reckless. It's calculated. I've got 20 years of reps.
So here's how I think about it:
The portfolio is the vault. The businesses are the engine.
My job isn't to squeeze the engine dry and fill the vault a nickel at a time. My job is to build a bigger engine and let it pour into the vault in chunks. If you want to see what's actually inside the vault, I broke the whole thing down in my 3-bucket portfolio — growth, dividend growth, and high income, and what each bucket is supposed to do.
The one rule I don't break
There's a rule that comes with the engine-and-vault setup, and it's non-negotiable.
The engine feeds the vault. The vault never feeds the engine.
My long-term holds — my core buckets — that money is off-limits. That's the whole reason I'm building the number in the first place. If I crack the vault open every time a business needs cash, I never actually build anything. I just spin in circles. It's the same discipline behind why I'll never sell SCHD, even in the stretches when everyone's calling it a dog.
So I fund my businesses from business money and new cash I bring in. Not by raiding a portfolio I've spent years stacking.
Could that rule bend one day if I absolutely had to? Life happens and plans change. But the real plan is that the buckets stay untouched and compound, no matter what the engine is doing.
Protecting the vault is the entire game. That's also why I'm careful about what goes in it — a high distribution rate can look like free money until you read the fine print, which is why I wrote up my honest take on QQQI.
If I'm never retiring, why does the number matter?
Fair question. Here's why.
I'm about to turn 50. That's a real number, and it does something to your head.
I don't want to grind this hard forever. Right now, and for the next few years, I'm all gas — and I love it. But as I get closer to 60, I want the option to ease off. To slow down a little. To choose my battles instead of fighting all of them.
That's what the dividend number gives me. It's income that's growing and reinvesting and working for me in the background, even on the days I don't need it. Especially on those days.
It's not a wall I run into and stop. It's a floor that keeps rising underneath me while I keep climbing. The higher the floor gets, the more freedom I have to build on my terms instead of out of necessity.
Your number is set by the life you actually want
Here's where people get it wrong: there's no magic universal number.
Your number is set by the life you actually want, not the life someone on the internet tells you to want. If you've never sat down and worked out what yours even is, start with the 3 numbers that decide if you're financially free.
And I'll be honest about mine. I don't want just enough. I'm not chasing a bare-minimum, stripped-down version of freedom, clipping my life down to nothing so the math works sooner. I don't really buy things — I buy experiences. I want to travel. So my number has to have room for the life I actually want to live, not a smaller one I settle for to hit the number faster.
Yours might be totally different. Maybe your number is small and simple and you genuinely want to stop. That's a beautiful goal too.
The point isn't the size of the number. The point is that you pick it on purpose.
So where does that leave me?
I'm not retired. I can't see a finish line, because for me there isn't one. And I've made my peace with that.
But I can see the floor I'm building toward, and I know exactly how I'm getting there. I'm not going to save my way to it a dollar at a time. I'm going to build. I'm going to let the engine feed the vault and never crack it open. I'm going to stay patient, because patience is the whole game. And I'm going to enjoy the climb, because the climb is most of your life.
The number's just the marker. The building is the point.
That's the honest version nobody makes — not from the beach, from the middle of the mountain.
So answer one thing for yourself: are you building your number to stop working, or to stop worrying?
There's no wrong answer. But knowing which one you're actually chasing changes everything about how you invest.
📺 Watch the full video: Dividends: The Only Money That Doesn't Require You
Disclaimer
The content in this post is for educational and entertainment purposes only and reflects my personal opinions and where my own investing mindset is today, which may change at any time. I am not a financial advisor, broker, or tax professional, and nothing here is financial, investment, or tax advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Dividends and fund distributions are not guaranteed and can be reduced or eliminated at any time. Distribution rates are not the same as income or total return, and some distributions may include return of capital. Always do your own research and consult a licensed professional before making any investment decision.