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I’m no mind reader, but I’m guessing you’d leap at an investment with the stability of a bond and the upside of a stock right now.

Sounds like something tailor-made for a crisis, right?

The good news is that it’s no pipe dream. These handy “crash-resistant” plays are out there and ripe for buying. We’re going to take a close look at how we can tap them for huge dividends now—yearly cash payouts all the way up to 9.7%!

It’s a retirement strategy every investor should take a look at. Unfortunately, too few even know these “shapeshifter” investments exist.

Lender Today, Shareholder Tomorrow

I’m talking about convertible bonds.… Read more

Today we’re going to dive into the three best closed end funds of all time. These retirement-changing dividend plays—yielding all the way up to 8.6%!—have not only been crushing all other CEFs, but they’ve been demolishing the S&P 500, as well.

That’s just not supposed to happen!

After all, the pundits are constantly telling us that actively managed funds should not beat the S&P 500, and you’d be better off with a low-cost index fund like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO).

But these three CEFs have been crushing VOO for years—and they’re on track to keep doing so.

That’s not all they offer—these funds also pay dividends more than three times higher than the S&P 500 average, boosting your nest egg while giving you a much bigger cash stream than you could ever get from index funds.… Read more

Have utility stocks been stripped of their safe-haven status?

I’ve fielded that question from a few readers who have rightly pointed out the utility sector’s unimpressive performance during 2020’s market rout and partial recovery.

The short answer? No, it hasn’t. At least not for those of us who look through short-term price jitters to lock-in long-term payouts.

Back in the “good old days,” utility stocks delivered enough income to actually retire on. And thanks to this once-in-a-decade panic, that’s the case once again. Even though utility stocks are well off their bottom, investors still can grab perfectly safe yields of up to 7% in the space.… Read more

If you’re like most people, you’re wondering how in the world the market can be doing this when the country has been on lockdown for the better part of two months:

Stocks Soaring

As you can see above, stocks spiked 22% since late March, going by the performance of the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI). Meantime, the economy is a shadow of its former self: the Federal Reserve expects it to shrink 40% in the second quarter—worse than the 23% drop seen at the depths of the Great Depression.

Before you ask, no, this disconnect isn’t a recipe for another crash.… Read more

Somehow, some way, the stock market continues to levitate higher. Yet I see very little that’s worth buying here.

We can’t argue with the tape. Markets will do their thing, while we must do ours. And today, it’s a good time to be cautious and prepare for the possibility of another sharp pullback. (The old “retest” of the lows that most investors expected until they were swept away by the allure of rising stock prices!)

Our dream shopping list, as we’ve discussed before, should contain some blue-chip dividend stocks. Nasty bear markets are the only time we can buy these names cheap!… Read more

Right now, millions of people are plowing cash into this market, gambling that the worst of the dividend cuts is behind us.

I hope you’re not one of them, because this “dividend trap” is likely to spring—and steal away the income (and value) these folks have spent years building!

Just look at the numbers: unemployment is likely over 20%. Consumer spending cratered 7.5% in March, before this mess even really got started. And now Uncle Sam is demanding that any company seeking government aid first send its payout to the scrapyard.

Meantime, even cash-rich companies are pulling in their horns, like the Walt Disney Co.… Read more

There’s a strong buying opportunity unfolding in an ignored corner of the market right now. Steady dividends of 5.8% (and higher) are waiting for savvy contrarians who jump on it.

By “savvy contrarians,” I, of course, mean us!

And the corner of the market I’m referring to is municipal bonds.

If you’ve been following the muni-bond saga over the last two months, you might find my enthusiasm a bit unfounded. After all, the coronavirus is hammering the finances of cities and states across the country and driving up the risk of muni-bond defaults—right? Not so fast.

Your Muni Default Risk? 0.042%

To cut through all the hype surrounding munis these days, we need to zoom out a bit.… Read more

“It’s my money, and I want it now!”

That’s the rallying cry of everyday folks in commercials for J.G. Wentworth, a financial services firm that offers lump-sum cash payments for structured settlements, annuities, lottery payments and more. (If you’ve never seen one of these TV spots, I suggest you try one out. They’re so bad they’re good.)

Every income investor could (and probably should) take a cue from its motto. To quote another spot: “Show us the money!”

Monthly dividend stocks, of course, pay more often than any other income investment. Dividend checks coming in every 30 days are especially handy for retirees who have bills to pay.… Read more

Volatility has taken over, and if you’re like most folks, you’re wondering where to find the safe dividends you need to sustain your savings—and income stream—as this pandemic drags on.

There’s one intriguing alternative you may not have thought of: senior loans, also called floating-rate loans. Because they’re far up the corporate food chain, they offer a layer of safety in the event of bankruptcy, something that’s on every investor’s mind these days.

In addition, senior loans offer yields of 6%, on average, making them an income investor’s dream, too. But are these loans—which I only recommend holding through a closed-end fund (CEF)—a buy today?… Read more

“Brett, I didn’t sell (insert dividend stock here) in March. Should I hold my nose and sell now?”

If you sat on your hands during the March drop and subsequent bounce, you’re not alone. Many of your fellow income investors are still holding on to positions that they know they should probably sell, but haven’t yet. (I know this because I’ve heard this question from a number of you!)

Well, here’s the question I would ask you about the position:

“Is the business going to rebound to pre-pandemic levels any time soon?”

If the answer is “no” then why would you not sell the stock?… Read more