New Portfolio Pays $35,000 in Dividends on a $437K Nest Egg

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 13, 2020

The way most folks invest, they’ll need way more than a million bucks to retire—in fact, they’ll need almost double that!

No wonder so many people throw up their hands and commit to working till they’re 100. Maybe you’re one of these frustrated souls. With the world in the state it’s in today, I can’t blame you.

But what if I told you that you could retire on a lot less? Like 75% less.

That’s right: a fully paid-for retirement on just a $437,500 nest egg. Save up that much and you can look forward to a steady $35,000 in dividends (which is right around the average personal income in the US) year in and year out.… Read more

Are These 7 REITs Ticking Time Bombs or Treasure Chests?

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 10, 2020

Lockdowns have been tough on real estate investment trusts (REITs). When April 1 hit, the rent stopped getting paid across the world. That’s of course bad for landlords and, in turn, REITs and their investors.

Now it hasn’t been all bad since then. Sure, old school retail and shopping malls are done—but we knew that already.

Check this out—it’s the rent collected by the REIT sector for April, May and June. All of our newly completed “shutdown” and “re-opening” and “just kidding, we’re closing again” months. Would you believe that apartment landlords collected 97.5% of their typical rents in June?


(Source: Nareit)

Yes you read that right.… Read more

3 “Sucker Dividends” Yielding 7%+ to Avoid Now

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 9, 2020

It’s no secret why most people buy closed-end funds (CEFs): big dividends!

The 500 or so CEFs out there yield a game-changing 7%, on average. And with CEFs coming from all corners of the economy, you can easily build a nice, diversified CEF portfolio paying enough dividend cash to let you retire on $500,000 (or less!).

If you’re a reader of my CEF Insider service, none of this will surprise you. The service’s portfolio boasts funds yielding all the way up to 12.9%.

CEF Investors an Emotional Group

But there is one thing you should know about the CEF market: investors who buy CEFs are a bit twitchy, meaning they can sometimes oversell in a crisis.… Read more

Which REITs are Collecting 98% of Rents (and Which are Stuck at 61%)

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 8, 2020

Almost One-Third of NYC Restaurants Missed June Rent, Survey Finds

Scan the business headlines (and let’s be honest, who actually reads anymore?) and we’ll see ominous headlines like this. Makes us wonder who would want to be a landlord in this economy?

It’s not just NYC. Here in California, most restaurants are, once again, not allowed to offer indoor dining. Epidemiology arguments aside, our beat here is money, and how many restaurants are supposed to make money right now I do not know.

If they’re not making money, who knows if they’re paying the rent. Taking that a step further, we might also question who wants to own any real estate investment trusts (REITs)?… Read more

3 Steps for 6.1% Dividends, 243% Payout Growth (crisis or no)

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 7, 2020

In normal times, real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a great way to cut your portfolio’s volatility—and double the income you’d get from regular stocks.

Of course there’s nothing typical about 2020, but this “new normal” actually presents an especially excellent opportunity to buy select REITs on the cheap. I’m talking about cash cows with rent flows that were not disrupted by shutdowns.

Cheap stocks with higher-than-usual yields and bulletproof cash flows? Read on and we’ll sign up for this deal together.

REITs, remember, are “no drama” pass-through investments: they collect the rent on their properties, take out enough to keep their buildings in good working order, then pass (almost all of) the remaining cash to you as dividends.… Read more

How to Invest in CEFs (for 10%+ Dividends, 20%+ Upside)

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: January 25, 2024

What if I told you I could get you a steady 10% dividend right now with ease? And with a big slice of that income rolling your way every month, too?

The key is to invest in an often-overlooked investment called a closed-end fund (CEF). As I write this, there are about 500 CEFs in existence, and they yield 8.5%, on average. Some pay more than that, such as the 5 CEFs I reveal in my free investor report, “Indestructible Income: 5 Bargain Funds With Steady 9.9% Dividends.”

With a 9.9% average payout, you’d be banking a nice $29,700 yearly income stream (or about $2,475 a month!)… Read more

Like Amazon, But Cheaper: The Best Retail Dividends

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 3, 2020

Smart, innovative retail dividends are going to hold a special place in the hearts of many income investors when this pandemic is through. I recently mused about my springtime e-tailing adventures out of Puerto Backyarda. While I got my mister to stay cool, many opportunistic dividend buyers are going to enjoy hot payouts that double or better in the years ahead.

Stores such as Best Buy (BBY) and Home Depot (HD) have kept people slapping away on their keyboards and occupied with home projects. Even more importantly, retailers like Walmart (WMT), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Kroger (KR) not only supplied Americans with the basics, but they also kept cranking out services and strategies to keep people safer as they gathered up what they needed.… Read more

A 6.9% Dividend With Crash Insurance? We’ll Take It!

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 2, 2020

Most of us know we need to stay in stocks through this crisis—but some days it’s easier said than done!

Let’s be honest: we could all use a break—a way to hedge against the nasty drops we see when we log into our trading accounts in the morning.

My first suggestion—try not to log into your account every morning! But if you insist on doing so, then my second suggestion is to take a close look at a popular hedging vehicle called a covered-call fund.

Covered-Call Funds: 6%+ Dividend With “Crash Insurance”

Covered-call funds are a kind of closed-end fund (CEF) that holds stocks but gives us an income stream we’d never see from an S&P 500 company—yields of 6% to 10% are the norm among covered-call funds.… Read more

Retail Dividends That Will Withstand the Next Wave(s)

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 1, 2020

As our quarantine headquarters migrated from the cozy accommodations of Los Living Room in March to the spaciousness of Puerto Backyarda in April, life got a bit more manageable.

Then, in May, it got hot. Really hot.

“Want the hose?” I offered. “It doesn’t feel like it’s 103 if you get your feet wet.”

My Puerto guest, a friend who’d stopped over for an afternoon beer (actually, three 100 calorie “light hazy ales”) was not amused that we were stuck outside. The poor guy was wearing pants, and quite frankly, he didn’t stand a chance.

It goes without saying that he has not yet returned.… Read more

Warning: These 4 Dividends (up to 7.8%) Are Traps Set to Spring

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 14, 2020

With the epic “relief rally” finally on fumes, it’s time to consider jettisoning any dividends that (let’s be honest) should have been sold in February. Stock prices are quite disconnected from their underlying fundamentals, and the four firms we’re going to discuss today have particularly poor prospects.

Sure, these yields appear generous. But these days, we can lose this much in a few bad trading sessions.

(Low payout ratios—the percentage of cash flow being paid as dividends—are usually preferable. A negative ratio is not! More on this wreck shortly.)

As you know, I don’t provide personal financial advice. That said, if I owned any of these shares, I’d sell ’em!… Read more