Author Archive: Brett Owens

Today I’m going to give you a shot at the next Texas Instruments (TXN), which has delivered a dividend that’s surged 104% since members of my Hidden Yields service bought it in 2017.

Or the next Jefferies Financial Group (JEF), whose dividend has popped 67% higher in the last year alone. 

The key to breakneck payout growth like this is investing in megatrends that reshape society. Right now, we’re tracking six:

• Technology, as it reshapes all our lives in the COVID era.

• Healthcare, as more people pay attention to their health (and more employers entice scarce workers with enhanced medical benefits).

Dividend Aristocrats are popular. Too popular, if you ask me.

I’ll concede that the surest, safest way big stock market gains is dividend growth. Over time, stock prices are literally pulled higher by their payouts. Their dividends act as magnets that pull their shares higher and make their shareholders rich.

The Aristocrats have delivered plenty of wealth. Heck, to be admitted to the club they must have a track record of 25 annual dividend hikes in a row. At minimum.

Which is fantastic past performance. Problem is, the stock market looks ahead.

Many of these stocks are slowing down. Some—such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Coca-Cola (KO)—have elevated payout ratios of anywhere between 60% to 90%.… Read more

Contrary to popular opinion, we shouldn’t believe everything we read online. Even simple tasks such as counting dividends are often mishandled by our internet overlords.

Mainstream financial websites such as Yahoo! Finance and Google Finance should know better. Check out the misinformation they are spreading about our beloved PIMCO Dynamic Credit & Mortgage Income Fund (PCI). 

We added PCI to our Contrarian Income Report portfolio five years ago. If you bought PCI then, you’ve enjoyed $12.19 in dividends off an initial entry price of just $18.42. That’s a 66% “cash return” on our investment already!

But the charts provided by Yahoo and Google lost track of these dividends.… Read more

Do yourself a favor and shut out all the “experts” who say it’s impossible to retire on dividends alone. They’re just plain wrong! Because even today, with stocks soaring (and dividend yields in the tank), you absolutely can build a portfolio yielding a solid 7%+.

We’re going to do it now, and we’re going to do it easily—with just three funds. These funds—part of a unique asset class called closed-end funds (CEFs)— pay 7.6% between them, and the biggest yielder of the bunch throws off a huge 8.7% payout!

And they’re just the start.

A 7.6% dividend yield is enough to pay you $38,000 a year on just $500K invested, and you wouldn’t have to draw a single penny of your principal to get that cash stream.… Read more

Cheap stocks are fun. We can buy a lot of shares without shelling out too much dough.

Generally speaking, most single-digit stocks are “cheap for a reason”—they are losers. But we contrarians leave no discarded stone unturned. Especially in our search for dividends that we can retire on.

There are a few inexpensive stocks that actually pay. And a select set of them that are even worth buying for their dividends.

In a minute we’ll discuss five “economy lot” yield plays that pay from 6.3% to 11.8%. These are all single-digit share prices that sell for $9 or less today.… Read more

“Regular” REITs typically buy physical properties, find someone to manage them, and lease them out. They collect rent checks and avoid paying taxes on most of these profits if they distribute 90% of their profits as payouts. This is the reason REIT stocks typically boast big yields.

Mortgage REITs (mREITs), on the other hand, don’t own buildings. They own paper. Specifically, they buy mortgage loans and collect the interest. How do they make money? By borrowing “short” (assuming short-term rates are lower) and lending “long” (if long-term rates are, as they tend to be, higher).

This business model prints money when long-term rates are steady or, better yet, declining.… Read more

If you’re worried the stock market is too expensive, well, I agree with you. This is why we’re going to discuss my two-step “12% Dividend Plan” today—so we can bank big yields without having to worry about a pullback.

Best of all, we can collect this income without having to sacrifice principal. In fact, our nest egg will generate some nice upside in addition to these big dividends.

But first, a reality check. A yield north of 12%? How the heck is that possible?

I realize it sounds like a pipe dream—especially with the S&P 500 trading at a nosebleed 31-times earnings and yielding a miserly 1.3% as I write this.… Read more

“Son, I am old. But I am not dead!”

There was a pause.

“Now get me another beer…”

His 40-year-old “boy” froze, then complied. I, meanwhile, busted out in laughter.

Is there anything better than a dad that likes to party? I challenge you to think of something while we discuss the next best thing.

A safe, secure stock that delivers 4,000%+ gains.

Plenty of financial hucksters promise to reveal “the next Amazon,” “the next Facebook” or “the next Tesla.” We income investors know better, however. We can double our money—quickly—over and over again. We just need to find “the next Bank OZK.”… Read more

I saw this headline float across my Bloomberg Terminal late last week…

There Are More 401(k) and IRA Millionaires Than Ever

(Disclosure and digression: My “Terminal” is Bloomberg.com on my phone. I can thank my long wait at the DMV for my California REAL ID for this story.)

Fidelity Investments—apparently happy to share its customer’s financial info anonymously—says it has more than 750,000 seven-figure 401(k) and IRA accounts.

A chunk of money is great, especially when we can leave it untouched and let it grow. That was no doubt the “secret” of 99%+ of these retirement millionaires. They socked away money for decades and rode the market higher.… Read more

The recent oil correction has opened a window for us income investors to grab big(ger) dividends at big(ger) discounts! Today we’re going to take full advantage.

In a moment, we’ll discuss a 3-click energy dividend portfolio that yields 5.9%. Plus, we have some price upside in addition to these payouts, thanks to the pullback in the energy sector.

There’s no doubt the goo has taken a header, dropping from $75 a barrel in mid-July to $62 as I write this. But that’s overdone: consider that our “crash ’n’ rally” scenario (which I’ve been arguing with anyone who will listen for 16 months now) is still in early days.… Read more