Author Archive: Michael Foster

Demand for rental property is literally going through the roof—and we can play the trend for a rock-solid 7% dividend that can be had at a discount!

What’s driving this opportunity? Higher interest rates. As you can see below, the average 30-year mortgage issued today bears an interest rate near 5%, a level we haven’t come close to since the subprime-mortgage crisis.

Mortgage Rates Soar

The trend is so aggressive that it’s getting analysts and journalists into full-blown panic mode, as they begin to report on what I call “seller’s remorse.”

Seeing how rates are soaring and home values are hitting a bump, sellers are already reducing their asking prices and looking to offload property as fast as possible.… Read more

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s been a flurry of doom-and-gloom articles making the rounds that all preach the same thing: anyone looking to retire now faces a bleak time of it indeed.

To that I say: nonsense! Below I’ll show you three closed-end funds (CEFs) whose yields are so high right now (up to 11.2%) that buying them and living off their rich payouts has rarely been this attractive.

We’ll talk more about these three funds, and the many benefits CEFs offer retirees, shortly. First, let’s talk about the “retirement alarmism” we’re seeing in the media today. Because these articles (all driven by the fact that fearsome headlines get clicks) suggest that a mix of high inflation and still-high stock valuations will result in retirees facing much lower “safe withdrawal rates,” or SWRs.… Read more

Thanks to the selloff, it’s possible to buy closed-end funds (CEFs) at such high yields that we can do what seemed unthinkable just a few months ago: build a CEF portfolio that will pay $5,000 a month in dividends on about $540k invested.

That’s an 11.1% average yield!

This, of course, is because many CEFs have been caught up in the selloff, and yields move inversely to prices. So a fund that may have yielded, say, 7% six months ago (which is about the long-term CEF average) is suddenly yielding a lot more now.

In addition, it’s possible to build an income stream this big with just three CEFs.… Read more

While the pundits continue to (unsuccessfully) try to call the bottom of this Fed-spooked market, we CEF investors are doing what we always do: collecting our 7%+ dividends as we patiently move through to brighter days.

In fact, we’re doing more than that: we’re making some careful long-term buys as our fellow CEF investors—a conservative lot if there ever was one—toss out funds that are actually well suited to the higher-rate world we’re moving into.

I want to talk about one such fund today: it does something that has a lot of appeal in a market like this—it keeps you invested in the S&P 500, but with a twist: it hands you an outsized income stream that actually grows more stable as volatility picks up.… Read more

Look, I know this inflation-panicked market is frustrating. But despite the endless doomsaying from the pundits, there is good news: if you’re investing for income and have a long time horizon, there are some big dividends (I’m talking 10%+ yields) waiting for us in closed-end funds (CEFs).

In a second, we’re going to dive into three such funds I’ve assembled into a low-drama “mini-portfolio” yielding north of 10%.

We can thank the selloff for this opportunity: when stock (and CEF) prices go down, yields go up. And our CEFs discounts to net asset value (NAV, or the per-share value of a CEF’s portfolio) fall to bargain levels.… Read more

As difficult as this selloff has been for all of us, it has left some attractive (and discounted) dividends on the board, especially in high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs).

I know it’s tough to buy in a market like this, but the dividends we’re going to talk about today actually benefit from rising inflation, posting higher and higher cash flows as the CPI shoots higher and higher, too.

These are the companies we want to be in now, both to collect their high dividends through today’s tire fire and to profit when the market waters (inevitably) calm and investors finally take notice of these stocks’ sturdy cash flows.… Read more

There’s a glaring disconnect out there between the health of the economy (still strong) and the mood of investors (terrible). It’s opened a window for us to grab some solid closed-end funds (CEFs) throwing off yields of 8%+.

This is especially true if you’re investing for the long term, which, if you are investing for income like this, you should be.

We’re going to talk about three such high-income plays today (one of which offers an 11.5% payout that’s growing) and dive just a little deeper into why this opening exists for us.

Fast Growth + Worried Investors = Best Time to Buy CEFs

If you’re a bit nervous about investing right now, I get it.… Read more

There are few things that have a stronger hold on investors’ imagination than gold. When inflation and market volatility spike, many folks simply can’t resist the yellow metal’s call.

But the truth is, for us dividend investors, gold is a raw deal. That’s mainly because, of course, it pays no dividend! Heck, if you buy physical gold, it actually comes with a cost for storage and safekeeping.

Worse, gold doesn’t even work as a hedge against inflation and volatility—at least it sure hasn’t this time:

Inflation Storm Hits, Gold Tanks

This shows the dangers of buying based on outdated investor “sacred cows” like the one that says gold is a safe haven.… Read more

When markets are down, there’s one group of investors who can shrug off the dip because they don’t need to sell. You’re no doubt part of this group—I’m talking about income investors.

With dividends, of course, you can keep your cash flow going regardless of short-term panics over things like interest-rate hikes and geopolitical unrest. Because the cash keeps coming in, you don’t need to sell during these times and can instead use your dividends to keep your bills paid—or maybe even buy the dip in the markets, thereby building your income stream further.

But where can you get reliable income that won’t be hit by the Fed’s moves and other events that are mostly beyond our control?… Read more

If you’re looking for 9%+ dividends and an income stream you can retire on without selling shares from your portfolio, closed-end funds (CEFs) are handing you a superb opportunity now.

That’s because this selloff has set us up with bargains in the space, including many CEFs (like two we’ll profile below) throwing off 9% and even 13.7% dividend payouts.

My CEF Insider members know I’m enthusiastic about picking up CEFs at these levels, so long as you’re investing for the long haul and can deal with more volatility, as there’s likely to be more before stock markets ultimately find their footing.… Read more