Author Archive: Brett Owens

$500K can be enough money to retire on. Even as early as age 50!

The trick is to convert the pile of cash into cash flow that can pay the bills. I’m talking about $40,574.93 per year in dividend income on that nest egg, thanks to 8%+ average yields.

These are passive payouts that show up every quarter or, in many cases, every month.

Meanwhile, we keep that $500K nest egg intact. Or, better yet, grind that principal higher steadily and safely.

Got more in your retirement account? Cool—more monthly dividend income for you!

We’ll talk specific stocks, funds and yields in a moment.… Read more

One thing is clear from the last few weeks: The geopolitical chaos never stops.

We contrarians get that. But the first-level crowd does not. When we’re hit with a war, snap tariffs or a pandemic (ugh!), most investors panic.

And the truth is, chaos—whether it’s war in Iran or fears that AI will erase whole industries—is coming at us faster than ever.

Most people think they can handle this wave of worry. But it pays to remember the famous Mike Tyson quote: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

True in life and investing. It’s just another way of saying that the same investors who think they can handle the latest “punch in the face” are often the first to turtle and sell low.… Read more

What’s better than getting to buy 6.6%-11% yields at discounted prices?

How about snapping those sweet dividend payers while momentum is on your side?

Late in 2025, I wrote about a “small-cap reawakening”—a bullish tailwind from retreating Federal Reserve rates that had begun to propel smaller companies forward and could continue well into 2026.

So far, so true. Small- and mid-cap stocks (or “SMIDs”) alike have been cruising full sail ahead while their larger cousins have been dead in the water.

2026 Has Been a Reversal of Longstanding Large-Cap Dominance

Better still for you if you haven’t yet taken the plunge into Wall Street’s more diminutive stocks: Small caps’ hot start has done little to drive up valuations.… Read more

Last month, we hit the contrarian karaoke bar together. No judgment. It was a good time!

If you’ve got a (ahem, no judgment) fuzzy memory, well, here’s how it went down. We sang some Billy Joel—good start, I know.

A little We Didn’t Start the Fire. We honored his point that the chaos never stops. That was the case in 1989 when the banger topped the Billboard charts. It remains true today.

Ha, we even belted a 2026 verse over our (virtual) beers!

Venezuela, Davos snow, Iran missiles here we go

Greenland borders, tariff fights, Powell keeping money tight

Wow.… Read more

Wall Street is mired in another panic over AI. And we contrarians are here for it.

Our play? As always, we’re going where first-level investors aren’t, quietly snapping up dividends AI is set to supercharge.

I’m talking specifically about an overlooked opportunity in drug stocks, which are about to see the value of their R&D dollars get a big boost from AI. We’re going to tap in with an 8.8%-yielding closed-end fund (CEF) that’s trading for 11.4% below its “true” value.

That discount exists in part because investors—worried about how AI may disrupt sectors like software—are ignoring pharma, and the accelerated product cycles (and cash flows!)… Read more

“Time out.” I yelled it with a hint of disgust. I didn’t even have to make eye contact with my assistant coach—we were on the same page.

We’d just watched the second air-ball three-pointer of the second half.

“Get in there for Reese.”

Reese shrugged and jogged off the court. I grabbed him lovingly by the shoulders. “Hey buddy — do you know why you’re out?”

He nodded slowly. “Because…I…shot… a…three…pointer.”

“And what did I just say in the huddle?”

“…To…not…shoot…three…pointers.”

I patted him on the shoulder. Reese was back in the game in two minutes. But I had to make the point.… Read more

Oh, the joys of home ownership. We found a moldy corner last week. And not a little spot, either.

A full farm thriving behind a brigade of stuffed animals wedged against the wall. (The stuffies block the airflow, providing cover for this ecosystem.)  

Now Waiting Their Turn in the Laundry Line

“I see this every day in the homes down here,” the abatement guy explained his frequent trip to my old-home neighborhood. “Usually behind furniture jammed against the wall.”

Well, it’s the cost of doing business. The home has character. We like living downtown—makes us still feel kinda cool, sharing sidewalks with the neighborhood “kids” (anyone under 35) who live without stuffed animals upstairs.… Read more

There’s a group of stocks out there that most people think yield just 2%—or less.

But they’re way off. In reality, these “elite” payers yield 2X, 3X—and in the case of a stock we’ll talk about below, even nearly 4X that. I’m talking about a tidy 8.3% shareholder yield (remember that phrase) here.

This one has another advantage we love in a market like today’s, too: Its management team “buys the dips” in the share price for us. We don’t have to do anything at all!

Stocks like this are perfect for times like these, with the economy still ticking along nicely.… Read more

I hadn’t seen my boy in years. He wasted no time laying into my career decisions.

“Why are you messing around with the finance stuff? The blogging? No future in it.”

Well, good to see you too, buddy.

“You have real value in the software thing you’re doing. Stick with that.”

His advice was to leave Wall Street to him. He worked for a big-name firm. At the time of our run in, we were five or so years out of undergrad.

In true contrarian form, I ignored him. And it’s a good thing! Here we are talking stocks together and the software startup he wanted me to focus 100% on?… Read more

I took a glance around the gym from my courtside seat on the baseline.

Yup, I was definitely the only person in attendance without a kid playing in the game. My face was the giveaway. I wasn’t emotionally invested. I was detached. Analytical. Calculating.

I was a scout.

That’s right, your investment strategist—who coached the previous game—waved farewell “for a few minutes” to his wife and kids in the parking lot to watch the “beginning” of the next contest.

Forty minutes later, I was excitedly texting my assistant coaches with my findings. No reply, however, because they were likely having dinner with their families like normal people.… Read more