Author Archive: Brett Owens

Wall Street’s pundits love touting the Dividend Aristocrats as the crème de la crème of the income world. I get it. The ability to not only pay, but increase, corporate distributions uninterrupted for two-and-a-half decades is an impressive feat that clearly illustrates financial fortitude and sound fiscal management.

But that doesn’t make all Dividend Aristocrats buys. And in fact, five of them – which I will highlight for you today – are downright dreadful long-term dividend holdings.

When investors think of dangerous dividends, they tend to think of companies whose payouts could evaporate overnight. As well they should – nothing can derail your retirement plans faster than watching the dividends you rely on disappear in a flash.… Read more

If you want to find the best high-yield opportunities on Wall Street, you don’t follow bright neon signs – you turn over rocks.

Years of research has shown that the most widely recommended names are typically overcrowded trades, killing any chance you have at wringing out any value. Worse, analysts’ and pundits’ picks are often so conservative that they actually pose a danger to your retirement by producing sleepy returns and only so-so dividends.

That’s why I love closed-end funds (CEFs) like the three high yielders (between 7% and 9.5%) that I’m going to show you today. They garner no media coverage, so they’re less likely to develop into bubbles.… Read more

Today I’m going to show you a proven way to collect $5,094 in cash, on average, every month—without buying a single stock, bond or fund.

In fact, you won’t have to buy anything at all. (I’ll show you precisely how this works in a moment.)

That amounts to a nice $61,000-a-year income stream, easily enough for you to live on pretty well anywhere in America. And if you pick one of the cheapest corners of the country (like Indianapolis, say, where the cost of living is 16% below the national average), it’s a fortune!

Beyond the Obvious

It’s certainly way better than trying to squeak by on the 1.9% your typical S&P 500 stock pays—and that payout slips a little more each day as stocks march higher.… Read more

What exactly does the Catholic Church think about dividends?

A lot, as it turns out. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops outlines a number of principles and policies in a roughly 6,000-word document you can find here. Highlights include:

• Protecting human life
• Protecting human dignity
• Reducing arms production
• Pursuing economic justice
• Protecting the environment
• Encouraging corporate responsibility

Also the USCCB has dual-mandate that requires “a reasonable return on its investments and is required to operate in a fiscally sound, responsible and accountable manner.” In other words, just like you and I, the Catholic Church expects returns.

The Global X S&P 500 Catholic Values ETF (CATH) invests in hundreds of S&P 500 components that qualify according to the USCCB’s stated values.… Read more

Most of your friends are going to struggle to make any money in U.S. stocks for the next five to seven years. They’re battling not one, not two, but three major headwinds:

1. Low yields,
2. High valuations, and
3. Rising interest rates.

Historically, half of the stock market’s returns (or more, depending on the study you believe) have come from dividends. With the S&P 500 paying just 1.9%, the math isn’t promising.

An expensive market is also problematic because it makes rising multiples unlikely. The S&P index trades for 25-times earnings today – where can it really go from here but down?

Finally, rising interest rates are a concern for many income investors.… Read more

Here’s a harsh dose of reality: If you ignore dividend growth when you select your income investments, you are actively reducing the quality of your own retirement.

Today, I’m going to show you how you can use dividend growth to reap safe 12% annual returns by looking for just a handful of qualities in a company, but first, I’m going to show you something that should make at least a few of you sick:

You might not recognize it, but this is what losing money looks like.

Investors over the past few years have been gifted one of the mildest environments for inflation in modern history.… Read more

If you’re like most folks, you’re about to put your portfolio on autopilot as the lazy days of summer roll in.

It’s an easy trap to fall into, but you must not take the bait, as I’ll explain in a moment. Later on, I’ll show you two hidden dividend-growers that should be on your buy list now. Both are ready to double their payouts in short order!

First, back to the season at hand.

I can see why most folks check out around now. After all, July has been the best month for stocks over the last 89 years, and August hasn’t been too bad, either.… Read more

The stock market is high, which means yields are low. But don’t worry – we still have places to put new money for 7.5% payouts today with 20%+ upside to boot!

I count ten stocks and funds to be specific with these secure, elite payouts. And while their current yields may say “just” 7.5% on average, all ten are poised for 10%+ total returns in the years ahead.

How is this possible?

Remember, total returns are made up of dividends and price appreciation. The latter, price gains, are driven by some combination of:

1. Dividend raises, and/or
2. A discount window closing (or at least narrowing).

The Fourth of July is right around the bend, which means it’s time for financial pundits to flood readers with their favorite all-American stocks. But as I’ll illustrate in a moment via four all-American high-yield dividend stocks, there’s plenty more incentive to “buy American” than just a date on the calendar.

The U.S. is the largest economy in the world, making up 22% of the world’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) at about $18.46 trillion as of 2016. California alone – at about $2.6 trillion – would represent the world’s sixth-largest economy if it were an independent country, snuggly tucked between the United Kingdom and France.… Read more

What do Exxon Mobil (XOM), Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Walmart (WMT) have in common?

Their dividend growth is running on fumes.

Sure, they’re all still members of the Dividend Aristocrats – that social club of companies that have raised dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. But Exxon, Colgate and Walmart all have kept their streaks of dividend increases alive within the past year by hiking their payouts by less than 3% apiece.

Sad!

If you’re looking for serious dividend potential, I can introduce you five income gushers that are doling out annual payout increases of 20% or more. But first, let’s quantify how why dividend growth is the single most important factor for you portfolio.… Read more