Author Archive: Brett Owens

Many financial advisors doubt that we can retire comfortably on a million dollars, let alone $500K.

Let me outline our compelling dividend counterpoint—a five-stock portfolio with an average yield of 12.3%.

This generates more than $60,000 in annual income on a $500K portfolio, or a sweet $123,000 in dividends on that million-dollar nest egg. And, most importantly, this “retire on dividends” strategy leaves the principal untouched.

Contrary to popular opinion, we have a pool of dividend candidates. Let’s start with the 879 dividend-paying stocks that yield more than 3% and work our way up the chain:

Believe It Or Not, 50 US Stocks Yield 10%+

Note: U.S.-listed… Read more

If I were a Federal Reserve official—and I were not currently under investigation for sketchy February 2020 trades—I’d really be tempted to “back up the truck” on key taper tantrum dividend stocks.

These obvious payout plays have already soared 56% or more year-to-date. But there’s more to come because their profits are being artificially suppressed by the Fed. (Yes, you read that right. The Fed money flood is boosting everything except for these laggards. For now.) Once this constraint is lifted—or even moderated a bit—their bottom lines are going to boom.

Today, the Fed is buying $80 billion in government bonds every month.… Read more

Investors are sitting on a shot at 100%+ dividend growth and a safe 6.9% yield—and most don’t even know it.

The route to this dividend bonanza runs through real estate investment trusts (REITs) that own apartment buildings. These landlords are raking in cash, with US rents skyrocketing by double digits in the last nine months. (We’ll discuss three specific names shortly.)

Higher cash flows translate straight into surging dividends because REITs are “pass-through” investments: they collect the rent, take out what they need to keep their tenants happy (and renewing their leases!) and send the rest our way.

This pass-through structure is no formality.… Read more

Do retirement solutions come any better than a safe 8% dividend, paid monthly?

This is what we contrarian income seekers love about the Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund (FAX). It pays 8% annually, dishes its dividend every month and, thanks to the debt situation in China, trades at a 7% discount to its net asset value (NAV)!

Last week, we pointed out a “mini-panic” buying opportunity in FAX. Its price had suffered, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the fund’s NAV—the value of its bonds minus debt—which has barely budged over the past month:

NAV Was Steady, Pullback Was Price Only

Its price had been punished because armchair market observers fear Evergrande and the Chinese credit markets.… Read more

Let’s jump on the market’s September slide and grab ourselves a sweet “double discount” on 358 totally ignored income plays—and some sweet 6%+ dividends, too. And our new income stream will pay us monthly!

Going Where Other Dividend Investors Don’t

Our route to this big monthly payout does an end run around the misers of the S&P 500. Even though the market dove 3.5% in September, that was only enough to drive yields on the big-name stocks up by—wait for it—0.07%.

In other words, if you dropped a million bucks into an ETF like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) in early September, you’d be generating $12,300 in yearly dividends.… Read more

The surest, safest way to double our money in the stock market is to buy the dividends that are growing the fastest.

It doesn’t matter if the broader market is heading up, down or sideways. Over time, stock prices eventually follow their dividends. Show me a growing payout, and I’ll show you a stock price that has serious upside.

Looking beyond current yields for future dividends is a simple yet powerful concept. I know that you already appreciate stocks that pay. It’s why we get along so well.

We can also apply our favorite fundamental attribute—a company’s willingness and ability to put cash in our pocket—to find the safest growth stocks in the market.… Read more

The stock market goes up as well as down and, for whatever reason, it tends to swing wildly in September and October. With last Monday’s intraday price action, we saw our first 5% decline in a year.

The last time the S&P 500 fell by 5% or more was… this time last year.

Losing money isn’t fun. Then again, it is our job to make sure that paper losses stay on the page.

Historically speaking, this is a good month to go shopping. Last October, we locked in 7.3% to 10% dividends—and 51% total returns (in just 12 months!) soon followed.… Read more

Return to the office? Heck, we income investors don’t need to return to work—period.

We can turn our nest egg into a cash flow machine, with big dividends to cover our monthly expenses. I’m talking about retiring on dividends alone.

Yes, we’re three buys away from kicking back, collecting payouts and watching our portfolios continue to tick higher. Best of all these dividends have upside, which will power our nest egg to new highs. They serve as the “payout magnets” that pull our investments higher with each dividend raise.

Most importantly, this “three-click” portfolio is well diversified, with 560 different income investments.… Read more

Historically, for whatever reason, stocks have made most of their gains between November 1 and May 1. (Hence the phrase “sell in May and go away.”)

I won’t bore you with the statistical details because they don’t matter for our purposes. Every year is unique, and we treat each as such. But, for our contrarian edge, it is helpful that the onset of fall provokes fear in the hearts of mainstream investors.

The S&P 500 is acting like it’s about to slip off a cliff. It’s been a year since the market’s last meaningful correction. We’re in the fragile half of the year and, seasonally speaking, September and October tend to be particularly weak.… Read more

“Is $1 million enough to retire on?”

Paul Katzeff of Investor’s Business Daily asked me earlier this month. He was especially keen on high-paying ETFs that would throw off enough dividends to fund a nice retirement.

For example, we chatted about the Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD), which sells covered calls on the Nasdaq index itself to create cash flow.

QYLD’s trailing yield is a sweet 11.8%, which means million-dollar positions would have generated $118,000 in dividend income alone. Plus, the principal grew, too, thanks to price gains. The Nasdaq has been on a tear since last year, helping QYLD to 21.2% total returns (including dividends) over the past twelve months.… Read more