Joel Income Journal
Real Income.
Real Portfolio.
Real Lessons.
Follow a family man's journey to financial freedom by 50 — every dividend, every trade, every month.
About
A family man on a mission to retire by 50.
I'm Joel, a husband and dad building a passive income portfolio — one dividend, one covered call, one month at a time.
Financial freedom by 50 is the goal. Enjoying the time with my happy family. Every week I share exactly what I'm buying, what my portfolio is earning, and what the numbers actually look like — no sugar-coating, no highlight reel.
If you're building something real for your family too, pull up a chair. The journal is open.
Newsletter
Latest Articles
Jul 27, 2026
I Stopped Comparing My Chapter to Everyone Else’s Highlight Reel — Here’s What Changed
You’re not behind. You’re awake…
Read on Substack →
Jul 22, 2026
You Can Do Everything "Right" and Still Retire Scared
What a lunch conversation with my colleague taught me about the difference between a portfolio that grows and a portfolio that pays.…
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![[TRADE ALERT] TQQQ — Cycle 4 Opened](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1745270917233-65e776a47547?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw5fHx0cmFkZSUyMGFsZXJ0fGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NDY0NDMxMnww&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080)
Jul 21, 2026
[TRADE ALERT] TQQQ — Cycle 4 Opened
July 21, 2026 | For Paid Subscribers…
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![[TRADE UPDATE] TQQQ 99 Delta — 3 Cycles Done](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xA3P!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6fad90f4-4b5d-4473-b6e3-d8584174e7df_1491x1055.png)
Jul 18, 2026
[TRADE UPDATE] TQQQ 99 Delta — 3 Cycles Done
July 17, 2026 | For Paid Subscribers…
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Jul 13, 2026
Why I borrow money I never plan to repay, so I can be home for dinner
How I flipped the normal saving order, salary funds the portfolio, margin funds our life, and what it actually bought back for my family.…
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Video
Latest Videos
Jul 27, 2026
I Built My Own Options Journal To Track All My Option Trades
Jul 20, 2026
I Compared XQQI vs QQQI And Here Is Why I'm Not Buying It
Watch →
Jul 20, 2026
How To Tell Your Wife About Your Options Trading Results?
Watch →
Jul 16, 2026
I Built The 4 Income Engines That Could Help Me Retire by 50
Watch →
Jul 8, 2026
I Made $6,469 This Month On Top Of My Salary. I Will Show You How.
Watch →
Toolkit
Resources I Use
Tools and platforms that are part of my actual investing workflow — tested, used, and trusted.
Snowball Analytics
Portfolio tracker built for dividend investors. See your income growth, yield on cost, and projected annual income.
Visit site →IBKR (Interactive Brokers)
The broker I use for all my trades. Low fees, excellent options platform, and detailed statements.
Visit site →YieldScope
My own tool that uses AI to score 100+ high-yield ETFs on yield quality, NAV health, risk, and sustainability.
Visit site →Seeking Alpha
Where I research dividend history, earnings, and analyst commentary before buying.
Visit site →Endowus
The robo-adviser platform I used for years. Great for passive, low-cost investing in globally diversified funds.
Visit site →Longbridge
My broker for US shares. Permanent zero-commission trading across US, SG, and HK markets, with AI-powered research tools and real-time data. MAS-regulated.
Visit site →JIJ Options
My own options journal built for wheel traders. Track cash-secured puts, covered calls, and PMCCs from first trade to expiry — see your win rate, P&L, break-even, and annualised return in one clean dashboard. No spreadsheet chaos.
Win Rate
74%
Open Premium
$2,340
Realized P&L
+$8,920
Free Resources
The Vault
Free guides and reports from my investing journey. Download, use, and share.
8 pages
Top 30 Income ETFs
AI-Scored · Yield Ranked · June 2026
My monthly YieldScope report ranking the top 30 high-yield ETFs by AI score — covering yield quality, NAV health, risk, and sustainability. No fluff, just the data.
Download Free Report
Google Sheets
Income Portfolio Tracker
Google Sheets · Live Prices · Dividend Log
A free Google Sheets template to track your dividend income, portfolio value, and progress towards financial freedom — built by an income investor, for income investors.
Get Free Template
3 pages
The Income Freedom Blueprint
ETFs · Options · Real Numbers · Real Plan
My personal blueprint for building $8,000/month in passive income by 50 — covering my high-yield ETF strategy, options income approach, real portfolio numbers, and the mindset shift that changed everything.
Download BlueprintMore Coming Soon
Subscribe to the newsletter to get notified when new guides drop.
Subscribe on Substack →My Free Tool
YieldScope
I built YieldScope to cut through the noise on high-yield ETFs. It analyses 100+ income ETFs and uses AI to score each one on yield quality, NAV health, risk, and sustainability — so you know exactly what you're buying into.
No sign-up required. Open to everyone.
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