Author Archive: Michael Foster

We’ve seen a lot of volatility and fear in 2018, and that’s handed us a great buying opportunity—particularly in the 5 unloved funds I’ll show you below.

Make no mistake: each of these 5 despised funds is poised for serious upside before 2018 is out … and they’ll pay us 8.2% average dividends, to boot. That’s enough to hand you $3,400 a month on a $500k nest egg! Before we get to them, let’s take a look back at the year so far and see what’s handed us this terrific opportunity.

History Is Set to Repeat

If you bought closed-end funds (CEFs) back in early March, when the market tanked and I urged investors to buy, you’d be enjoying a nice double-digit total return in just 6 months:

Hated CEFs Turn the Corner

Why did these 3 funds—the Reaves Utility Income Fund (UTG), the Cohen & Steers Infrastructure Fund (UTF) and the DNP Select Income Fund (DNP)—all of which I recommended back on March 1—soar?… Read more

Readers often ask me how to build a portfolio that holds its own in down times but hands them more income than the measly 2.6% long-term US Treasuries pay.

So today I’ll show you how to do that. With the 4 bargain-priced closed-end funds (CEFs) I’ll show you below, which also boast strong track records and high income streams, you can keep the dividends flowing, regardless of the market’s tantrums.

An added plus? Your nest egg will be spread across asset classes, giving you extra protection.

Buy No. 1: A Buffett-Friendly CEF With Big Upside

With a long-term average total return of around 8.5% per year, US stocks need to be at the heart of any income portfolio.… Read more

Today I’m going to show you how to get a livable income stream from a $300,000 nest egg—while growing your savings at the same time.

Sounds impossible, right?

Wrong.

What’s more, we’re going to pull it off using just 6 funds. When we’re done, we’ll end up with a simple, diversified portfolio that throws off a nice, steady 7.9% dividend yield—more than 4 times the S&P 500 average!

And if you’re worried that this outsized yield could come at the cost of a weak total return, don’t be, because these funds have delivered 12% per year over the past decade.

Before I get into these 6 funds, let me show you what numbers like these can mean for you: if we start with an upfront investment of $305,000 in this portfolio and leave it alone for 10 years, we can expect our capital to explode to nearly $1 million in a decade.… Read more

We’re always looking for reader feedback at my CEF Insider service, so we recently sent out a survey to our members (if you are one, you likely got it) asking for the topics they’d most like to see us cover.

One of the most common answers: how to know when it’s time to sell a closed-end fund (CEF).

So now I want to tackle that question (with more articles to come in the next few weeks answering other questions from our survey).

Sell Signs Not Always Easy to Spot

First off, it’s easier to know when to buy than when to sell.… Read more

On average, an American retiree spends about $4,000 per month. But few of those retirees are getting $4,000 from their nest egg—which is partly why bankruptcy rates among retirees have been soaring for years.

But there is a way to get $4,000 a month (or $48,000 a year) from your savings—even if you aren’t filthy rich.

And that’s the problem with today’s low-yielding stock market. To get $48,000 per year from the S&P 500, you’d need $2.76 million to put in the market. That’s because the S&P 500’s dividend yield is a crummy 1.7%—far lower than US Treasuries and way below its long-term average!… Read more

A little over two months ago, in an article for Contrarian Outlook, I spotlighted a nice short-term buying opportunity in the PIMCO Global StocksPlus & Income Fund (PGP).

PGP, with its 9.4% current dividend yield, is one of the most popular PIMCO funds, but it is one with a checkered past. And by checkered, I mean this:

Not for the Faint of Heart!

With up and down swings of 20% and more in a matter of months, PGP is a really volatile fund. And note those big dips in mid-2016 and mid-2017. There’s only one reason why huge drops like those appear for a closed-end fund (CEF) like PGP: dividend cuts.… Read more

Pity the poor landlord, stuck with a boatload of hassles: late rent payments, missed payments, tenants who disappear, tenants who trash the place before they leave.

The list of risks with owning rental property goes on and on! All just to (hopefully) collect a rent check at the end of the month.

But there’s a much easier way to rake in steady income from real estate without the hassle of dealing with tenants and other risks of owning property outright.

The best part?

You’ll get an 8% return on your money in cash every single year. And we’re going to do it straight from our brokerage accounts, just as if we’re buying shares of a company like Apple (AAPL)—but without the pathetic 1.4% dividend Tim Cook’s firm pays.… Read more

If you noticed American stocks selling off last week and you’re confused as to why, it’s because of an obscure corner of financial markets that might become one of the biggest stories of 2018: the Turkish lira.

Turkey’s Money Implodes

Where a dollar would get you less than four lira at the start of the year, it now gets you more than six lira—in other words, Turkey’s currency has lost nearly half of its value in 2018 alone!

This is something some investors need to fear a lot. And today I’m going to show you how to avoid being on the losing end of this crisis (including 11 funds you need to sell or avoid now, before they get crushed).… Read more

There’s been a massive discount building in a pocket of the market where you can get big dividends that are entirely tax-free.

And I’m going to show you three “1-click” ways to tap this income investor’s wonderland today.

I know that tax-free anything these days sounds impossible, but in this case, I assure you it’s not. The key is investing in municipal bonds, which give you a passive income stream that is entirely tax exempt at the federal level. Plus it’s also exempt from state taxes in many situations, too.

That means a 4%-yielding municipal bond, or “muni,” is more like a 5.3%-yielding dividend stock for a family earning $100,000 per year—and that’s before we factor in state taxes.… Read more

What a year it’s been for oil!

Oil Takes Off

With a 43.5% climb in just a year, oil prices have blown by several technical levels to breach $70, and $80 is on the table by the end of the year.

This is the highest price since 2014, and it’s a very good sign for stocks—which is why you should consider buying 2 funds paying massive dividends and boasting top-notch energy-sector exposure.

(And if you prefer to invest in oil through individual stocks, rather than funds, check out this recent article by my colleague David Peltier.)

Before I show you my 2 energy funds, though, let’s talk a bit about what isn’t happening with oil.… Read more